My father tells me that he loves me, and he'll hug me... but he's never once told me that I'm beautiful/pretty (I know I'm not, but surely to a father, their daughters are the most beautiful in the world?), clever, or that he's proud of me. The last two he's allegedly told to his friends - who told me, in passing, but I'm not entirely sure I believe them.
I suspect that their behaviour depends on how they were treated/reacted to when they were growing up. Post-War, there was a different attitude to child-rearing than there is today. Today, we do everything that we possibly can to boost our children's self esteem and confidence - we tell them how loved they are, how proud of them we are, how they can conquer the world... But our parents? Were lucky if they had parents who spoke to them at all, it would seem 
My father had a mother who was very tactile and gave the best hugs in the world. She was very free with her "I love you"'s - but didn't believe in causing a child's head to swell with praise about their intelligence, or how proud of them she might have been. She was, though. But it took her death and the discovery of a few diaries which she'd kept whilst her boys were young for them to ever believe that she was so incredibly proud of them. His father wasn't around from the time mine was 6 years old. But he came from a family who is very tactile and supportive, so I would imagine that my grandfather was similar towards his sons. My Gran's life-partner was also very free with praise for all of us and literally shone with pride for everyone's accomplishments.
My mother's parents didn't even tell her that she was loved, or cuddle her. Consequently, my brothers and I were treated the way in which she had been treated whilst growing up, by her - and that's partly why they're both NC with her now. Watching her with my children (who have been raised knowing how very loved they are, how beautiful they both are, how proud I am of their good grades at school/uni, and get hugged all of the time!) it's clear how awkward she finds hugging them. But she does make the effort to do so. I've also managed to condition her into saying "love you" at the end of 'phone calls and when we part to go our separate ways... just in case it's the last time we ever speak! Didn't have to condition my father... he was the one who taught me!
Having said that, though, my mother's father constantly told my brothers and myself how proud of us he was. And we know he was incredibly proud of my mother - he just couldn't bring himself to actually tell her (although I know she wouldn't have believed him).
Families, eh...! 