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Christmas in the Fifties — 19 Comments

  1. Yup, similar here, but without the Mass. mind you, by the time the sixties and seventies came around, batteries were starting to creep in πŸ˜‰

    • And bloody brazil nuts, which took an age to break into. I always had bloody Brazil nuts in my stocking. You could never get them out whole, no matter how careful you were with the nutcrackers. And chocolate Father Christmases which were made of some stuff which wasn’t real chocolate and tasted like shit, but I ate them anyway. And yes, the obligatory orange in the toe, and if you were lucky, a mandarin in the heel.

  2. We always had chicken which was comparatively expensive in those days.

    I’d forgotten ‘Eat Me’ dates – did anyone really like them?

    Happy Christmas, everyone.

  3. Ah yes… Dates!  I had forgotten about the dates.  They came in a little wooden box with rounded ends [that was afterwards used as a pencil case afterwards].  Sticky as hell and no one liked them.  Used to feed them to the dog who then spent the next couple of days crapping everywhere.

    • Yes, it’s funny about the dates. They always came in those boxes, and they were always crap, and yet when you buy dates in the market here, they really are quite delicious. Not nearly as sticky, and not compressed. I’ve never really thought about it, but perhaps the ones in the box were dried, and the ones I buy in the market are fresh? Dunno. They’re the same colour.

      Oh, edited to wish all and sundry who come here, not least yourself, GD, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

  4. We had that, but as good reassurance we children were not all that grand and wonderful, any runaway pride was held in check, by on top of gifts and stocking stuffers was always just a wee bit of coal chunks, tossed into the toe of the stockings, so we were made aware, there was still room for improvement come next year.

    For Christmas in 1949, see this little video of a US TV show down live on the sound stage, the same way radio was done live and not pre-recorded, a Christmas special depicting pre-1950’s, but now that has all changed into what we have today.

    Here is a Christmas special presented live on TV in December 1949, one of the very earliest ones.

    https://archive.org/details/Ruggles

     

     

  5. Father Christmas used to put up the tree and all the trimmings and make mince pies while we kids slept.  Marvelous!  “Eat Me” dates were the hallowed treasures of Grandma and no-one was allowed to nick one without her say-so.  She used to suck em through her dentures! πŸ˜€  We never had turkey – we had something called a “Cape On”  never understood that till I was older!  Sprouts boiled till they were khaki-coloured and Paxo stuffing, an apple and an orange in the grey school sock and wind-up plastic crap made in Hong-Kong that was too brittle to last till Boxing Day.  Oh yes and mass in a freezing church.  Happy Days!! πŸ˜€  All the best Grandad to you and yours!

    Forgot about the big tin of Quality Street when they tasted of proper ingredients – not like the plasticky crap we get palmed off with now. And Selection Boxes…..

  6. Just watched the grandkids open their presents must be around Β£3,000 worth at least. We got one big present and a few small things. I don’t envy parents these days. Still that virtual reality thing is fantastic.  

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