MERRY VINTAGE CHRISTMAS !

 This post is a general round-up of some things Christmassy that a child of the 1960s or 1970s will remember!

First of all, no Christmas of those decades was truly Christmas unless you had an artificial Christmas tree :) These were frequently purchased in that great old standby, Woolworths and unlike the artificial trees of today which try very hard to look as realistic as possible, our trees were unashamedly fake. Most people still favoured the traditional green but the more daring went for silver. 

I can recall quite clearly that there was  a bit of a class divide around Christmas deorations and some of the more garish and flashy items were denounced as 'common'. Although everybody shopped in Woolworths, for at least some of their Christmas acoutrements, they didn't want to look as if their house had been entirely decked out with Woolies' finest ;)

Speaking of Woolies, brings me on to fairylights.  During my childhood these were still rather temperamental things which were quite likely to cause a fuse to blow, as indeed I remember them doing on at least one occasion. They came in various sizes and shapes and usually seemed to be manufacutured by a company called Pifco. 

I have the impression that they were quite expensive. They were certainly reused from year to year and carefully maintained. The main problem was that if a single bulb went, the whole set frequently ceased to function. Sets were hauled out of storage a few days before the tree went up and checked to see if they were working and whether any bulbs needed to be replaced.

The ones that I can remember us having were a fairly standard size, neither very small nor very large, and were a kind of flower shape similar to the ones below.

Lots of our friends and neighbours had the lantern shape which were quite large and took up so much space on the tree that you really couldn't put that many decorations on, apart from tinsel and a few baubles. I imagine they were pretty expensive and were probably sold with some kind of marketing gimic involving 'save money on your decorations. These deluxe lantern lights are all you need to dress your tree' :)

But the outstanding childhood memory for me is the lights in the shape of Cinderella coaches! I can't remember where or when I first saw them. I don't think it was in a shop. I think it must have been when we went visiting, but wherever it was, I remember being absolutely entranced by them. 

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I also remember my dear mother denouncing them as 'awful, common looking things'! Old sets of them , which have survived, still come up for sale on Ebay from time to time and if I weren't worried about ending Christmas with a remake of the Towering Inferno, I would invest in them.

I can't imagine there was a house in the land without a box of baubles purchased in Woolies. 

There was no such thing either as theming your tree. You brought out the same decorations year after year and added one or two new ones each time. You didn't worry about whether things matched or looked tasteful or stylish. The decorations were literally old friends whom you hadn't seen for a year and rediscovering them each time had a special magic all of its own. The baubles were made of real glass, not plastic, and if you dropped one it shattered - another inevitable part of a vintage Christmas!

There were other glass ornaments too in all sorts of fantastical shapes and styles.

One of my favourites was a tiny bird that clipped on to a branch of the Christmas tree. I believe it came from Germany. 

Gaudy foil ornaments could be bought very cheaply and many people festooned them in quite large numbers from the ceiling, or hung them out of overhead lights. And of course folding paper ornaments which had been around since Victorian times, were still very popular. For many years we topped our Christmas tree with a paper angel, the very same as the one pictured below. It might not look very exciting but I absolutely loved it. 

Quite apart from the tree and the other trimmings, a very important part of the Christmas decor was the Christmas cards which were eagerly awaited throughout the month of December. Some people delivered them by hand, particularly if they were dropping in with an accompanying gift, but they usually arrived by post and how exciting it was, when you heard the letterbox and rushed out to the hall to see if there were any cards! 

We children were frequently given the joyous task of opening them. It was considered a treat to be allowed to pull the card from its envelope and be the first to see the picture. The prettiest were always arranged on the mantelpiece or sideboard or in some other prominent place and the overflow were hung on card holders, ribbon or string, festooned across the walls.

  

No  'designer' cards with tasteful modern themes. It was good old fashioned snow scenes featuring Victorian coaches, rosy cheeked children, crinolined ladies and tophatted gentlemen, robins, holly, candles, bells and of course, the man of the moment, Santa himself, or Father Christmas as many people still referred to him. There were quite a few religious cards too, ranging from rather solemn nativity scenes to cute little cherubs and child-angels.

With the tree in place, glowing with fairylights, decked with tinsel, glass and foil ornaments nestling in its gloriously artificial greenery and the Christmas cards displayed on every available surface, perhaps we should start to wrap the presents? To be continued.......