🎄Nostalgia - Whatever happened to carol singers? 🎶

[PlaitBilledDuckyPuss]

Just reminiscing - in the 70s/80s a December night with the family round the telly was guaranteed to be interrupted at least once by carol singers at the door.

These ranged from very professional charity groups doing fully harmonised performances to a couple of dodgy-looking teenagers mumbling 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas'. They'd go away amicably enough if you gave them 10p.

I haven't seen carol singers now for at least 30 years - what happened to them? Are there any still in your area? Are you or have you ever been a carol singer?

Funny you should say that - I'm going carol singing next week!

Oh, really - good to hear it's still happening! Is it for charity?

No, just for fun.

We used to go where I lived before, it wasn't random though, we put it out on Facebook and people "booked" us for a donation to charity. Sometimes neighbours of the ones who responded would come and watch too.

Where I currently live we are going to visit the local residential homes next week

I think people realised that it’s really annoying. You have to stand there awkwardly at the front door and listen to badly sung irritating songs while trying not to visibly cringe yourself inside out. And then you have to find some cash somewhere to make them go away (probably down the back of the sofa because who has cash anymore). All the time whilst wondering if it’s not just a scam and really they’re scoping out your house or their mates are nipping in the back to nick the presents under the tree.

I’d whack you with a frying pan if you knocked on my door at night 🤣🤣

Probably people's attitudes.

Look how much people moan about trick or treaters.
Who has cash anymore.

Probably get called beggars and have the door slammed.

I think people just put up with it back in the day!

These responses show a lot about how attitudes have changed.

Today's reactions seem to be suspicion and annoyance.

In the past you just listened (not necessarily standing with the door open), wait until they'd finished and answered the door when they knocked. Then give them a bit of cash.

Maybe because I'm old, I usually have a bit of cash in the house, but I know my daughter never has any.

Do today's carol singers take card payments?

Perhaps you'd pay them via Applepay or similar

I'm middle aged and still use cash but recognise I am probably one of a slowly disappearing group.

Haven’t seen any for years around here. Mind you, when we did get them, they’d just sing, ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’ 3 times, followed by ‘…and a happy new year’, before ringing the bell and expecting cash.

I did once tell one lot that if they came again and sang a whole, proper carol properly, I’d give them rather more. Of course they never did - just couldn’t be arsed, I suppose.

We sing around town and in nursing homes etc, but we don’t wander the streets singing at people 😆 in a week or so we are going to inflict our beautiful harmonies on a pub crowd though 😁 (high quality amateur choir so it will not be painful to listen to!)

In my teens in the 80s I'd be part of a group from the two churches in the village and we'd do the whole village until our throats were roar. From the Bethlehem Carol Sheet which was sold for charity. Inc some harmonies from those of us who knew them. Followed by mulled wine and hot chocolate at one of the bit houses owned by a church member.

I LOVED it.

Not so common these days although I have heard of a few church groups that still do it.

That sounds lovely @JanglyBeads.

It's nice to hear carol singing is surviving, albeit in a more modern format.

I remember in 'Ballet Shoes' there's a nice scene where they are all feeling a bit down at the end of Christmas Day and then some carol singers arrive and cheer them up - collecting for charity, and Petrova does best because she goes 'downstairs' and gets all the servants to put in - one can imagine they might have been a bit tipsy by then. That was set in the 1930s.

I always think of carol singing as being a Victorian tradition - lanterns and mufflers - not sure if that's accurate!

It was

*raw
*big houses!

I remember this as a child in the 80s too. It’s just not a thing any more is it? Definitely not on MN where people don’t even answer the door if they’re not expecting someone

also last week there’s no way I’d have opened my door and let all the heating out!

I've just been watching something (set in the thirties) that has a scene with carol singers! Said to dh I remember doing it as a kid and that you don't see them anymore.