Christmas in the 1950's ii

Before the days of Disneyland style multicolour house decoration, strobe lighting and epileptic-fit-inducing flashing strings of fluorescent fantasy, we used to decorate for Christmas in a very different way.

On Christmas Eve you would get the bus into town. Cities Towns and villages would have, in the centre, a painted background enormous crib scene, with painted plaster versions of Joseph, Mary, Jesus, shepherds, Wise men and various animals, in various states of shabbiness, because you could walk among them and stroke the animals, (the sheep were repainted more often as a result.)

And you could toss a bit of straw about when the parents’ eyes wandered to the tea stall next door. Health and safety regulations had not been invented then so it was not unusual to see children running round at high speed, occasionally leaping onto a horse or cow, or swinging from the scaffolding poles that held the ‘stable’ together.

Other stalls would be selling fruit and veg; geese and turkeys freshly killed would hang from butchers hooks; Turkish delight and crystallised fruit would tempt us in exotic eastern decorated bamboo boxes and the stalls themselves would be gloriously decked out with real greenery, firs, holly, ivy and mistletoe. Oranges were wrapped individually in coloured tissue, ready to go into childrens’ Christmas stockings. The Christmas tree was bought for 5 shillings, rooted to replant or chopped, if you only had a small backyard like us.

Then, Christmas Eve the work began. Peeling the potatoes, carrots, putting the cross on the base of each Brussel sprout (so that you could boil them to death.) Then stuffing to make. Mincemeat which had been made in October along with the Christmas cake would be spooned into the pastry cases you had made earlier and then put into the oven to cook. No cellophane, plastic or cardboard to bin, no preservatives or fridges to make things last.

While the food was prepared in the kitchen, Dad would be in the front room (which was only used for big events), keeping the children from getting over-excited by decorating the Christmas tree, which he had put in a big tub, usually a bucket.

There would be baubles made of glass, a straw angel on the top, cotton wool snow, fairy lights with tiny coloured bulbs - which often died or tripped the wiring, causing sparks to fly - and figures made from wood, alabaster or paper, from the scene at Bethlehem, baby Jesus in a tiny crib.

Then, if we had any energy left we would glue strips of coloured paper into chains, which Dad would hang on the walls while we slept and which would greet us on Christmas morning after we had delved into the Christmas stocking (one of Dad’s socks) and taken out the orange, notebook and pencil, a toy car or small doll and a whistle or other musical item with which to annoy the grownups. My favourite present of all time was a wind-up sparkling Cinderella and Prince Charming musical toy which danced when you wound it up.

Many years later I discovered that it was Granny, not Father Christmas, who provided it.

Jean Taylor