General Chat

My stocking consisted of an apple, orange (if there were any) a shiny new penny, a book, and a new pencil box that I asked for every year. The wooden ones with the slide out lid, and you twisted it to get into the bottom compartment.

Another vivid Christmas memory.
My grandfather reared what he called "roosters". We would go to Romford market at Easter to buy six young birds which were fattened up for Christmas, by which time they were huge.

A few days before Christmas I would go to his house to help with the ritual of the Christmas massacre - I would be about 12 yrs old.

Grandfather would disappear into the darkness toward the chicken house.
The kitchen door would open and an arm thrust through the door clutching a large chicken by its legs, Very dead, but still flapping its wings.
This would be repeated until all six birds arrived in the kitchen.

My job was to sit at the large kitchen table with my grandmother, plucking the still warm birds.
Halfway through there would be feathers everywhere, in my hair, up my nose, everywhere. I always felt that I was running alive. Yuck.
At the point where my grandmother would "clean them out" I would make a sharp exit. I had no stomach for that.

I got quite good at it, but doubt I would fancy it now.
Grandfather kept one bird for them, and the rest were sold to order.

Now it's so much easier to go to the supermarket.

Merry Christmas,

Tec

Yes the box of chocs I had would have a thatched cottage picture and a satin bow across the corner.

I only saw sweet cigarettes at Christmas. I always had a packet in my stocking! I bet they don't do those nowadays! Also in my stocking would be a packet of chocolate coins in gold foil wrappers. Remember the foil milkbottle tops that would have holly print at Christmas.

Lots of drawing pins........everyone seemed to put up garlands on the ceiling then, either paper chains or other home made twisted crepe paper ones. Then there were the concertina tissue ones that were a devil to fold back up after Christmas.

My Sisters and I always got Matey Bubblebath at Christmas from one of our Aunties(every year), also a certain box of chocolates but I cannot remember them yet :-S :-D :-D

I loved getting a new scrap book.
Used to buy Angel scraps and old style scraps,
spent hours sticking them in the book :-)

Edit...I also liked to get Jacks and something I
can't remember the name of it :-S
You put it in the palm of your hand and it moved by its self,
Dad said there was a grub inside it that's why it moved...HELP
anyone know what it was???

And fuzzy felt, and those boards with pegs that you made pictures on with coloured elastic bands...

dont forget the jigsaw puzzle that came from aunty...... :-D

and those 'magic painting' books that you 'painted' with water and colours appeared :-)

and then, 'serious' painting sets - painting by numbers - I loved those.

Oh yes Choccy. Sugar mice!! & an aunt always used to buy me a cardboard figure of some sort, filled with useless little trinkets such as toy jewellery. I thought they were marvellous.
For me it still isn´t Christmas unless I can spend Christmas Eve in front of a roaring fire with a box of Turkish Delight, a bowl of nuts, a glass of port & a good book.
Hardly ever happens now, sad to say.

Glad I reminded you of the Lavender Polish. :-)

Mum used to use it every Saturday morning on her wardrobes and dressing table. She put on the polish, and I buffed it up. It was birds eye maple, and I could always 'see' faces in the wood.

We also had a mirror on a chain in the living room, and tinsle was draped around it, and a HUGE christmas cracker was plonked in the middle of the frame.

:-D :-D :-D

I remember the doily only used at christmas to put the cakes on,,,,,,,,and mum making a frill for the christmas cake which she decortated with tiny ornaments from Woolies,,tree ,santa and bambies,,,,,, :-D.

We had a shop like that in the village.

It was a bit of a hub for the community. The woman who ran it was called Cynthia and everybody found a reason to go in if they were in the village.

The one thing I particularly remember about that shop, apart from the rolls of lino, wellies, stockings, tin baths, knitting wool and all the other household stuff was the huge roll of brown paper used to wrap your purchases, particularly those items your mum would make you go in and buy for her that made you want to die just thinking about it!

Lavender Polish,,,,,,,,I have a tin :-D :-D.as I have all old furniture which needs proper polish.......

its round tin and made of pure beeswax,,,,,I get it from a little Arkwright shop in a village, they sell everything hardware,,,and they put the handle on a yard brush while you wait and cut it to size.they even sell Red Cardinal and enamel buckets,

I went to Hampshire Lavender last week and bought some lavender polish.

Have had the top off and had a few sniffs of the gloriously scented concoction but I really can't pretend to have used it yet!

Oh MotownGal , Lavender furniture polish ! I can see and smell it now :-)

Oh lor, you cannot call them Blood Oranges in the supermarkets any more. They are now Blush Oranges. Only vampires would be offended me thinks! :-D

Regular as clockwork, my Dad would bring home a turkey that someone had given him from the Cally Market. One year it was unplucked.............Mum was not best pleased! :-(

hmm - forgot the New Berry fruit sweets - remember Callard and Bowsers nougat!!! scrummy

I remember there being a bottle of Egg Flip one year.

Don't think I have ever seen that since but it doesn't really matter because I am not likely to want to buy any.

Don't know if they are particularly a Christmas delicacy but I always loved buttered brazils.

I get blood oranges in my veggie box at this time of year, but they have a very short season. Gorgeous <3 - the little mandarins, tangerines etc. don't seem to taste the same these days.

We always had a bowl of nuts - Mum ate most of them - a bottle of Advocat for making snowballs and a jar of pickled walnuts (Dad's favourite).

We always had dates, and those fruit jellies, were there Meltis fruits too? Never got a chance to pig out tho, shared between 5 of us they were soon gone.

My Dad worked at a brewery so would swap his beer allowance to get us 'mineral waters', the only time we had fizzy drinks, and when I was a bit older he would get Babycham for me. He liked whisky but it wasn't until years later when my brother bought him a bottle as a gift, that we saw him drink more than the odd beer or had port or sherry.
Always had nuts which I would get Dad to crack for me.

There was never a lot of money so Mum would go to the market when they were packing up to get things cheaper.

We are so lucky nowadays.
Lizx

Such a lovely thread Ann :-) <3