U3A Writing: An Old Fashioned Christmas
“We shed a few tears when we discovered our party present was a penny bar of chocolate…’’ Tom Swallow’s memories of Christmas, 1923, remind us on this day of of feasting and celebration that not every stocking was this morning stuffed with expensive presents.
Enjoy today. Be happy.
In your happiness think of those for whom Christmas is the loneliest time - with no gifts given, and none received.
Knowing what Christmas present to buy for someone who has everything can be a bit of a problem, but how to buy something for someone you love who has nothing when you too have nothing, must be like an awful nightmare.
Our prospects for Christmas 1923 looked pretty grim for us when my father's firm closed down and he, after five muddy and gory years' war service on The Somme was left to his own devices and positively no 'Social'.
Our only hope for Christmas goodies lay with Smethwick Territorials who always had a Christmas party for the Terriers' children. As Dad was a still serving Sergeant in the Res, we were invited.
It was a lovely party with music from the unit's brass band, lots of rides on the life-size rocking horse used for training purposes followed by sandwiches, cakes, pop and live entertainment by local singer and song writer Jack Judge of Tipperary fame and his ventriloquist brother Ted, who both lived near us.
As always, there was a Christmas tree, lots of games and a visit from Father Christmas, always a happy and exciting event, but not for everyone this time. Owing to the lack of Regimental funds, the Christmas presents had to be provided by the parents of the recipients and handed to Santa Claus for distribution in the usual way.
Most of the families hadn't two pennies to rub together -ours included - and were unable to meet the requirement but the children were still invited to the party, enjoyed a good meal, listened to the entertainment and waited hopefully for the arrival of the man with a red coat and a big white beard.
There were many children disappointed because Santa had forgotten to bring them a present. We were lucky, sister Flo and I, we did receive presents but also prior instructions to wait until we got home before we opened them. Mystified, and sorely tempted to disobey, we did as we were told and shared the excitement of meeting Santa, but we couldn’t get home fast enough to see what he had given us.
We shed a few tears when we discovered our party present was a penny bar of chocolate wrapped up in lots and lots of newspaper to make it look big. Of course we were disappointed, understandably so, but our distress can have been as nothing compared to our loving parents’ humiliation and embarrassment. They simply had no money for extra presents.
But all was not lost; our mother had a motto: ‘A full belly will make a ragged jacket jump’. And although there was no money for presents, she made sure that we had plenty of stocking fillers when it mattered most and a fine roast chicken and homemade Christmas pudding on Christmas Day.
