Christmas in the past.

[Grandalf]

Talking to the Memsahib this morning about Christmases of our childhood.   That was a long time ago I might add.

I remember that in 1944, when I was five, my Grandparents came to stay for a couple of nights.   Things were very tight due to the little bit of aggro we were having with Mr Hitler at the time.

On the big day Grandad gave me three newspaper wrapped presents.

The first contained a large lump of coal.   The second was a bundle of kindling.   The third was a paunched but unskinned rabbit and a small penknife.

We had rabbit pie on Boxing Day.

[clakk]

As a "wee bairn" in the 60,s New year was the thing in our family off to Lochgelly in Fife so ma n pa could go "first footing" with family and friends .Dont remember any of it too busy gurgling in me nappies 

[marsh man]

As they say , what you never missed had , you never missed , so by having very little for Christmas just seemed normal for us , that's not to say we went without because we didn't , we ate at Christmas as well as anybody and better than some poor souls .

My mum used to put a little away each week or when she could afford it in a savings club at the little butchers shop in the village , come Christmas it was always a large Chicken or a smallish Turkey as a to bigger one wont go in the small gas oven , on top of that we had a big lump of ham 

In our little front room was the tree , a coal / log fire , a box up the corner filled with fruit , half a dozen bottles of different flavours of Corona and the 14 inch television moved from the middle room into the front room just for the Christmas period .

Did we miss out on anything ?  I don't think we did , in fact I think we were very lucky .

 

[timmytree]

60 years ago for my 1st Xmas mum and dad had 2 table decorations. 2 rotund little Santas about 6 inches high that came apart in the middle to reveal smarties or similar little sweets.

They are still in use every year. When my sister arrived we added a sugar plum tree, a plastic tree with spikey branches on which you impale jelly babies, again, still in use.

[Scully]

Those christmas’ past Will always be remembered with much affection by me, both as a child and spendingbghem with my Mam and Dad, to those I’ve had since my kids arrived, both of whom are now at uni’. Wonderful times. 

[timmytree]

My ex and I were talking to the grandkids today and telling them about their Uncle Jims bed. At about 5 years old he'd seen a bed that looked like a racing car, he wanted one but money was really tight. Luckilya good friend offered to help us out so we measured up the bed base and cut all the panels out of ply, painted it all up, wheels, spoilers the lot. Then on Xmas eve John came round late with all the panels on the roof rack. We lifted the lad out of bed and put him in the other room and then built his car bed as quietly as possible, then lifted him back in still sound asleep. I've never forgotten the wonderment on that lads face next morning.

[haynes]

1 hour ago, timmytree said:

My ex and I were talking to the grandkids today and telling them about their Uncle Jims bed. At about 5 years old he'd seen a bed that looked like a racing car, he wanted one but money was really tight. Luckilya good friend offered to help us out so we measured up the bed base and cut all the panels out of ply, painted it all up, wheels, spoilers the lot. Then on Xmas eve John came round late with all the panels on the roof rack. We lifted the lad out of bed and put him in the other room and then built his car bed as quietly as possible, then lifted him back in still sound asleep. I've never forgotten the wonderment on that lads face next morning.

Just magic.

[Mice!]

2 hours ago, timmytree said:

My ex and I were talking to the grandkids today and telling them about their Uncle Jims bed. At about 5 years old he'd seen a bed that looked like a racing car, he wanted one but money was really tight. Luckilya good friend offered to help us out so we measured up the bed base and cut all the panels out of ply, painted it all up, wheels, spoilers the lot. Then on Xmas eve John came round late with all the panels on the roof rack. We lifted the lad out of bed and put him in the other room and then built his car bed as quietly as possible, then lifted him back in still sound asleep. I've never forgotten the wonderment on that lads face next morning.

Imagine how happy he was telling that story to his friends in school 

[timmytree]

I asked both my kids earlier about their best Xmas, they reckon it was about 1991or 92. we went away for the week with another family to stay in a wooden bungalow on the edge of Croyde Bay. We had 2 cars and my old van with a trailer and we took everything with us right down to tree and lights. We all took bikes and at midnight on Xmas Eve we were still riding around on the beach. The place was damp and with dodgy electrics but we had a brilliant week cycling, fishing and beachcombing. Again we didn't have much money but we had a lot of fun, something that many kids miss out on nowadays.

[Walker570]

I was very lucky, born in 1940 into a farming family. Farms during the war had extra supplies supplied by the Government, so much per worker and of course we had chickens, pigs, cows and 220 acres of our own and another 180 acres adjoining which abounded in wild game and rabbit was a regular dish back then.  Nothing went to waste and in October plans started for the Xmas celebrations.  Christmas Day was spent at our home with Christmas dinner, always a very large turkey, root vegetables where prominent, carrots, parsnips and swedes all grown in our own land.  Christmnas evening a party was laid on and all our relatives would turn up and the cakes, trifles etc prepared in the weeks before filled the tables and the remaing turkey and a huge ham would be carved. The large kitchen table was for the youngsters, the women had the dining room and the men sat round the large snooker table, which was covered.

Later various card games would go on till milking time....5am

Boxing night would be a repeat at my Grandfathers brothers farm about 5 miles away.  As a small kid the whole situation was wonderous.

My Grandmother was a very generous woman and would often send me on errands to take two or three egs wrapped in newspaper to a lady in the village who may be ill or have had a child.

Eggs where in short supply so many had chickens and even a pig in the back yard and the village had a pro pig killer who cycled round on a bike just killing pigs.

The war years and the 50s where fantastic for a young lad in the country.

Anyone else remember the tins of dried egg...no lables just a black arrow on the side.?

Edited December 25, 2018 by Walker570

[Dave-G]

One of the earliest Christmas presents I remember was from my grandparents: An orange, wrapped in the paper they were sold in. 

 

[hambone]

2 minutes ago, Dave-G said:

One of the earliest Christmas presents I remember was from my grandparents: An orange, wrapped in the paper they were sold in. 

 

I must have been spoilt... I remember the orange in wrapping paper 😄😄

[figgy]

I think we all have fond memories of Christmases past. 

My children are grown luckily my daughter future son in law and baby grandchild came and stayed Christmas Eve and it was one of the best yet. 

I think as we age it's ours to make the memories for the youngsters to remember as they grow old.

It's all about how many gifts etc, look how many remember much more about it than the gifts.

Edited December 25, 2018 by figgy

[hambone]

5 minutes ago, figgy said:

I think we all have fond memories of Christmases past. 

My children are grown luckily my daughter future son in law and baby grandchild came and stayed Christmas Eve and it was one of the best yet. 

I think as we age it's ours to make the memories for the you haters to remember as they grow old.

It's all about how many gifts etc, look how many remember much more about it than the gifts.

Not sure what you mean with that I look happily back at that wrapped orange.. Not a bad memory by any stretch.

[islandgun]

Three boys in the one bedroom, biggest sock you had with an apple and orange perhaps a dinky toy and some chocolate, one big present under the tree, Table put in the front room for dinner, seconds of dinner and pud, beer for my dad, he finished the one cigar of his year watching the queens speech. monopoly after a large tea with salad and ham.................

 

so that was last year..😉

[figgy]

Hambone my phone has a habit of changing  words after you type them.

Now edited to read correctly.

[hambone]

4 minutes ago, figgy said:

Hambone my phone has a habit of changing  words after you type them.

Now edited to read correctly.

😄 Thought it didn't make sense 

[figgy]

I remember oranges in tissue paper in the 1970's probably different types of how yours were.

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, Dave-G said:

One of the earliest Christmas presents I remember was from my grandparents: An orange, wrapped in the paper they were sold in. 

 

Just after the war Oranges were a bit of a luxury , in 1948 they were nearly non existent in our area , then we had a stroke of luck , a steamer called (  Bosphorus ) was on passage to Hull , while steaming past Great Yarmouth it developed a problem and had to dump part of it's cargo into the north sea , the cargo was crates of Oranges and the majority ended up being washed up on the beach , word soon got about and the locals made of the most of there good fortune and collected them in whatever transport was available , these included prams , one wheel barrows and bags hanging from the handle bars of push bikes , according to the newspapers , they were all edible as the salt water hadn't penetrated the skins due to not being in the water for very long .

 

8 minutes ago, figgy said:

I remember oranges in tissue paper in the 1970's probably different types of how yours were.

 

[hambone]

10 hours ago, figgy said:

I remember oranges in tissue paper in the 1970's probably different types of how yours were.

That's the ones I was talking about, I think it was more of a tradition than because of a scarcity of oranges. 

[Blackpowder]

15 hours ago, Dave-G said:

One of the earliest Christmas presents I remember was from my grandparents: An orange, wrapped in the paper they were sold in. 

 

And the bonus was that paper made softer toilet tissue than yesterdays newspaper.

Blackpowder

[Pistol p]

[Vince Green]

When in my 20s I worked in a very large factory employing about 6000 people. There were numerous Christmas Clubs where on payday you would collect your pay and then go and pay £1 or what ever into the club. Christmas week the clubs all paid out and the local shops had an absolute bonanza.

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, Vince Green said:

When in my 20s I worked in a very large factory employing about 6000 people. There were numerous Christmas Clubs where on payday you would collect your pay and then go and pay £1 or what ever into the club. Christmas week the clubs all paid out and the local shops had an absolute bonanza.

We seemed to have Christmas clubs for everything , a meat club at the butchers , a club at the village stores and also one at the pub , it was my job on a Friday night to go round my aunts and uncles who lived on the same road and collect there saving cards and a shilling or a two bob piece and take it in the snug at the pub , they would the amount of money in there book and then mark it up in the cards , every so often the landlord who was a good old boy would stick his hand in the biscuit jar and give me a big round biscuit that was about twice the size of a chocolate biscuit that we would have now.

Another thing that was looked forward to was the electric meter man come to empty the meter , he would empty it on the table and put the 5p in piles of a pound , after he had sorted it all out he would give my mum two or three piles as a rebate , which to my mum was like a gift from heaven  around Christmas time.

Can you remember the meter man ? if you had a meter that is .

[Grandalf]

I can indeed.   The gas meter in our case.   No electricity until 1957 in our council house in Berkshire.

The rebate was the same.   Straight out of the coin box. 

Manner from Heaven.