General Chat

Yes you can still get the puzzle in some places, and one with letters too.
I am sure that I saw some Lametta in Poundland yesterday Vera. We were lucky, Dad worked for a stationery firm when he came out of the RN as a salesman so he had a box of samples of decorations. We had decorations everywhere, the huge bells etc that were usually seen in shops. And always had a large tree decorated with lights and covered in decorations, some hand made by my sister and I.
We only used the 'front room' at Christmas when the fire was lit. (no central heating of course). My Mum signed the pledge as a teenager and never, ever touched alcohol. My Dad always had a glass of cherry even though Mum clicked her teeth at him every time. (he ignored her). My Grandmother too would have a glass ("Just a small one my dear") and when I was about 18 I was allowed a babycham. :-D
I loved books and would be given School Friend Album and Abbey Girl books or Famous Five, Secret Seven, or other Enid Blyton Books. I remember one was The Family at Redroofs I loved that book.Or earlier when younger, Rupert Annual or Pip, Squeak and wilfred, or Mabel Lucy Attwell Annual. The only thing was, I was a fast reader and often would finish the book in a day and Mum would complain and say it was a waste of money to read it so quickly :-D
Beside books we used to have one bigger present each. I can remember a second hand Trike, a ditto dolls pram, a china tea set, a dresser made by my Dad, A dolls cot made by my Dad, a large dolls house made by my Dad with all working lights, a scooter, a china doll, a school satchel, a leather handbag
Considering we were not that well off after Dad left the RN we did very well. :-)

Oh the puzle I remember that they are still about in odd places.


anyone have --Pin the Tail on the Donkey.......that used to be great fun,I hadnt seen one for years and a couple of weeks ago went to London and got one in Hamleys.,,,,,,,cant wait to get it in action. :-D :-D :-D.

a table ping pong was another favourite.

Remember receiving among other things a litttle square thing that you held in your hand with numbers on little tiles which you had to move around to get them into numerical order. One tile short of a full set of numbers enabled you to mess about with it. This appeared in the afternoon when adults needed a bit of a snooze. Loads of messing about with the numbers by me never achieved a result after hours of trying, but adults seemed a bit more lively once they woke up.

Lovely thread - it's brought back lots of memories. The front room was hardly ever used, probably because of the expense of heating it, but at Christmas the fire was lit and it felt quite special.

Christmas dinner was usually chicken and our traditional sweets always included Turkish delight, sugared almonds and orange and lemon slices. Parents couldn't usually afford drink in the house but at Christmas they would have a pre- dinner sherry. I thought I was really grown up when my father allowed me a small glass when I was sixteen.

Decorations were usually home made paper chains and my father would throw bits of Lametta over them. Anyone remember Lametta? It was silvery tinsel stuff that usually ended up in bits on the floor.

We usually had a pretty good present from our parents. Goodness knows how they afforded it. Other rellies would buy the paint boxes, pencil cases and things like gloves. I was a bit of a bookworm and usually got books from a couple of aunts. One was always Rupert annual.

I could go rambling on for ages; you've really sent me down Memory Lane now..... :-D

Mam's special favourite were Duncan's walnut whips, but certainly looked bigger than they are now.

Black Magic had that chocolate that was a cluster of nuts I remember and one with a cherry in.

I never did like coffee,orange or strawberry cream chocolates so was always happy to share those. You took your life in your hands if your finger lingered, even momentarily, over the caramel or nougat though.

There was that little barrel thing in Milk Tray wih the lime syrup in it too.

I think my Mum and Kay's Mum went shopping together!!!

Yes, I can remember everything mentioned on here. Loved the tins of toffees and when they became available my Mum always bought me a box of milk tray and she continued that until she died in 1994 when I was 54 Lol!!

I hated newberry fruits and not keen on turkish delight but my Dad had a very sweet tooth and loved them all.

Mum always had the brazil nuts as theyw ere her favourites.

a tin of cheese footballs :-D

my young sister had a little sewing machine for Chritmas one year - she broke it before we got up in the morning by trying to stitch the blankets together

And the box of Mosiac,fab patterns could be made with the little coloured beads,and one by one the beads seemed to just vanish and by easter there was only a handful left.:)

also the little basket with small balls of wool and two wooden or plastic needles,

I spent hours stitching when I got a minature sewing machine. had to wind cotton off a normal reel onto this little tiny one,boy more was wasted because I used to get it in a tangle and all knotted up. :-D :-D.

the big box of paints were great and using an eggcup to rinse the brush out in.

and didnt the dice always get lost.....I remember one flying into the open fire and mum made one from a small scrap of pastry and painted the dots on.....
:-D :-D :-D. :-D.

Yes, Florence I agree a lovely thread. It has brought back many happy memories of my childhood Christmases.

The front room was always opened up for Christmas (it was too expensive to have a fire lit in both the front and back room all through the winter). I can remember the roaring fire, the smell of pine and that of oranges and tangerines, the windows partially frosted up on the single panes of glass.

Mum would leave some biscuits and a small glass of milk on the hearth for Santa and getting up earlier to see if the biscuits had been eaten and the milk drunk and the sheer excitement to see that they had.

In my stocking would be an apple, orange, a piece of coal, sweeties, a little toy (like 5 stones), a little dress that Mum would have made for a favourite doll and Dad would wrap up a couple of presents with Christmas paper on the outside and layer upon layer of newspaper inside (a bit like a pass the parcel present) and when I got to the present it was something like a packet of sweet cigarettes.
Mum and Dad got as much enjoyment watching me as I did opening my stocking.

At Christmas we had pop like White's Cream Soda this was a real treat something that we would only otherwise have on a birthday if we were lucky.

Dad would save up and buy Mum a big box of Dairy Box her favourites.

We had the mixed nuts, fruit, dates, figs, tinned biscuits and sweets. We roasted chestnuts in the fire too and had homemade pickled onions and chutneys.

In this day and age it wouldn't seem much but like most others it was all my parents could afford but I never felt I had missed out on anything.

Those Christmases came with much love......priceless <3 <3

Thankyou for this lovely thread. I have just read right through and it really has brought back a lot of memories from my childhood too.

yes we always cracked mixed nuts in the afternoon after xmas lunch. We always ate at 1pm so that everything was cleared away ready to sit and listen to the Queen's speech.

Tangerines, dates, turkish delight and my dad loved meltis fruits(juicy jellies).
Grandma had after eights and they were only allowed after 8pm lol

We also got square tins which had a picture on the front and wrapped toffes of liquorice, vanilla and other toffee flavours..cant remeber what they were called.

Boxing day we got "tree presents" at grandmas. little gifts she put on the tree to amuse us so the adults had a cuppa in peace. They would be a bead making set or small puzzles etc. kept us busy for ages and never got bored.

Watched morcombe and wise or the 2 ronnies or played monopoly.

yep lots of things now spring to mind.
Those were happy days and we had less but we never went without.

Today, we live in a materialistic, gadet controlled world where everyone needs to have the latest thing... but we tire of these things too quickly and then we become bored. traditional games and toys will never fail to amuse..we just need to be reminded of them from time to time.

Florence
in the hebrides :-) :-)

I loved the painting boxes I received at Christmas.

All those fabulous names Burnt Siernna, Cadmium Blue, Crimson Lake, Ochre.

No wonder I became a world famous artist!!!!!!

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D ;-)

Plasticine was only different colours until some time usually before New Year when it became a uniform brown colour apart from the bits trodden into the carpet.

Nobody in the history of the world ever mixed their paints in the lid of their paint box I am sure.

When Fred first came home from hospital after having his stroke I started him colouring with crayons and I wanted to get him to try painting as well but you just can't get those little paint boxes any more. Not round here anyway.

I did get one in Lidl but it wasn't the same.

we had six chickens in the shed one year - all being made ready for Christmas and earmarked for various family members - all family members got theirs and the one we kept for ourselves dropped dead on Christmas Eve so my Dad had to go down the woods on Christmas Eve and find some pheasants to shoot - in the dark - fortunately he knew where they roosted and was lucky to shoot two who were roosting side by side, so Christmas dinner was saved that year :-D

Think it was Bluebird toffee with the hammer.

Plasticine also comes to mind (not with a hammer) - coloured ridged sticks in a packet.

There were chocolate smoker's sets too. A chocolate cigar and a pipe and some other things used by smokers.

I remember the chicken plucking bit but always thought the really most unpleasant part was when the stubbly bits were burned off. Oh boy, did that bit stink?!

what about brandy snaps ,we also used to get toffee in a block with a little hammer,sorry I cannot remember the make.

You can still buy a form of sweet cigs but they have no red end and are called Candy Sticks.

Wasnt we grateful for the stuff we got,compared to todays toys more thought went into them for value for money and the home made clothes for the doll were done with lots of thought,the home made dolls house ,what time and energy went into make one,during the evenings after a long days work by dad.

the simple games ,children wouldnt thank you for now days.

Snakes and Ladders.
Ludo,
Tiddley Winks,
Draughts,
Snap Cards.

all played by the whole family over christmas..

Maddie I loves ya....been trying to
remember but nothing was coming
through the little grey cells <3 :-D :-D

A jumping bean. Emma?