Christmas When You Were Growing Up

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

In the 80s when I had a video recorder I would record all the kids shows, particularly on Christmas Day, then when my cousin's or friends' kids visited I would play the tape knowing they had almost certainly not seen them due to being too excited with their new toys. It's funny, but that is something I miss about Christmas now I have no-one to record them for.

It wasn't until 1991 when I started to do that as well - I heard that I was going to become an uncle and that my nephew was to be born the following June, so as I got a pack of two Bush E240 blank tapes from Woolworths while doing Christmas shopping in Leicester, and I decided to record some programmes for when he was older and could see them.

I don't have the tapes anymore, but I recorded the premiere of Father Christmas from Channel 4 as well as that year's showing of The Snowman. I also recorded a CFF film seen during the early hours of the morning, and also a Disney film complete with the Central region sales adverts on them. It was only many years later that I recorded The Queen, the Midnight Mass and other traditional stuff each year.

Back to the present (and I don't mean "Christmas" present): I went to do a huge food shopping spree at Asda this afternoon and anyone would have thought it was December 5th instead of November 5th! The manufacturers probably think that Christmas is a month earlier this year - just like last year, the year before and so on.

[Jemima]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

What a thoughtful thing to do George, you must be a lovely uncle I know what you mean about the trolleys looking like it's Christmas already, earlier on it was chaos in Tesco, there was a manic feel in the air and people had trolleys bulging with Quality Street, boxes of peanuts, boxes of biscuits, cranberry sauce, crackers the lot!!

[Zincubus]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

What a thoughtful thing to do George, you must be a lovely uncle I know what you mean about the trolleys looking like it's Christmas already, earlier on it was chaos in Tesco, there was a manic feel in the air and people had trolleys bulging with Quality Street, boxes of peanuts, boxes of biscuits, cranberry sauce, crackers the lot!!

I wish Christmas palaver would begin 1st December and no sooner !!

There have been xmas movies on Sky since early OCTOBER !!!


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[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

I wouldn't be surprised it shops had started to sell advent calendars with 54 windows on them!

I don't know about this year, but last year Clinton Cards (in Nottingham's Victoria Centre at least) were selling boxes of Christmas cards in the third week of September. I am a shamed to say that I bought half a dozen boxes of them in that month as well.

A word in the ears of the Greeting Cards Association might not be a bad idea...

[Donald the Great]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

My mother always made the Christmas pudding. A Chrissie pud was not a Chrissie pud without the addition of hidden coins. The hunt was on for who found the most money.They were the recipient of a special gift from memory. When it came to the Chrissie tree, there was none of the plastic trees of today. We had the real thing when I was growing up. Every Christmas Eve my Dad would bring home a fir tree. He would drive into the nearby national park and purloin one. How he avoided detection by the police is anyone's guess. We kids spent hours making decorations out of coloured paper (no lites or even tinsel in those days). This was joined by hanging wooden decorations and shiny colored baubels. A large figure of an angel always adorned the tip of our tree. I recall on Christmas Eve Santa (Mum or Dad dressed up) coming into my room when myself and my brother were supposed to be asleep and placing our presents at the foot of our beds. Once they had arrived I could then sleep. Come morning and we not only had those on our beds but an assortment of wrapped goodies under the Chrissie tree. I have wonderful memories of my childhood Christmas. It is such a magical time for children.

[Jemima]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

What wonderful memories Donald, we NEVER forget the magic of our childhood Christmases do we, l think they stay with us forever. It sounds like you had some very special ones...coins in the handmade pudding, real Christmas tree your Dad brought home ( l do love a real one), and the simple pleasures of making the tree decorations, memories to treasure indeed. It's all become so commercialised now.

[staffslad]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

My mom used to make at least 2 Christmas puddings each year: 1 for Christmas Day and another for Easter Sunday, plus sometimes 1 for someone else. She put the fruit in brandy and let it soak for a few days or maybe a week. We all used to take it in turns to stir the puddings--can't recall if that was to bring good luck. She would put 6d coins in the puddings and then 5p coins after decimalisation--I think the coins had to be silver. She would do this in September. The Christmas cake would also have its fruit soaking in brandy for a week and she always used traditional icing made from icing sugar with a bit of lemon essence in it to take away too much sweetness, not that awful roll icing that seems to cover most shop-bought Christmas cakes nowadays. The cake would also have a thick layer of marzipan below the icing.

I can't remember having a real tree, it was always artificial as far as I recall, but it lasted many years. Our decorations were a mix of shop-bought and homemade, with the same ones being used year after year.

Food items like dates and figs we would have only at Christmas, together with a bottle of cheap Spanish white wine. A mince pie and a tot of whisky would be left out for Father Christmas, and a carrot and glass of milk for Rudolf--perhaps Rudolf shared with the other reindeer.

My grandmother always made the mince pies and they were honestly the best I have ever tasted. She made hundreds each year. Neighbours would give her ingredients and ask her to make their mince pies. I don't think I tasted a shop-bought mince pie until I was in my twenties.

My dad knew the local farmers and one would give him a fresh turkey every year. He and I would collect it on Christmas Eve morning and my dad would take the farmer something in return.

On Christmas Day morning you would see kids running around kicking new footballs and riding new bikes, and lots of girls pushing dolls' prams. Today, most kids are indoors Christmas Day playing on their new IPhones, games consoles and so forth.

My grandparents lived about 200 yards away so after opening presents I would run round to wish them a happy Christmas and there would be a selection box waiting for me as well as their present which I had already opened at home. My grandfather had terrible arthritis and was bedridden, so my mom and dad would cook my grandparents' dinner with ours and take it to them. Around 4pm we would all go there for tea. After my grandfather died my grandmother would come to our house and spend all day with us, then would do the same at my uncle's house on Boxing Day.

Also on Christmas Day morning in the 80s, we would go round to our next door neighbours' house to wish them happy Christmas and their kids would show me all the toys they had gotten.

Back in those days Christmas seemed to come very suddenly, rather than being the long drawn out process it is now. Commercialisation has always been present in Christmas, but I would agree that it is now at a far higher level than it was, with people feeling pressured to spend money they cannot afford on expensive presents, mountains of food and drink etc in an effort to capture the perfect, idealised Christmas that adverts and the mass media like to portray.

[tex]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

I am one of six children and christmas was undoubtedly a very expensive time for my mam and dad, however we always had piles of pressies not under the tree but in seperate piles around the sitting room for each of us. Jimmy saville would be on telly on the kiddies ward, then we would watch the wizard of oz while mam was sweating in the kitchen.

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

My Mum used to make at least 2 Christmas puddings each year: 1 for Christmas Day and another for Easter Sunday,

A Christmas Pudding for Easter? Are they in the shops all year round, I wonder?

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

I just read that you said that your mother made it, and not bought it. Still, it is very unusual to have traditional Christmas food at Easter.

[staffslad]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

I just read that you said that your mother made it, and not bought it. Still, it is very unusual to have traditional Christmas food at Easter.

Yes, we had a homemade Christmas pudding on Easter Sunday for decades. We still do, only now my wife buys 2 puddings prior to Christmas as my mother passed away a few years ago.

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

If we play our cards right, the Easter eggs might be in the shops in time for Christmas.

[Donald the Great]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

What wonderful memories Donald, we NEVER forget the magic of our childhood Christmases do we, l think they stay with us forever. It sounds like you had some very special ones...coins in the handmade pudding, real Christmas tree your Dad brought home ( l do love a real one), and the simple pleasures of making the tree decorations, memories to treasure indeed. It's all become so commercialised now.

Yes wonderful memories Jemima. You can not commercialise a special time like Christmas. It is tradition and tradition must be retained.

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

Yes wonderful memories Jemima. You can not commercialise a special time like Christmas. It is tradition and tradition must be retained.

The problem that Christmas is too commercialised, and yes, it should remain as a tradition.

[tex]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

Christmas movies i MUST watch every year....

Scrooge....Albert finney version
Scrooge....Alistair sim version
Muppets christmas carol .................................... THATS A WHOLE LOTTA SCROOGE!
miracle on 34th st
Deck the halls