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Original poster

If you remember these at Christmas you were a child in the 70s

313 replies

BreakfastAtMilliways · 14/12/2023 15:13

Testing the lights on December 23rd, then having to try out every one on the string to find out which one had blown…

Frantically trying to find a shop that sold spare Christmas tree lightbulbs at 3.25pm on Christmas Eve…

Lugging the tree out to the garden on January 6th, and spending the next 2 weeks hoping it wouldn’t die…

Driving (or rather being driven) into London to see the lights on Oxford Street…

Walking home from school after the carol concert and peeking through the front windows of each house on your road to see if you could spot their Christmas tree…

Arranging all the cards from your schoolmates around your bedroom…

Any more?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
FinallyFinalGirl · 14/12/2023 16:42

PastorCarrBonarra · 14/12/2023 15:20

Those “oranges and lemons” - heavily sugared confectionery in round, see-through packaging that every household bought. You can still get them but they’re not ubiquitous. Likewise, Black Magic.

I remember we had these.

If you remember these at Christmas you were a child in the 70s
Milknosugarta · 14/12/2023 16:43

Ooh, Weekend they were called. 😋

AgnesX · 14/12/2023 16:44

Dad running to the neighbours who had a shop after hours,
as he'd forgotten batteries for the boys' toys.

Mum getting out the Royal Doulton with the gold edges for Christmas dinner.

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Christmas Events & celebrations
Gloriousgardener11 · 14/12/2023 16:45

Watching the Christmas specials ‘Some Mothers Do Ave ‘Em’ and ‘Morecombe and Wise’
Trying to crack proper shelled nuts with a nutcracker and dishes of sweets like Sugared Almonds and Bon Bons.
Also satsumas were a real luxury and only seemed to be available during Christmas time.
The annual fairy light saga also happened in our house!

stepintochristmas1 · 14/12/2023 16:47

I think we must have been the last generation to get oranges in their stocking and eat them . I used to put them in my sons stockings in the 90's and they would just put them back in the fruit bowl !

Ohyoudodoyou · 14/12/2023 16:48

Lakeyloo · 14/12/2023 16:26

Making paperchains and sticking them to the ceiling with drawing pins, along with big foil lantern type decorations. The tree never went up until the week before (sometimes Christmas Eve). Newberry fruits, Powdery Turkish delight, dates in a plastic tub with a little plastic tooth pick thing, trying to crack brazil nuts with rubbish nut crackers. Being allowed a snowball or a cinzano and lemonade. Carol singing from the back of a tractor through the village. Morecambe and Wise. Really steamy kitchen windows. "Just TRY the sprouts" (love them now) Moving all of the furniture around in the living room so that the leaves of the table could be pulled out to fit everyone around. Bringing every mismatched chair and stool down so everyone had a seat. We had pillowcases instead of Christmas stockings.... always a satsuma, a couple of brazil nuts and a net of chocolate pennies in the bottom. Advent calendars with no chocolate in them, just pictures of kings, stars and Mary and Joseph on a donkey. LOADS of Christmas cards, on every mantle, shelf and window sill. My Dad cracking open a bottle of Blue Nun. Wondering who was going to break a tooth on the sixpence hidden in the Christmas pudding !
We didn't open "main" presents until after lunch so everyone mucking in to get cleaned up and make a cup of tea before we sat down and took turns opening them. My parents weren't well off and we never got expensive presents. They would save through the year and we would get a "family" present at Christmas... a colour TV one year. Lovely memories of my 70's Christmases !

You just wrote mine for me! Especially the Brazilian nuts and dates but...
Add in, Christmas 'Playaway' and your mum changing channel to out the Kings Colllege men's choir song carols. Hated it at the time but now i absolutely love that sort of carolling..

Ohyoudodoyou · 14/12/2023 16:49

And despite our compete access to every piece of music today whenever and wherever we want it, NOTHING xomoares to the excitement of finding out the Christmas number 1.

Milknosugarta · 14/12/2023 16:50

Some favourite presents I got, does anyone remember:

Shaker Maker. Like a pottery making thing that you then painted.
Spirograph. With loads of coloured pens.
Movie maker. THE best boardgame.A bit like Monoply, loads more fun. Nobody else I've asked remembers it.

PaulaPocket · 14/12/2023 16:53

@BreakfastAtMilliways

Driving (or rather being driven) into London to see the lights on Oxford Street…

Nope. Not us! Bus to Morden tube station then up on the Northern Line. And the Christmas tree from Norway in Trafalgar Square.

NooNakedJacuzziness · 14/12/2023 16:54

Smash Hits Yearbook

TeeBee · 14/12/2023 16:56

Tubes of glitter for making your own Christmas cards.

Ohyoudodoyou · 14/12/2023 17:01

Reading all your annuals in bed in Boxing Day whilst eating your selection box in this order:
Lion bar
Texan
Toffos
Jelly tots
Smarties
Fruit pastilles
Kit Kat
Fruit polos (when you'd eaten all else).

'Coz you could 'coz your mum was having a lie-in and it was your selection box. I sometimes feel like this when everyone is out and I have a whole night to myself with loads of goodies.

Justleaveitblankthen · 14/12/2023 17:02

Everyone in the class exchanging Xmas cards with each other, making a mental note who gave you the rubbish candle and Tinsle one 🤨
Adding them on a string around the living room walls to the hundreds already there.
Now we are lucky to get 4 to display - from each other 😁

Justleaveitblankthen · 14/12/2023 17:04

Tinsel
Can we have an Edit option on the App please 🙏

Original poster
BreakfastAtMilliways · 14/12/2023 17:04

Loving all these, thanks! Yep, not quite living in London (grandparents did though) but London-end Surrey. Now in deepest darkest Hampshire.

I loved Spirograph as well. The coloured biros were the best - purple biro, such a novelty at the time, now you can get them anywhere.

OP posts:
cheshirecat2 · 14/12/2023 17:04

First thing to spring to mind....Dates in a weird cardboard box...urghhhh!

crazycatladie · 14/12/2023 17:05

Bringing a labelled bowl and plate to school for the Christmas party

Shodan · 14/12/2023 17:05

Oh and those Christmas cards you coloured in yourself. Does anyone remember those?

Slitheringheights · 14/12/2023 17:07

dancing Scottish country dancing at Christmas at the school parties at primary school. Late 70s early 80s.

Rickenbackergoodgrief · 14/12/2023 17:07

crazycatladie · 14/12/2023 17:05

Bringing a labelled bowl and plate to school for the Christmas party

Yes, I remember doing this too.
I loved the school Christmas party.

ChateauDuMont · 14/12/2023 17:08

Carol singing.

penjil · 14/12/2023 17:08

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 14/12/2023 15:19

I don't remember any of the things in the OPs post. We had a teeny tiny (about twelve inch) artificial tree, no lights, just some chocolate decorations hung (carefully, or it would topple over). And we were too far from London to do the lights thing.

But we did have paperchains on the ceiling in a cross, and those fold-out poofy paper ball things!

I was reminiscing about those fold out concertina poofy things the other day - I wish they'd bring them back!!

We had a yellow bell one, and a red Santa one.

Loved the 80s.

Lakeyloo · 14/12/2023 17:08

Milknosugarta · 14/12/2023 16:50

Some favourite presents I got, does anyone remember:

Shaker Maker. Like a pottery making thing that you then painted.
Spirograph. With loads of coloured pens.
Movie maker. THE best boardgame.A bit like Monoply, loads more fun. Nobody else I've asked remembers it.

@Milknosugarta Yes ! Shaker maker and Spirograph. Absolutely loved Spirograph. I also had a fashion design toy where you had these raised plates that you traced over and then coloured in. You could swap the head, body and legs around. I think it was something to do with Girls World ?

Words · 14/12/2023 17:09

Matchmakers
Mulberry fruits
Peak freanes cocktail snacks

Slitheringheights · 14/12/2023 17:10

Singing Christmas songs round the piano at primary school.

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