Author Topic: have christmases changed completely.  (Read 3542 times)

Alfred

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have christmases changed completely.
« on: Sep 29, 2018, 07:20:48 PM »

Like many of you i remember that as a child Christmas had a magic to it as weeks before Christmas day ,our parent s would secretly buy our presents and hide them from us, and we never knew for sure what we would get as it all depended on what our parents could afford even though they tried and did their best to give a Christmas to remember ,


do you remember making the many coloured strips of paper which we made a paper chain out of and the endless hours making enough chains to cover the walls or ceilings, depending where mother decided they would look effective, as then many decorations were made out of paper or a combination of paper and cardboard, , and in a variety of many colours,


then many shops at the time also put up decorations even small Christmas trees to enhance  the coming of Christmas,  and a number of shops got into the act almost every shop had decorations
of sorts the better shops even had electric bulbs in colours to high light their shop windows,   

and some how the Christmas spirit seemed to grow ,and glow,


and on Christmas day we opened our presents with delight .or possibly disappointment as we didn't get all that we wanted, but Christmas dinner was great the only time we gorged our selves

silly , making the most of that special day,




Q; What memories do you have of those times , and if so will you tell us about them,

zoony

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #1 on: Sep 29, 2018, 07:34:05 PM »
Sorry Alfred, too early for me mate..
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Floydian

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #2 on: Sep 29, 2018, 07:49:58 PM »
I remember us having lots of fruit and sweets in that I'd never know us to have usually. Satsuma's and muscatels, eat me dates (i hated dates but couldn't wait for them all to get eaten so i could play with the box). Sweet wise there was always turkish delight and orange and lemon slices. There would be a bottle of QC sherry and someone would always buy my dad a pack of tom thumb cigars, christmas was the only time I'd see him with a cigar (he was always a 'woodbine' man). My sister and her four kids always stayed with us for the week. It was hectic but great!
"Unbelievable, Jeff...."

fortyone

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #3 on: Sep 29, 2018, 08:37:56 PM »
Sorry Alfred, too early for me mate..
He's got to get in quick in case you know who returns. (No not Voldemort).

Alex22

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #4 on: Sep 29, 2018, 09:12:02 PM »
We don't want it cancelled again do we ?   ;D
I remember waking up Christmas morning with presents in a pillow case at the bottom of the bed, along with tangerines, sweets and nuts in a sock.  I think the excitement is still the same for kids , although they probably get too many expensive presents nowadays.
.

Diasi

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #5 on: Sep 29, 2018, 09:53:26 PM »
We don't want it cancelled again do we ?   ;D
I remember waking up Christmas morning with presents in a pillow case at the bottom of the bed, along with tangerines, sweets and nuts in a sock.  I think the excitement is still the same for kids , although they probably get too many expensive presents nowadays.

I can remember having nuts in a sock when I slipped as I was putting one of them on.
Make every day count, each day is precious.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal".  (Cassandra)

sparky

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #6 on: Sep 30, 2018, 07:37:43 AM »
Alf, Yes my memories are exactly the same as your own, and Christmas dinner chicken, Wow, the only day of the year we had it as a treat, who would have thought its one of our regular meals nowadays.

Floydian

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #7 on: Sep 30, 2018, 10:19:21 AM »
In the style of the great Alfred (Alfred the great?)


Q; Did you ever forget to remove the giblets, or if you did will you tell us what you did with them?  :)
"Unbelievable, Jeff...."

Scrumpy

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #8 on: Sep 30, 2018, 10:28:05 AM »



I remember my mum sitting by the range with a flat iron cracking the nuts..


We used to go around all the posh houses carol singing.. We even stood outside the local pub singing.. We made a bomb..
Everything will be alright in the end, and if it’s not alright, its not the end.

Floydian

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #9 on: Sep 30, 2018, 10:53:20 AM »
Ah yes, nuts. We always had nuts at christmas, not that i ever liked them but i remember there always being a bowl of walnuts, brazils, hazels and almonds on the sideboard. We had some proper nutcrackers too.
I used to go carol singing around the estate with my mates, i think people used to give us a few pennies just so we'd go away, lol. Before bonfire night we used to do the "penny for the guy" thing too, not door to door though. I also remember Halloween not being much of a big deal back then, but i recall my dad hollowing out a swede and putting a candle in it for me once and i thought it was great. We'd never even heard of a pumpkin back then, let alone see one.
But i digress...
"Unbelievable, Jeff...."

Alfred

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #10 on: Sep 30, 2018, 11:44:10 AM »

Hello Floydian,


with regards to giblets many people used them to make the gravy with but we never did,

Floydian

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #11 on: Sep 30, 2018, 12:05:15 PM »
Ugh! No, i don't think my mam did either. I wonder if you can still buy a chicken with giblets for anyone that prefers to do that?
"Unbelievable, Jeff...."

fortyone

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #12 on: Sep 30, 2018, 12:17:18 PM »
Turkey's used to come with them in a bag inside the bird. When we had the family round one year my wife had failed to spot it before stuffing and cooking. She found it when serving up and said nothing. Nobody noticed anything.


My gran always made gravy from the giblets. I didn't find this out til years later.

Scrumpy

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #13 on: Sep 30, 2018, 12:40:44 PM »



My mum,who was a cook, always used the giblets to make the gravy. It was divine...
 We made our own decorations .Paper chains using flour past glue.. We didn't have the ready made stuff... That was for the 'posh' ones up the road.   
Everything will be alright in the end, and if it’s not alright, its not the end.

crabbyob

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Re: have christmases changed completely.
« Reply #14 on: Sep 30, 2018, 12:43:11 PM »
in Bonnie Scotland we didnt do carol singing, nor penny for the guy really, but Halloween, it was second only to xmas... by the way xmas was a normal working day in Scotland
but Halloween was magical, we hollowed out our own tumshies [turnip]  and went round the doors dressed up, usually with a [god forbid] blackened face, we had to dance or sing [or even tell a joke] before we got a reward, mainly nuts and fruit, some houses had filled the tin bath with water then had apples floating and you had to put your hands behind your back and try and bite into an apple to get it... but if you couldnt manage it, they would put a hard chair up to the bath and you got a fork between your teeth which you dropped in the hope of stabbing an apple, but you only got three goes, if you left wi nowt the man of the house might just slip one into your bag... most houses had a ceiling pulley used to dry clothes when the weather demanded it, and from the pulley they hung threads and tied scones to the threads and spread black treacle on the scones, you had to put your hands behind your back once more and bite the scone...lol... the Americans say they invented trick or treat when in fact all they did was ruin Halloween.. ;D ;D ;D
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