Does Christmas feel the same to you, when I think back to the 1950s and 1960s growing up in Wales, Christmas was a magical time, we didnt have a great deal of money but we had fun and excitement, a week or more before, we would start the decorating, stringing paper chains across the ceiling from corner to center and to the other corner, groups of balloons in between each paper trail and paper balls and bells scattered around. Our tree was a Holly bush. We had a Fur tree sometimes but most times it was a Christmas tree shaped holly bush with red berries, we covered it in tinsel and paper decorations, we didnt have lights but the tinsel would glisten and shine, it was great. We only decorated one room, and closed the door every night, in the morning I would run down the stairs and open the door, it was like stepping into another world, the smell was different in that room, a mixture of holly bush, mistletoe and chocolate, the smell only Christmas had. One of my jobs before Christmas was to walk into the woods and pick the mistletoe, only the ones with the white berries would do, I would be gone for hours and return with so much I would go around the neighbors selling it for pennies. Another memory was the Radio Times and The TV Times, weekly magazines telling you what was on the two TV channels, the Christmas editions were twice as thick and I would study them for hours picking out the movies and shows I would watch, not really thinking that others in the house would like their own shows. On Christmas Eve I would put a sock at the base of my bed, for Father Christmas to fill, of coarse it was the biggest one I had, Christmas morning it was full, a Two Shilling piece or Half a Crown in the toe with nuts and fruit filling most of the sock, chocolate, a toy and a bottle of Babycham topped it off. I wasnt allowed to eat anything from my sock until after dinner. Christmas morning I would unwrap the gifts that FC had left, a metal toy car or plane, a couple of toy soldiers, and the annual comic book The Beazer, The Dandy or The Topper. I wouldnt get all three but maybe two if I was lucky. One year I had a wooden fort, I played with that for hrs on end, I looked after it and had it for years, I knew I wouldnt get another one. I had a mix of toy figures to go with the fort, I had knights, cowboys, Indians, French foreign legionnaires, American and British army, I would have the army soldiers join forces with the cowboys to oust the knights, Indians and the French from the fort. Sometimes I made a village out of playing cards up against the fort and hide some of the Indians inside and stood them on top, and would knock them down with my matchstick firing cannon. Do kids still do this, I wonder. Christmas dinner was great, Turkey with Sage and Onion stuffing, boiled and roast potatoes, peas gravy and Yorkshire pudding, for desert or as we called it afters, we would have Christmas pudding and hot custard, my auntie would put silver sixpences in the pudding, really thinking back I was to busy looking for the money to enjoy the pudding. We would pull our Christmas Crackers and find inside a toy, a paper hat and a motto telling you that all was well in the world today and tomorrow. How things have changed, I could write more but I dont want to bore you.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:43:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015