Christmas When You Were Growing Up

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

It's interesting that a lot of people say that they are "starting a tradition" - the question is, how do we know it will be a tradition if it has only just started? That so-called tradition could possibly only happen just for that year (or a couple of years at the most) and then it stops. It needs to run for many years before anyone can call it a tradition, and I bet that even Christmas was like that back in the first century.

The Queen (or "The King" before her) has broadcast on television at 3.00 pm on Christmas Day since the 1950s at least, and has prepared a speech since the 1930s - now that is traditional to recent generations, but it is a relatively new thing when one thinks of how a lot of traditions have been going on.

[staffslad]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

The thing about the 1930s as I have said before is that most archive evidence of anything like that would almost certainly be in black and white - there are very few people still around who would probably remember detail from the 1930s like that.

When one thinks about Rudolf as in the song, we think of his red nose as a characteristic, don't we? The irony is that these days "red noses" are more associated with Comic Relief rather than Christmas, and I bet that one or two people would assume that connection as well. As the song ends "you'll go down in history". Quite right too.

Wasn't that song first performed in the 1940s and if that was the case, it is seen as relatively recent in terms of how long traditions associated with Christmas have been going on?

Yes, I think there is quite a bit of truth to that. Traditians that we assume to be very old are actually fairly recent. That makes me wonder how Christmas traditians will change and evolve over the decades to come. I have little doubt that Christmas itself will survive, but how it will be celebrated in 50 or 100 years time is interesting.

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

Prior to the 30s he was depicted in various colours, red being the most common, but I can't say that green was one of them.

This is similar to how Rudolf has been associated as the most prominent reindeer to the detriment of the traditional eight. Ask the average person on the street to name one of the reindeer and most probably it will be Rudolf.

The thing about the 1930s as I have said before is that most archive evidence of anything like that would almost certainly be in black and white - there are very few people still around who would probably remember detail from the 1930s like that.

When one thinks about Rudolf as in the song, we think of his red nose as a characteristic, don't we? The irony is that these days "red noses" are more associated with Comic Relief rather than Christmas, and I bet that one or two people would assume that connection as well. As the song ends "you'll go down in history". Quite right too.

Wasn't that song first performed in the 1940s and if that was the case, it is seen as relatively recent in terms of how long traditions associated with Christmas have been going on?

[Richard1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

Until I looked up about Rudolf, I didn't know how recent he had been created.

[staffslad]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

A lot of Christmas cards may look Victorian, but they have been reproduced quite lot in a traditional way throughout the 20th century and almost to the present day - they probably would have updated the Father Christmas outfit to make it relevant to how people think of him these days. I don't think I have seen any evidence of Father Christmas wearing green - some of the elves, yes, not the big man himself.

Prior to the 30s he was depicted in various colours, red being the most common, but I can't say that green was one of them.

This is similar to how Rudolf has been associated as the most prominent reindeer to the detriment of the traditional eight. Ask the average person on the street to name one of the reindeer and most probably it will be Rudolf.

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

Yes there's plenty of Victorian Christmas cards with Santa Claus wearing red & white, among other colours, but it seemed to be Coca Cola that put those colours into the public consciousness.

A lot of Christmas cards may look Victorian, but they have been reproduced quite lot in a traditional way throughout the 20th century and almost to the present day - they probably would have updated the Father Christmas outfit to make it relevant to how people think of him these days. I don't think I have seen any evidence of Father Christmas wearing green - some of the elves, yes, not the big man himself.

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

My understanding is that he was depicted in different colours, though red was still the most common, and the Coca Cola ad campaign of the 30s just cemented red in the public consciousness as the colour associated with the character.

I don't like to think that the tradition of how Father Christmas looks is lined to a commercialised product as it feels wrong even if we think of red as being traditional - it has comparisons in many ways with people who used to say that the black door of 10 Downing Street used to be a colour other than black, or the big red book on This is Your Life used to be green and so on. Things are supposed to be of a traditional colour. Gold post boxes, anyone?

The irony with advertising in the 1930s is that it was seen in a monochrome form, be it in a newspaper or on television in the United States if they had them back then - not a bad way of getting the colour red across back then!

When you think about it, a lot of judges in courts wear a red cloak which are similar to Father Christmas' "uniform" - I assume that the tradition comes from that when people in authority in the 18th and 19th centuries used to wear red cloaks.

[Richard1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

My understanding is that he was depicted in different colours, though red was still the most common, and the Coca Cola ad campaign of the 30s just cemented red in the public consciousness as the colour associated with the character.

Yes there's plenty of Victorian Christmas cards with Santa Claus wearing red & white, among other colours, but it seemed to be Coca Cola that put those colours into the public consciousness.

[staffslad]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

The fact that Father Christmas' red cloak was because of Coca Cola's branding just shows you how Christmas has been commercialised even may decades ago - his cloak used to be green prior to that I seem to remember reading.

My understanding is that he was depicted in different colours, though red was still the most common, and the Coca Cola ad campaign of the 30s just cemented red in the public consciousness as the colour associated with the character.

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

The fact that Father Christmas' red cloak was because of Coca Cola's branding just shows you how Christmas has been commercialised even may decades ago - his cloak used to be green prior to that I seem to remember reading.

[Donald the Great]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

You were sooo close

We watch the Albert Finney one . .. love it when he " sees the light " and starts spending !!

Then the newer Jim Carey version .

Those two are so different yet sooo marvellous in their own ways


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The great Alistair Sims is my fav Scrooge.

[Richard1978]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

I always try to watch It's A Wonderful Life or one of the Home Alone films.

[darren]

Re: Christmas When You Were Growing Up

Yes jemima it is so commercialised nowadays.

I remember one time we had a real tree and pine needles falling everywhere.
My mind a tad hazy Ii think i remembered than pine needle tree.

most years we had this tiny tree that im sure we sat on top of the tv cant do it now as tellies are very thin.

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.

[Zincubus]

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

You were sooo close

We watch the Albert Finney one . .. love it when he " sees the light " and starts spending !!

Then the newer Jim Carey version .

Those two are so different yet sooo marvellous in their own ways


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[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