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" :)

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=fisher+price+garage&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=634&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=coLv5mL5DxvxhM:&imgrefurl=pepysmotet.blogspot.com/2010/11/fisher-price.html&docid=hwN-J-Wlm6SGJM&imgurl=3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dt5tYi7uU6I/TOhAHeWuPCI/AAAAAAAAASc/6a10QnOt78w/s1600/3789507919_4e36d0411c.jpg&w=500&h=408&ei=QifETrSII8Kc8gOBuO3bAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=990&vpy=313&dur=2729&hovh=203&hovw=249&tx=161&ty=119&sig=110068976805864084785&page=1&tbnh=124&tbnw=147&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">My brothers and I had the Fisher Price Garage for Christmas, we loved it.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=1970s+girl%27s+world&num=10&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=634&tbm=isch&tbnid=sNfbN52Cjm55DM:&imgrefurl=www.greatauntpolly.com/page11.htm&docid=-y5mQuDAIkFe7M&imgurl=www.greatauntpolly.com/USERIMAGES/misc5%281%29.JPG&w=336&h=370&ei=vCfETsnoGpCQ8gOY-dSRCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=165&vpy=164&dur=34&hovh=236&hovw=214&tx=122&ty=124&sig=110068976805864084785&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=104&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">And wasn't this the freakiest present you could give a young girl??

gosh the girls world was coveted by all the girls in my class, cept me! i was a bit tomboyish.

and Pippa, remember her, she was tiny. i had a Sindy!

Ugh @ tinsel. Yuck, yuck yuck. It is banned from my house.

We used to have cardboard advent calendars too. I bought this one last year, which is fab, but I also secretly covet this one. Who can justify spending £45 on an advent calendar though? :(

I think tinsel can look nice on a tree, a very plush nice long gold or silver garland wound around the layers of a real tree.

Not coloured tinsel though - we had the same balding, stiff tinsel in bright red, pink, green, blue, silver etc for probably more than 20 years. I think my mum only threw it out a few years ago

i love tinsel. got to be thicker stuff tho, and like u say on a real tree.

It can, but not on my tree

Loving this thread...we had a nativity cardboard advent calendar that my sister and i used to fight over every year as to who opened the large door on the 25th and my mum spent ages carefully closing all the doors after Christmas ready for next year!

Sidge - DP and I were reminiscing about that garage this weekend as we both wanted one but never got one and are currently looking for a garage for DD for Christmas and the modern ones just aren't the same

slab of toffee and hammer

Jcee yes, the old Fisher Price stuff was brilliant. I think it was partly the pictures on everything? DS has the new version of the garage and it's just coloured plastic, but I seem to remember the old one had intricate details like tools hanging up and oily rags and stuff. The camper van picnic table had pictures of picnic food on it, and the barbeue had pictures of sausages and meat grilling on it, and the inside was full of pictures too.

They should reissue the retro stuff, including the dog!

I remember sitting up watching the most rubbish TV because if I went to bed, Christmas would be over.
But my mother didn't bother with Christmas, too much work in her view (though she didn't actually do any of it) Either a friend who came to stay would cook or when I was 14 ish I would cook. And she didn't do decorations either.We did them or there were none .

What I don't miss is my mother saying (to her young ish DC -I would have been about 9/10 yo) "Oh I wish it was Boxing Day" and "Thank Goodness that's over " and not in a jokey way.
I make sure my DC don't ever think that Christmas and their enjoyment of it is too much trouble and too much of a pain in the a**e for me to bother with.

Lordoftheflies... AW that's bittersweet.

Love the link to the Argos catalogue, seeing the craft sets reminded me of Plasticraft - some hideously smelly potentially dangerous chemicals, you used to put stamps/coins/lock of hair/tiny toy in a mould and encase it in plastic, you could colour the back layer to make it stand out. Loved it but was a bit scared by the chemicals!

That was my Girls' World, the dark haired one. Best Christmas EVER was the year I got my Lundby dolls house. Swedish company, spent ages poring over their catalogue to decide on furniture. Set a pattern for life there... (come to think of it Girls' World usually had hardly any make up on and a rushed hairstyle, again a pattern for life...)

My DH reckons I go a bit OTT over Christmas now to compensate.

Christmas was fun, it was different when I was younger.
And I didn't mind cooking Christmas dinner.
It's just if a parent really CBA with the whole affair, could they not keep that fact to themselves, just for 72 hours?

Still,at least I have the opportunity to do things different with my DCs.
And when my parents spend Christmas with me, maybe my mum can see how different it is .

Chocolate "Brazils"
Eat Me Dates and a glass bowl of mixed nuts in the shell on the coffee table - normally next to the Christmas RT or TV times (covers came off first day reading "Dear Katie")
Liquer barrels
A box of Terry's All Gold (see the face you love light up with Terry's Allgold)
a box of Black Magic or milk tray (all because the lady loves....)
Some exotic drink from nan - Taboo, Mirage, Cinzano or Tico
Having a small drink as a treat (normally supermarket sherry) in shot glasses with Fox Hunting Scenes printed on the side. The drinks were stored in a decanteur, which came as a set of four stored in a miniature carriage pulled by porcelain horses (I kid ye not) which played music when the crystal decantuer was lifted out of the carriage.
A completely silver tree with prelit space age white baubles with coloured lights in them. (the base used to get so hot it could only go on for an hour at a time incase of fire hazard)
Lametta which my cat used to eat when it floated onto the floor and we had to pull out of his mouth and stomach, warm and wet.
Our Christmas tree lights were gold shaped Cinderella carriages with multicoloured lights
A box of christmas cigars for dad, Castella or slim Panatella, which he would let us have a couple of puffs on when mum went shopping.
Selection boxes (never wanted the curly wurly)
Stockings for the cats
TV:
The Woolworths adverts...huge celeb starring ads.
Quality Quality Quality street..ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIIIIIIIIR!!!!
Denim, Mandate, Old Spice, Brut aftershave adverts
Soap on a rope (Brut one shaped like a boxing glove for dad)
Yardley Box sets with carcinogenic smells - Lavender, lily of the valley etc
Getting talc - it was a given stocking filler in the 70's
Christmas Pebble Mill at One at my nans house at the begining of the holidays.
New christmas slippers from the market - synthetic, snaggy and with cheap grey moulded soles with no grip.

A bottle of Badedas bubble bath (sorry, "bath gelée") was an acceptable Christmas gift. I feel a bit guilty when I just buy a bottle and use it, we can easily take so much for granted nowadays. I don't exactly spend shedloads, and certainly don't "do" designer stuff and expensive toiletries, but it puts things in perspective that a £4 bottle of Badedas was a luxury

Oh and a really cheap santa advent calendar that you pulled a string on and his arms and legs would fly up and down...it had gifts in the holes and for some reason they were all tiny plastic naked babies. Again most likely to come from the market stall that sold cheap hideous paper and cards covered in that square glitter that went everywhere and never came off.

Got Girls World (brother drew black eye like Rocky and Frankenstein stitches in felt tip) and other hideous dolls - Tringaling Trudie, Tiny Tears, and one that you fed some yellow gunge and it filled it's nappy with a mechanical whirring crunching sound - Baby love me?

Ooooohh remember getting a massive pack of rainbow coloured felt tips? And those colouring posters that came in a cardboard tube with wacky pictures.

And in my stocking was always one of those pads with the repeated pattern in black and white that you had to colour in and create your own designs.

Chocolate "Brazils"
Eat Me Dates and a glass bowl of mixed nuts in the shell on the coffee table - normally next to the Christmas RT or TV times (covers came off first day reading "Dear Katie")
Liquer barrels
A box of Terry's All Gold (see the face you love light up with Terry's Allgold)
a box of Black Magic or milk tray (all because the lady loves....)
Some exotic drink from nan - Taboo, Mirage, Cinzano or Tico
Having a small drink as a treat (normally supermarket sherry) in shot glasses with Fox Hunting Scenes printed on the side. The drinks were stored in a decanteur, which came as a set of four stored in a miniature carriage pulled by porcelain horses (I kid ye not) which played music when the crystal decantuer was lifted out of the carriage.
A completely silver tree with prelit space age white baubles with coloured lights in them. (the base used to get so hot it could only go on for an hour at a time incase of fire hazard)
Lametta which my cat used to eat when it floated onto the floor and we had to pull out of his mouth and stomach, warm and wet.
Our Christmas tree lights were gold shaped Cinderella carriages with multicoloured lights
A box of christmas cigars for dad, Castella or slim Panatella, which he would let us have a couple of puffs on when mum went shopping.
Selection boxes (never wanted the curly wurly)
Stockings for the cats
TV:
The Woolworths adverts...huge celeb starring ads.
Quality Quality Quality street..ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIIIIIIIIR!!!!
Denim, Mandate, Old Spice, Brut aftershave adverts
Soap on a rope (Brut one shaped like a boxing glove for dad)
Yardley Box sets with carcinogenic smells - Lavender, lily of the valley etc
Getting talc - it was a given stocking filler in the 70's
Christmas Pebble Mill at One at my nans house at the begining of the holidays.
New christmas slippers from the market - synthetic, snaggy and with cheap grey moulded soles with no grip.

Eek sorry for the repeat, ipad delay.

I can't believe these things were 99p in 1976 - they're like pound shop things now!

So much of this thread reminds me of Christmases at my Granny and Grandads, Must buy some York fruits.

coastgirl thank you so much for posting those flickr pics ....I have literally found my entire childhood on those pages. My rose cottage dolls house, Petite typewriter, my panda teddy, spirograph, I have also found some flickr pics of my Holly Hobbie Secret house, one of the best toys I ever had.

Feel a bit tearful actually....

What is lametta and why have I not heard of it

Lametta is basically thin strips of tinsel, gold or silver in the 70's, came from Germany and you would fling it hang it on your tree or over your other decorations.

It was also called angel hair i think.

Those rubbish cardboard compendium of games you always got where you had to press the pieces out of cardboard. Nine Men's Morris & all that. You'd lost all the pieces by Boxing Day.

Thank you thank you for the Argos catalogue - huge nostalgia wave here too!

What we need to find now ate some video clips of things like the Ronco Buttoneer! About mid November the adverts on TV would all be for tat gadgets that you would never want. Attach your buttons with plastic. Make pictures with pins and string. A nifty record rack that's motorised and flips through them one at a time.