70s-style Christmas

[ChristmasMad1]

Hi all,
I live with my grandparents and want to do a 1970s-themed Christmas for them this year. I wasn’t alive then, but I love everything about the 70s — the music, colours, fashion — and I’d love to make it nostalgic and fun for them.
Only thing is, I don’t really know what a 70s Christmas was actually like! And all the food needs to be gluten-free, so I’ll have to adapt recipes.
Would love ideas for:

• Typical 70s Christmas food/decorations/traditions
• Gluten-free versions of 70s treats or desserts
• Budget-friendly decorations or music to set the scene

I really want to make it special for them, so any tips or memories would be amazing.

I think its lovely that you're doing this for your grandparents. So thoughtful, I'm sure they'll be thrilled

Haha I came on to say lametta - the 70s-est of all decorations - but I see it's already been covered 😁

Tinned asparagus was my grandparents' idea of a special starter for Xmas dinner.

Babysham and advocat to drink.

Annuals, board games and selection boxes as presents.

Because in the 70’s they were amazing! They had actual juice the squirted out and the smaller segments could make your eyes water. Mostly I think, like most 70’s stuff, they were seasonal and were only in the shops for a few weeks.

Now we have “easy peelers” that are too sweet and pappy and too big and the skins are all thick and choky. THESE ARE NOT SATSUMAS!! Yes, they often have a twee leaf.

We want to sit and peel the white bits off and put them in the wee skin. We want juice in our eye and the odd segment that makes them water.

Mix up some snowballs - Advocaat and Lemonade
Fix your Xmas cards up the wall, up the stairs and round the fire
Play Twister and eat Sherry Trifle. Place bowls of sweets and nuts everywhere.
Take it in turns to open your presents and switch off screens. Buy them a chocolate selection box. Loved this era !

For stockings we used my dad's ordinary socks. We wrote letters to Santa and burned them in the fireplace. When fireplaces went out of fashion there was consternation - how would we get our letters to Santa?!

Yes ordinary socks!

If you want a small gift/stocking filler then it has to be

Soap on a rope - preferably football shaped but I see Sainsbury's has a crab one for £4

Bath cubes- like bath bombs but squared not as fizzy

Epic.

Play charades

Drink Port and lemonade, or baby cham or snowballs

Trifle
Pickled onions with cold meat

Yes ordinary socks!

If you want a small gift/stocking filler then it has to be

Soap on a rope - preferably football shaped but I see Sainsbury's has a crab one for £4

Bath cubes- like bath bombs but squared not as fizzy

Epic.

Play charades

Drink Port and lemonade, or baby cham or snowballs

Trifle
Pickled onions with cold meat

Sorry for double post

Impressive - I’m feeling nostalgic!

Here's a selection of 70s starters:
half a grapefruit with a cherry on top
brown windsor soup
a glass of fruit juice
half an avocado pear (in its skin eaten with a teaspoon)
Prawn cocktail

For savoury nibbles you need:
cheese footballs
twiglets

For sweet you need:
Newberry fruits (jelly fruits in a chocolate box)
Matchmakers (orange, coffee and mint)
Quality Street or Roses (not both for gawds sake, pick a side)

Presents:
Roget and Gallet soaps (women)
Leather driving gloves with string backs (men)
Buckaroo or Mousetrap or Operation, Tiny Tears doll (real tears!!) (kids games)

Yes pickled onions, vienetta and snowballs - I feel like we all had the same Christmas! Home made Christmas cake made a month before too. And a tin of biscuits 🙂 Happy days!

decorations: homemade paper chains, snowflakes homemade with white paper by kids, angel made at school with crepe paper, father christmas made with cotton wool beard

I still do this (with my grandma’s old pinking shears, as this is what she used to do)! Supplies of Christmas cards are dwindling year on year though as it’s so expensive to post them.

This is making me feel very nostalgic for much loved times with my gran and grandad.

We had a white, sparse tinsel tree with a homemade angel, mismatched baubles that were either made my me (shite) or very fragile glass. More tinsel was added to the tree. The living room - already a riot of pattern and colour - was decorated in foil expanding garlands in every possible colour. Because more was more. And Christmas was a celebration of love and abundance even though the money was tight.

My gran loved extras: we had a gold angel twirling thing that was powered by heat from tiny candles. Later she bought a skating scene with a kid and snowman who skate on a fake lake with a lit up country cottage behind from Dobbies... that cost a small fortune for a pensioner but she adored it. I have this now and it comes out every Christmas.

For a stocking we started off with a sock then graduated to a leg of my gran's American tan tights as people had a bit more money. Very grim looking. The stocking always had some money and a satsuma. There was only one "big" present. One year my grandad made me a chopper bike from various damaged ones from the dump and spray painted it purple and silver. It was incredible as we really did not have enough money to have bought an original but mine was a super special original.

On Christmas eve, my grandad would go outside and ring some bells to pretend Santa was on his way. I did this with my own children when they believed and the memories from those younger years will stay with me forever.

The seventies Christmas I grew up with has totally influenced what I did and still do. It made me love Christmas and I am so happy that my uni two still insist on very specific family traditions now. Makes me stupidly happy.

I forgot to mention chocolates hanging from the Christmas tree! Absolutely essential. Chocolates
A Nativity scene is a must have, a bowl of satsumas, picture advent calendars.
Don’t forget the mistletoe

A silver tree not green. Chocs on the Christmas tree.

Just remembered Bendicks Bittermints! So so bitter but lovely peppermint fondant inside them.

I'm old enough to remember the 70s! You need: prawn cocktail to start, paper garlands and tinsel everywhere, an overloaded Christmas tree, silly party games, a cheese and pineapple 'hedgehog', turkey curry (boxing day), leftover veg fried as 'bubble & squeak' , lots of cheap crackers with hats and useless gifts, mushroom vol-a-vents and 'snowball' drinks (advocaat and lemonade).

And these!

Plus small bath cubes as presents.

My Gran used to make these Christmas trees out of white netting.

My 70's christmases

Early years - homemade paperchains , lanterns and balloons

Late 70's the tin foil garlands and balloons

Christmas tree, as someone else said - like a lit up tin of quality street , lights were wee flowers and in all colours. Decorations were glass - and family heirlooms ( I still have ours ) Angel hair draped over the tree.. Something to cover the three base - tinsel usually and pressies piled around

We didnt have starters - too stuffed with all the Christmas food dotted around

Turkey - stuffed massive. Roasted and mashed potatoes, Brussels, carrots, peas and parsnips and turnips. Chipolatas ( pigs in blankets came later )

Two desserts, Christmas pudding and cream or triffle

Queeens speech

Pressies were Santas in the morning - left at the end of the bed, Christmas tree pressies ( from friends/family ) after dinner

The big Movie on BBC1 , followed by circus, then something like The Two Ronnie's, Morcombe and Wise , Some Mothers Will have Them

Later in the evening it would be more religious films / programs

Everywhere was shut so families got together in the evenings ( we didnt worry about drink driving or seat belts then ) and the buffet would be laid out - add pork pie.cheese and pineapple, salmon sandwiches ( tinned ) and the latest in snacks - cheese balls, cheddars etc

We didnt have such choice for ladies drinks ( cocktails weren't known about and the height of sophistication was a party 7) , so Babycham, tia Maria and Martini or really shite white wine

I bought these Xmas lights a couple of years ago - they're glorious! (Have seen similar in Aldi for much cheaper, can't say it they're as nice though)

https://www.lights4fun.co.uk/products/150-multi-coloured-led-traditional-pickwick-christmas-lights

Oh and lots and lots of Christmas cards. Everyone sent actual physical cards handwritten either with a stamp on in the post or handed to you when you saw each other. And the last posting date before Christmas was a crucial day in the run up to Christmas. It is a great sadness to me that we get fewer and fewer cards each year.

I wasn’t alive then