Going tats

We have been talking in the office and us "east end girls" remember our mothers using the phrase "going tats" to indicate that they were going for a walk - cannot find our where this phrase originated. Can you be of any help?

As an east ender myself I remember the phrase well. I also remember that, when you departed a friend, you often said 'ta-ta' instead of 'goodbye'. In the war 'Ta-ta for now' was a very famous catch phrase in the ITMA programme - said by the cleaning lady Mrs Mopp as she left Tommy Handly. Perhaps 'going tats' is related and is/was a form of saying 'goodbye'. Where 'ta-ta' originated I have no idea!