Christmas Memories


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I remember things that only happened at Christmas. 

At one time most of us had Chicken for Christmas dinner, then along came "Turkeys" my brother and myself used to go down cattle market with my dad, chose a Turkey (then the chap would kill it" we would  take it home and hang it in the cellar to be plucked, this was always a week before Christmas. Christmas dinner was always a family occasion, one year dad brought the biggest turkey known to man and of cause it would not fit in mums oven, so it had to be cut in half. Fruit? though the year you never had much fruit but Christmas the fruit bowl was over flowing, then a visit to the beer off  where dad would always buy bottles of shorts. You name it we had it. You always went down to "Woolworths" to buy your Christmas tree and trimmings mum would never have a real tree because of the mess, two weeks before Christmas (Sunday only) the tree would be put up and decorated the Sunday after New Year it would come down.

These are just a few of my childhood memories. Have you any Christmas memories to share with members? (only child hood memories please)

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I took this photo over the weekend in Strathpeffer, Easter Ross.  It reminded me of Christmas as a young lad when we did occasionally have snow.  Anyway - I couldn't think of a better place to post it

I can remember when Mam told me Santa wasn't real. I was so upset I got in my car & drove to the pub...

Yes Jill I feel happy and contented,nothing to do with my childhood, like I 've said I didn't know any different and thought everything was the way it should be, not complaing at all, it was part of m

My father used to keep chickens in the back garden and at Christmas time there was the ritual slaughter as there was quite a local demand for the birds. It consisted of breaking their necks over a broom handle and some would run around a bit before they expired. Quite fascinating fo a small boy. We plucked and dressed our own and the others were duly delivered to the customers. The things you had to do to make a few extra bob back then!

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We never had a proper Christmas tree as we had some fir trees in the garden.  We used to cut big branches from the trees and put them in a bucket which we decorated with Christmas paper.  It used to look lovely when it was all decorated.  

I had a pillow case put on the bottom of my bed on Christmas Eve and when I woke up on Christmas morning - usually around 3 or 4am - it was full of strange shaped boxes.  I often used to open them all by myself on the bed and sometimes I even went back to sleep again!  But I do remember once shouting to my mum: " He's been!" and  she came in my room to share the present opening.

I don't remember much about the food at Christmas as I was a very fussy eater and didn't like any kind of meat or vegetables, but I think Christmas dinner was chicken (I just had bread to mop up lots of gravy!) 

We often went to visit relatives over the Christmas period, who lived on a farm in North Notts and then it was party time with lots of games and playing with my cousins, also singing carols round a piano sometimes.

 

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"He's Been". How well I remember saying that when I awoke and saw the pillow case bulging !

Then of course, mums fabulous mince pies ! 

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Used to get a clout quite often,odd times I never had any presents on the day,but on the upside I was forced to open them before christmas (usually November time) for being naughty,can't remember what I'd done wrong, killed a granny or swore at the pope whatever it was it must have been bad, ah the old memories of the ever present garden cane, don't like christmas.

Sorry for putting the mockers on it,perhaps I shouldn't have started reading this thread

 

Rog

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So sorry, Rog, that your Christmases weren't good.   It's not only made me feel sad, I feel angry as well at the injustice in your story - no child anywhere should have gone through pain and sometimes disappointment at such a special time of year.  I know worse things have probably happened to children across the world but I know YOU, and it has really affected me hearing what Christmas was like for you when you were young.  Hope you've enjoyed some Christmases since?

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Different times Rog, enjoy the present for what it is. A time of giving, and receiving, meeting family, good food and drink, and a pleasurable time for you and Mrs P. Hopefully, you'll enjoy this forthcoming one.

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Margie,I dint know any difference until I was old enough not to bother by which time it didn't matter anyway,so no hardship,you just accept what life throws at you and make the most of what you have,probably made me a better person I don't know, the main thing is I think I'm happy now

 

Rog

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I don't like Christmas either, Rog. It was fine when I was a child but there was always a sense of sadness as my mum lost her own mum at Christmas when she was quite young and several other relatives too, so it was always a reminder.

 

Much prefer spring. I hate the commercial hype around the festering season, as I call it. People pressured into spending money they can't afford, drinking and eating too much, violence erupting due to alcohol and unrealistic expectations of time spent cooped up with relatives....and that's just round at FLYs place! :blink:

 

Sorry FLY, couldn't resist! :rolleyes:

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Yup, the season of nausea is rapidly approaching. Being neither a Christian nor a Pagan this time of year has no meaning for me. I suppose it used to be a time to brighten up the miserable time of midwinter many years ago. As I’m a naturally miserable bastard I don’t want to be cheered up. My last word on a subject which I always have a yearly moan about! Roll on Spring.:jumping:

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3 hours ago, plantfit said:

Used to get a clout quite often,odd times I never had any presents on the day,but on the upside I was forced to open them before christmas (usually November time) for being naughty,can't remember what I'd done wrong, killed a granny or swore at the pope whatever it was it must have been bad, ah the old memories of the ever present garden cane, don't like christmas.

Sorry for putting the mockers on it,perhaps I shouldn't have started reading this thread

 

Rog

 

Don't feel too bad, Rog.  I never enjoyed it that much as a kid.  I always got a few presents, but my parents often seemed preoccupied with going out with friends.  At the few Chrismas parties I went to at relatives I mostly occupied myself in a corner somewhere.  Don't get me wrong.  My parents weren't bad folks.  I just tended to get left to my own devices.  As I got a bit older I tended to watch all the Christmas tv programs.  They didn't do much to lighten my mood either.

 

Even as a believer today, I am not too fond of the holiday.  We are not sure exactly when Jesus was born and the whole holiday is far too commercialized.  The hype probably leads to a replay of old memories I have no pleasure in.

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Loved Christmas as a child,completly spoit, big sack from Mam and Dad, then down Saxondale drive to my Paternal Grandparents, another big sack of goodies, had to be on best behaviour there,at the time i was their only Grandchild,

Then boxing day it was at home and most of Mams sisters and brothers came round and my Jackson Grandparents, and it was wild singing drinking and laughing,lovely times,

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Yes Jill I feel happy and contented,nothing to do with my childhood, like I 've said I didn't know any different and thought everything was the way it should be, not complaing at all, it was part of my growing up and I accepted it,anyway there was nothing I could do about things,just sit in the background and be quiet, get a clout for talking without being asked and get a clout for not talking when spoken to, no wonder I got confused,looking back though whatever happened in my childhood made me what I am today,hopefully a decent person, but if I'm not so be it,I tried and By heck I enjoy myself now with my lovely wife, and love seeing my children and grandchildren as and when I can, and feel free to do as I please

 

Rog

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I remember a christmas when i was 6/7 coming downstairs on christmas eve to see my mum filling a pillowcase, all i can remember is sitting on the stairs crying.  I must ask mum if she remembers and what she said to shut me up, her long term memory is very good so i may find out.

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There was never a lot of money in our house as children too many of us came along to quickly, so Christmas  must have been a struggle for Mam and Dad. My memories are of lots and lots of sweeties, dolly mixtures etc from the little jars in the toy Sweet shop or  Post Office that was  a staple gift every Christmas.

 

As we got older Christmas changed and we became part of the adult celebrations, joining in with the fun. Like benjamin, our home would be full of Aunts/Uncles Cousins. Lots of singing and Jitterbugging going on at one end of the living room while the younger ones would be playing games or being boisterous or watching the Tele the other end. Parents Wedding Anniversary on Christmas Day and later on ours also on Boxing Day. So double Whammy celebrations. 

I miss those unorganised, noisy and sometimes chaotic days. Our Christmases are very quiet these days. 

 

We have only one Grandchild, who will be 17 in December, so no more excited little children in our life who don't know what to do with themselves on Christmas eve. We went out for Christmas Lunch for the first time last year and we are doing it again this year. Boxing day, our anniversary will be celebrated with a few people coming round for Bubble and Squeak at lunch time and then break out with the chocs and watch the Tele till bedtime. My dearest wish would be to have one chaotic happy Christmas again with the people who were around in my childhood.

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Our Christmas day (if we aren't in Edinburgh) sees us in Skegness having a coffee and if we are lucky and the cafe is open a bacon roll followed by a walk along the beach whatever the weather, then back home for a late dinner, bliss

 

Rog

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I think I've mentioned this before but I remember 3 particular Christmases when I was little.  

The first was when I was about 4 and I got a very little toy piano that you could actually play - it only had about 8 keys but I was very excited.  I rushed into my 11 year old brother's room to show him what Father Christmas had brought  me and found out he had received a piano accordion - I think it must have been second hand but it put my little dinky piano to shame....

The second Christmas I remember was when my mum had arranged for the doll's hospital to stick some hair on my favourite doll's head (the doll's name was Sylvia and she was a pot doll originally with a bald head). I hated what she looked like with hair and eventually picked it all off.  I feel sad now as I must have hurt my mum's feelings by saying I didn't like it.

Another Christmas my mum had searched the shops to get me a present - there wasn't a lot around as it was only a few years after the war.  She got me a walking doll but I didn't really like it that much.  I called her Mary but never really played with her.  Again, I now feel so bad that Mum had gone to all that trouble for such an ungrateful child as me.  I really mean that...

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I luved Christmas when I was young, times were hard in the early 50s so it made a change from the day to day dreariness, in my late teens early 20s in became a booze fest until I married. Since then I have spent ever Christmas with my lady, Christmas Eve at home, sheepskin rug and a bottle of wine in front of the fire, Christmas morning with my folks and of to Buxton for and old fashioned time with hers.

 

Later in life I fell in love with Christmas all over again purely for selfish reasons the building trade adopted a two week holiday fro Christmas, which was great

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Margie. You talking about your 'Walking Doll' brought back a memory for me. I have a vision in my mind of me walking my doll, I don't think it had any mechanism that made the legs move. I can see myself holding my doll and pressing her right foot down whilst swinging the left foot forward and so on. A girl doll of course,  I'm not sure if boy dolls were about in those days. Anyway I wouldn't want a boy doll, not pretty enough. lol. I loved the little Celluloid dolls as well. I would play for ages with a little bit of rag for a blanket, and a box for a bed. 

 

Just been talking with SueB about our childhood Christmases ,I don't know what I'd do without her memories, she fills all my blanks in for me....and they are many. 

 

Apparently, she assures me how skilled I was on the 'Stilts'. One pair of Stilts and one Scooter between four of us. SCRAP.:biggrin:

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Carni, Did you have  paper doll's clothes which you could fix on a paper cut out doll shape?

I was a good stilt walker, too, and on the treacle tin stilts..

 

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Yes Margie, Loved them. They had the little tabs that you attached the clothes to the doll with and a slit on the hats to  slide onto the dolls head. I used to get really upset when the tabs dropped of  or the hat split through to much wear. Those were the days my friend........:)

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I don't remember us having lots of drinks kept in at Christmas, but we always had a bottle of port (maybe sherry too?) Dad would let me have a small port and lemon, so this drink and tbe smell of it, reminds me of Christmas. Can't remember what meat was on the table for dinner, perhaps Chulla can? Most likely a chicken as that was a special meat, not like today. i'm pretty sure we had a trifle after tea with silver balls decorating it. We always trimmed up with paper 'concertina' decorations strung corner to corner in the living room. Can't remember a tree. I too had a pillowcase at tbe bottom of the bed for Santa.

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