Then and now - Christmas things you don't see any more

[housemum]

I was buying some Christmas cards in Sainsbury's and for some reason remembered how we bought cards in my childhood (1970s). I remember going into Woolworths, where you bought a selection box of 20/40 different cards. Mum would spend ages looking through the boxes, but whichever you chose there would always be a couple of really naff kitten-looking-at-a-bauble cards and that dismal brown-tinted sheep-in-the-snow painting. Everywhere now sells a couple of designs only in a pack. Also whatever happened to:

Paper chain garlands, like a honeycomb that stretched out and you pinned to the ceiling

foil garlands - the expensive version of the paper ones

matt wrapping paper by the sheet, usually with the print a little off-centre on each colour. Up until a few years ago I bought this from the local cheap market, and used it to differentiate Father Christmas presents.

Peanuts and cashews in ring pull cans (usually given as gifts - whoopee! )

Christmas tree lights shaped like Victorian lanterns

Christmas may have been tacky back then but it seemed cosier when everything was less "tasteful" :)

Right update I can`t find a Japanese water garden though there are tutorials for making flowers open in water so you could do you own. I found magic fairy beans
here.

I`m going to do myself a retro stocking altair book amazon, something tacky and smelly avon talc ? and an annual off ebay.

Where do you all live?

You can still get nearly all the stuff mentioned here in the shops in my west of Scotland town!

What a lovely thread. Made me feel very nostalgic, as I remember so many things you've all mentioned.
It's made me think that I must thank my dm for making every Christmas so special and exciting when I was young. Now I have 2 dcs of my own I realise how much hard bloody work it is.
I hope I make Christmas as special for my 2 and give them some fab memories too.

Dancake Truffles - these were my favourite. Cheap and full of additives but very tasty. Haven't been able to find them this year. Any suggestions anyone?

I still have my mums Christmas lights shaped like Victorian Lanterns

sands we had one of those Santa sleigh cardboard things. When it ripped I demanded a new one I think we had it until my parents split up and sold the house about 12 yrs ago

GoEasyPudding What an amazing post, loved reading it! So true abut how all the effort is worth it for the memories we create!

And how lucky you are to have that film, to have captured your family for that moment in time as they were. So very lucky!

Has anyone mentioned bath cubes? I can still smell them!

God yes, no gift set was complete without the obligatory 3 bath cubes. Do you still get them?

Dh and I were talking about bath salts in Boots today (where you can still buy posh Dead Sea ones). He didn't know that you could make your own with a bag of bath salts for tuppence ha'penny from the chemist, some perfume and food colouring. Don't know what he was doing when I was watching Blue Peter (every Christmas circa 1977-87 - make sure grans and aunties are out of the room people!)

being Scottish we used to get the Broons or Oor Wullie (they alternated ) and I have got them goig back to 1980. That would be around the first one I got, as I used to get twinkle then Mandy or Bunty as I got older

great thread - I am old, so yes to foil garland decorations strung diagonally, and honeycomb bells and snowmen, and angel hair which triggered asthma attacks, and wooden boxes of dates and bath cubes and talcum powder...gosh it takes me back!
we still have multicoloured lights though DD1 tells me they are naff, and ancient decorations of every colour, shape and size but we add a new funky one every year so our tree looks like it has been decorated by Liberace and Elton John. No classy themes here I'm afraid, although we do bring fresh holly and ivy in from the garden and have lots of white church candles on the hearth.
My favourite decoration always goes on the tree first - i stole him from my father's Christmas tree many years ago (my parents splitup, long story). he is made of pale blue tin and about 3 inches high - a small, inscrutable chinaman with this arms tucked in his sleeves and a long flowing silver beard.I thought for years he was a Santa, but he's a china man. I love him.

Does anyone remember hollow chocolate figures for the tree. I am sure we had snow white and the seven dwalves on year.

You will find Advent calendars without chocolate in this house every year. A chocolate Advent calendar has never darkened my door, and never ever will. Ditto to Barbie, Ben10 or any other godforsaken cartoon character totally unrelated to Christmas.

Every year I try to find hollow chocolate figures for the tree and every year I fail. I'm sure I saw some in Aldi, but couldn't find them when I went back again. Anyone know where to get them?

Db & I used to specialise in unwrapping hollow chocolate decorations, eating the chocolate, rearranging the foil so that it looked like the chocolate was still inside and then hanging them back on the tree.

Dn (5) did this to one of the decorations on my mum's tree last year, albeit poorly (he'll learn). SIL gave him a massive row, but I'll admit to a feeling of misplaced pride and nostalgia

yay for gaelicsheep - another one here who wont give in to chocolate advent calendars!

Does anyone remember those decorations which were usually gold foil with red lettering which spelt "Merry Christmas" ? We had one of those up every year - despite the fact the second "r" got ripped off in about 1979

have loved this thread and spent an hour looking at foil and paper decorations on ebay! definately planning on getting some coloured fairy
lights and doing some crepe paper streamers this year!

we bought hollow chocolate tree decs from aldi last year.

I used to love the selection stockings that always had opal fruits and a topic..we used to get one every year!

It was the only time of year we had pop. We had it delivered by the unigate milkman in a crate. Cola, Lemonade, Orangeade, Cherryade, Limeade and bloody Cream Soda (yuk) - 1 bottle of each (I used to sneak tiny amounts hoping no one would notice)

We always had eat me dates but only my Mummy liked them and Paper decorations that were put up with drawing pins - I managed to buy some of these lovely things in Holland where they seem to be standard fayre still. I also have a collection of fold out concertina decorations, these seem to turn up in pound shops.

My Mummy would have one Harveys Bristol Cream on the day, my Dad a stout with lunch and I was allowed a Babycham in a babycham glass - i thought it was the height of sophistication.

Oh and lametta hanging out of the cats bum is a favourite childhood memory too

I always wished for a soap on a rope but got those awful bath cubes (surely bath bombs are similar?) with some bath oil capsules in green or red.
If anyone comes across a box of orange and lemon slices that are not made in China, let me know please - Christmas isn't Christmas without those and a box of sugared almonds.

Lilymaid I remember those little coloured capsules with bath oil int ehm. They used to melt ( and I use the term melt loosely as mine hardly ever did)in the bath and end up sticking to the side for ages afterwards!

Soap with pictures on - I used to love these, but they would sit on the shelf for ages as I didn't want to use them!

We got hollow Christmas tree chocs from Lidl last year Gaelicsheep and I'm sure that I've seen them again this year. Head for the life-sized chocolate FCs (Ok I may be exaggerating a little) and you're in the right place. .

Nothing misplaced about that pride Suzikettles, the girl will go far !