Retro Christmases

[Grinchycrinchy]

I was born late 70’s, so an 80’s kid, 90’s teen.

The things I remember from childhood Christmases were..selection boxes, Jackie annual, Wizard, huge gatherings with relatives drinking and smoking in the houses, a Father Christmas float that came down the street, a feeling of complete excitement and magic

Anyone else?

Holly hobbie & Sindy dolls, whimsies and an assortment of lush smelling novelty rubbers (erasers not condoms..) as gifts. Going through the Argos catalogue for hours on end marking pages and product numbers with the stolen mini pen.

Snowballs, Harvey Wallbangers, cheese straws & turkey vol au vents, oh and the peanut cracknell quality streets.

Paper chains made at school, if your tongue wasn’t on fire it was so dry you hadn’t made a long enough chain. The huge flower or star shaped lights for the tree, lametta that stuck to the tree in a huge clump when you threw it in the general direction of said tree.

Dad breaking countless sets of nutcrackers, mum patiently playing Monopoly for hours on end finally making her escape to walk the dog. Nan smoking in the house after a sweet Sherry. Being kicked out of your bedroom and sleeping on an air bed in the dining room as guests got your bed.

Morecombe & Wise, Two Ronnies and Only Fools Christmas specials.

Happy days

Highlight was the annual Christmas party at the local working men's club with party games and a gift off Father Christmas. All the girls would wear long dresses.

All over Christmas week we would have a buffet tea at a different family members house, seems ridiculous now as it was the same group of people, eating the same type of food, just in a different house each day

Matchmakers don't taste the same now they've gone long, I preferred them when they were match sized!

@mbosnz - some things never change, the sallies still do the back of the truck carol singing, and some of us still have a roast and Christmas pud in summer! However, it's cool here today with even a bit of rain. Tbh I can only remember a handful of actual hot Christmas Days, in Canterbury anyway.

@WhereDoMyBluebirdsFly

My little sister got the ultra desirable Mr Frosty one year - God he was hard work. You’d have to balance him & hold him down as he could barely withstand the weight of an ice cube then after 15 mins of real hard labour trying to grind the ice you were lucky to get a little thimbleful of ‘slush’ to drink with your bother & sister. We still loved that chap though!

I'm a 60s child. I was my nana's only grandchild, so if there was anything I especially wanted to get for Christmas I always asked her for it! She was a dressmaker and you should have seen the gorgeous clothes my doll wore. I'm in NZ and towns always held a Christmas parade, and they still do. In our little town it was held on Christmas Eve which was magical. We had some older unmarried rellies who always came to us for Christmas, happy memories.

Just remembered the Tandy brand name for its knock-off versions of popular 80s electronics - 'Radioshack'.

I wasn't allowed a Mr frosty as my parents said it would be a '5 minute wonder', so my lovely aunt got me one for my 18th with a bottle of flavoured vodka!! It was really hard work did not make slush puppies just ice dust and only got used once......

Love this thread!
Foil decorations were height of sophistication! Fake tree with multi coloured fairy lights, always made those concertina paper lanterns at school.
Dads annual works outing to pantomime ,all the kids were given a sausage roll in a paper bag to eat on the coach .
Nuts in shells and dates ( yuk)
Quality street in a proper sized tin, desperate for xmas dinner to be over before totp xmas special came on. Mum always wanting to listen to the queens speech.
Silver spring float delivering fizzy drinks that we were only allowed at xmas.
Visiting Father Christmas at the co-op and going on a "sleigh ride" to get to him ( moving ride with glow in the dark rolling scenery to make it look like you were moving- magical ) but then just leaving through a door to go back into the shop
Always Sindy, never heard of barbie-But i only got the basic ballerina doll! Did however have Mr frostie and mini Cadbury chocolate bar money box.
Marking off your xmas viewing on radio and tv times

my parents said it would be a '5 minute wonder'

That was my parents' stock answer for anything they didn't want us to have.

I was a late 70s baby and one of the things I really remember is the huge net stocking shaped selection pack full of chocolate. It was amazing!

Born “76. Love this thread. We’ve got Vienetta on Xmas day

My mum.used to have xmas tins - each week she would buy sweets from the sweet shop opposite her job and individual chocolate Christmas decorations.

The tree was silver/white and i was allowed to put the red berries on the ends. The competition between my mum and her ILs for the best tree was fierce (ours was always the best).

The hostess trolley with the posh bowls for nuts, chocolates, dates etc. Quality street, never roses.

Fierce arguments every single year, eith threats of no Christmas, my dad assuring me it would all be ok in the end. The relief when dinner was done and the shouting stopped.

Alwsys roast potatoes AND mash. All the pickles

Colouring book and 30 felt tip pens were the highlight of the day and even though i was quite spoilt and got pretty much everything i wanted i was sad when the colouring books stopped.

Etch a sketch, sindy not Barbie - my mum.didnt approve of barbie.

Being allowed to make gift tags from the previous years christmas cards and pinking shears

The first thing that sprang to my mind (child of 76) was balls. Melon balls and roast potato balls. Also weird duchess potato which was mashed piped and then baked - very fancy 😂😂

No treats to be opened before Christmas Day and one tin of quality street lasting a week!!!

Christmas TOTP being my highlight and the Christmas movie! I still buy the Christmas radio times and highlight all the programmes I want to watch (but never do!).

The nuts in shells were always left until last!

Gifts of miniature weaving loom kits (impossible) and basket weaving kits (doable)
Moulds of kittens, Mrs Tiggywinkle etc that you painted. Loved pouring plaster of paris into them. Always asked for a new mould each Christmas and birthday. Used to give finished ones as presents sometimes.. with my name carved into the base.. lucky recipients!
Whimsies in stocking.
Letrasets.. who remembers those??! And Remus books ..what were they ? Were stickers involved?

Born mid 60s, so the era of
Concertinas tissue paper secs
Paper chains
Fruit cocktail and evaporated milk on Boxing Day
A glass of advocat, aged 11
Parlour games
Sugar mice

@alltoomuchrightnow Ah I loved the clay set thingies too with the moulds.
Remember letrasets and a similar ish one with shapes?
Loved the huge net stockings filled with selection bars 😂
Tins of quality street were indeed huge and very deep and lasted for ages

1970s. The big Co-op in town had a typically 1970s window display with a Father Christmas (shop dummy in a red nylon suit & nylon beard) & fake snow made from tiny polysteryne balls. I found it magical & fascinating.

Presents wrapped in that thin & non-shiny paper. So exciting.

Father Christmas knocking on the door with a present from the Lions Club, usually a little book & a large tube of fruit pastilles.

Going with dad after the infants' school Christmas party (school dinner at noon, party tea at 2pm- it's a wonder we weren't all sick) to buy the tree. We had purple baubles, one string of multi-coloured lights, & lots of silver lametta.

I only have to hear Johnny Mathis sing When A Child Is Born & I'm back there. Sheer magic!

I was always told I was 'made in the 70's', but didn't understand, as my birthday was in the spring of 1980...

I remember in around 1991 my DM and her sister and my DSis and cousins all trooping along to midnight mass and feeling hugely embarrassed cos my Mum and Aunt were pissed and couldn't stop giggling.

My DSis got a Mr Frosty one year - it was shit. Basically a plastic framed rotating (hand powered) metal cheese grater (to break up the ice cubes) and a few sachets of really sweet, sickly flavouring.

I remember there being lots of vol au vents and Christmas dinner was always served with a starter of prawn cocktail, which us kids hated. Our DDad would serve us tiny triangles of buttered brown bread, iceberg lettuce with cucumber and red pepper and 2 prawns per child - which we had to eat before we were allowed to have any turkey!

Born 85 and I remember lots of these!

One big change is Christmas cards - lots now are so beautiful and minimalist. I remember my mum every year buying a cheap pack of 50 cards in a box and they were all just random - cute ones, ‘funny’ ones, twee ones. some with a religious verse in, and choosing for each person - now you just buy a box of 10 identical gorgeous cards

And Remus books ..what were they ? Were stickers involved?

Yes, I remember those. There was a selection of stickers that you had to stick over the matching picture in the book. I'm not sure what the point of that was!

It might be more eco friendly now but I miss the volume of cards my parents used to receive - probably 200 or so. Exciting as a child and there were special gold cardboard things to help display them as nobody would have shelf space enough!

Not read the full thread but

Compendium of games
Those sugared York fruits

And my mum always got a Tunis cake

Remus also did “play kits” which were various starter kits - I loved them, would spend ours doing basic sewing etc.

Same era as OP. Christmas decorations on steroids, tree and ceiling heaving with tinsel. Parents up till midnight prepping food. Everyone getting dressed up for Christmas. Mum slogging in kitchen all day. Eating all day. Special Christmas tablecloth. Same 10 Christmas songs on repeat. Chocolate selection boxes. Dad loudly ringing around relatives. Dad asleep on sofa at 8pm. Watching Die Hard. Loud music. Never forgot the year I got my first CD player and received 3 copies of the album ‘Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em’ by MC Hammer.

I got a record player for my 11th birthday and an album I wanted from my grandparents - that was my Christmas sorted out that year!