I'm hoping to do some Christmassy posts this month...........So here is a Wartime Christmas from Chesterfield Borough Council.
This is the link ..................... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYE5eBul2i8 in case the above doesn't work.
In my collection of books about the Home Front in WWII I have some about Christmas at that time.
It's interesting to read how people coped when so many men and women were in the forces and away from home. Food was basic - no extras - everyone was glad to eat whatever was available. Many factories and businesses had been turned to war production and taxes were high to fund it all.
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| Typical wartime gifts in a child's Christmas stocking. |
There wasn't much money to spare for Christmas in wartime and people were pleased with even one gift, often home made or recycled. How things have changed in the 80 years since. Maybe we all expect too much now.
Christmas buying has gone over the top but it's possibly being reined in a bit because of cost of living etc now.
ReplyDeleteWartime Christmas must have been very tough but I know from my parents they were so grateful not to have been bombed and the smallest things gave joy. Something to ponder.
Penny
My mum was one of 6 with very little money, they used to have just one present each. I don't know how my Gran managed as all three girls went to Grammar School and uniform needed wasn't cheap and it was wartime too.
DeleteAdvertising and spending seems to have really ramped up this year. I think a lot people are spending money that they don't actually have in a bid to forget the recession for a couple of weeks. Sadly that is never good for the new year.
ReplyDeleteMum told me that near the end of the war she and her sister got little wooden cradles for their dolls made by her Dad from scraps of wood, with bedding made by her Mum. Sadly they were both pawned a few weeks later and she never saw them again. 😟 Tough times.
How sad for your Mum losing her Christmas present like that.
DeleteI suppose there are still pawn shops used now?
There are. I remember pawning my engagement ring to buy food in the early 80s. I never managed to redeem it.
DeleteContentment for what we have seems to be missing in our lives.
ReplyDeleteMy mum's father made Christmas tree baubles from screwed up silver paper made into balls as they had very little money. Christmas back then was having the whole family together and sharing what food they had. Mum has such great stories to tell from those times.
I wish I'd heard more stories from my Mum but she never said much apart from the sad Christmas when her youngest brother died aged just 4. She'd just started work and bought him a wind-up train which she kept for years afterwards -we played with it years later
Deletewe used the tape with one metallic side that was dropped to upset the airborne enemy. We made xmas decorations from it. Also painted ping pong balls for xmas light shades (not very safe)
ReplyDeleteWe seemed to make lots of different sorts of decorations from crepe paper when I was little in the 50's and early 60's
DeleteLong after wartime, my mum made a Christmas tree from a big branch if gorse, painted 'snowy' with flour and water paste and then sprinkled with glitter. Quite pretty once the decorations were on it.
ReplyDeleteThe gorse branch sounds different!
DeleteMy NZ friend makes Christmas cakes for her family, rather than giving gifts now.
ReplyDeleteI don't even make a Christmas cake now - seems quite sad but no one is very keen so it's a waste of expensive ingredients
DeleteYour last sentence sums it up so well for me and I agree 💯
ReplyDeleteEven though I'm in my sixties I'm still capable of behaving like a spoiled brat at Christmas.........perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit ........it's so easy to get sucked into the over commercial stuff and get a bad attack of the 'wants'!
The picture of the very simple little gifts is sobering. For me, this year, it must all be about family and being content with what I've got 🙂
Alison in Devon x
Less stuff, more love.
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