Nostalgic 80’s 90’s Christmas thread

[thenewaveragebear1983]

It’s probably almost definitely my age, but I have such a deep sense of nostalgia this year for those 80’s / 90’s christmases of my youth. Simple times. Feeling like the smallest thing like real Coca Cola or a tin of sweets was such a treat, instead of seeing them piled up in supermarkets. So I thought I’d start a completely indulgent thread to share those memories because quite frankly I want to read it and feel all cosy inside.

And I’ll start by sharing my beautiful lights, picked up in a charity shop for £2 😻

lights:

Love this thread 🎄

I love thinking of those Christmasses too when things seemed simple and fun.

I remember the foil ceiling lantern decorations that came folded up and then when you hung them would unfold into a lantern shape. We had them in gold and red.

I remember how when we were kids we would hang them from the corners of our lounge, sticking them to the ceiling with blu tack. One of them hung over 'my dads chair' and one night we were watching TV and the one over his chair came loose from the blu tack and drifted down from the ceiling, folding itself back up as it landed right on my Dad's head. He just sat there with this decoration on his head while me, my Brother and my Mum just fell about in hysterics. It was so funny and it is something about my 80's Christmas that I have never forgotten.

My brother and I (we are the only ones left as Mum and Dad have both passed) always bring this memory up when we talk about those days.

I am nostalgic about Christmas tree decorations that were just the ones you used every year and no one had the idea of a colour scheme or colour coordinating anything.

What I loved was that everything was a special treat.

A selection box was amazing because we didn’t have chocolate anytime we wanted it.

Tins of biscuits were heavenly because my Mam only bought marietta biscuits during the year and it was like eating sawdust.

We only ever had take away on Christmas Eve - a family bucket of KFC with the biggest tub of gravy.

Films weren’t available 24/7. We had to sit with the Christmas RTE guide and plan our film watching.

The 24/7/365 availability of everything has ruined Christmas for me.

@PegDope I totally agree. Everyone tries to capture the “magic” but actually the magic we remember came from us just not having everything all the time. Small things were treats.

I remember baking with my mum and the smell of the kenwood mixer, (they have a very distinct warm smell if you know it, you know)

@thisoldcity do you remember those ones like little cones made of metallic foil that were all stuck together into a ball? I tried to find some on eBay one year but didn’t manage.

I remember writing my Christmas list and wishing so hard that I would actually get some of the things on it.

I think some of the national trust properties do a nostalgia Christmas, worth a look if you can.

I do have quite a nice collection of vintage baubles as I go round the charity shops and dig around in the 10p box. I decided a few years ago that I was going full on colourful at Christmas and gradually have collected some bits over the years. My dd and I are making bauble garlands tomorrow. I’ll post a picture when we’re done

Modern Christmas 🎄 can be magical though too. You just create your own new traditions eg DD and I don't do Xmas until 1st Dec and then we have a tradition where we watch a different Xmas film each night up until Xmas eve when it's mandatory to watch Mary Poppins (the original).
I have inherited my grandparents + parents Christmas tree baubles so I always use them and then we add 1 new one each year that DD gets to pick out.
I hope DD will look back on those simple things with the same sentimental feelings as I do about my Xmas.

My parents never hit that well with presents (1 year i craved a pop swatch as all my friends had them and my parents bought me a watch for Christmas but it was the sort of watch THEY would want, not what a young teen would want and i never wore because it looked like a watch an old person would have. I realise it sounds ungrateful but wheh you are a teen these things do matter) so I always make sure to be very careful not to do the same.

They were simple times as you were not the one running the household and making Christmas happen. Now my DC is making Christmas for their DC, they are now appreciating that there was a Christmas magic maker!

But you are right about the lack of treats (even less treats when you go further back) made the treats of Christmas seem even more special. I think there were stronger social connections as well. No going off to stream something in another room as a lot of households only had one TV and a radio so we all gathered together around them. We were more likely to play games etc and be glued to the TV for hours on end. Viewing was carefully selected after highlighting the Radio or TV times.

I agree with you all that part of the magic and special nature of Christmas was that these treats were treats. A lot of these products you didn't even see in the stores most of the year and now, because Christmas retail stretches between mid-august and January (at least most of the stores around here) and all the other holidays also start at least a month ahead of time (Halloween also mid-august) plus if you go online you can buy almost anything almost any time. Convenient, yes, but special, no.

I do my best to stay away from trends or fads of the last 25 years... maybe it shows my age (which, as an '80s child, isn't all that old) or maybe it just shows my unwillingness to join the modern era LOL but as far as I'm concerned, I haven't paid much attention to films or music or fashion or much of anything else for that matter since approximately the year 2000.

I don't cut the world out, I just try to cut the noise of the world out. My family and my friends, my pets and my home, my daily joys of the smallest happy things in life, my making food the slow way all from scratch, my raising a large garden each year from seeds, my feeding the birds and the wild animals, these things all give me pleasure in the day and the here and the now and the present.

That's what I tried to do when I was a kid in the '80s and a teen in the 90s and I felt life was simpler and more enjoyable staying away from whatever the hot color of this year was so therefore all my Christmas decorations have to go because that's the wrong color this year, or whatever new lighting trend is hot this Christmas so all my other stuff has to go. No. I like retro Christmas decorations (we're talking stuff from long before I was born) homemade stuff and keeping it simple.

I love being the one who helps create the magic for my children. I think that has been more fun than being the recipient when I was a child.

I used to really love, as a younger teenager, going through the Radio Times Christmas edition in great detail, circling the things I wanted to watch.

Then, as there was only one TV, you needed careful negotiation to get your viewing slot (or you'd have to make sure there was a blank/reusable videotape - and that you didn't forget to press record at the right time).

Of course it’s fun, but it’s not simple and generally requires quiet a bit of effort.