We had a Forties wartime Christmas
When Forties retro lifestyler Amanda ‘Edna’ Pickard received her nephew’s Christmas list by text message, she wondered if it would be possible to recapture the joy of Christmas past by recreating a none-gadget Christmas of the Forties. Find out here if she managed to celebrate the vintage way.
Several years ago my husband and I let our interest in the Thirties and Fofties turn from a hobby into a passion. So lat year, with the festive season approaching, we wondered if we’d enjoy the festivities more if we let our period obsession take over our family Christmas.
It is often said that your childhood Christmases are your best, so we started thinking about our childhood Christmases from the Seventies and Eighties. We recalled that Christmas decorations, family games, Christmas music and eating together all featured highly, along with watching Christmas telly. What was interesting was that we couldn’t remember the presents we had been given.
Harry, my husband once worked in a department store over Christmas, and he knew when Christmas was only a few days away because the customers would panic and buy huge amounts of pointless, worthless tat the store could not sell any other time of the year.You only have to visit a car boot sale in January to find an endless supply of juggling balls, candle sconces and car key defrosters to know they had been smartly wrapped under the Christmas tree a few weeks earlier.
Now our extended family already think we are a little ‘odd’ by living out our Forties fantasy all year round but when we actively tried to stop people buying us presents, they really could not get to grips with this. As much as we tried to explain the ‘no presents’ request was not because we wanted to become partners in Marley and Marley, but because on reflection we thought Christmas was really about the prince of peace rather than presents.
By not receiving unwanted presents we would also be avoiding trying to work out what to do with them. After all, there is only so much tat eBay can dispose of. For those members of family who insisted on buying presents, we asked them to purchase something edible. A collection of coffee beans from around the world or those fine Scottish shortbread biscuits will always be used and welcome.
Category: 1940s, Vintage news
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- Have a Forties Christmas dinner! | QueensOfVintage.com | December 9, 2009
who uses a fax machine anymore….?
this is a brilliant idea
I enjoyed your story, I too enjoy the simpler things in life. In the past year I have freely given up the cell phone and tv(never watched it anyway) although going digital with my camera gear was so hard, I clung to film as much as I could. I loved my Diana Camera and my trusty Nikon. But with techology growing so fast I had to give it to keep my busniess going.
oh and where can I find your wartime ration recipies?
Michelle
I almost cried reading about the retro Christmas. What a brilliant idea. Being a post war babe I do not remember the shortages, but, I do remember simple Christmas Day’s. The board games were simple ones, the holly was real and you got the gold pretend money with an orange in your stocking. We always had a Christmas Eve supper with sandwiches and Christmas Cake. Not to forget the candle in the window, lit to show Mary & Joseph the way.
I am 60 now and I have never failed to put a candle in the window regardless of where I am.
Thank you for such lovely memories. Sheila
I never had a retro/vintage Christmas but I remember for the first tens years of my life all presents except those from ‘Santa’ had to be handmade. I don’t know how much my Dad like his decorated tissue box covers but I remember the joy in spending the weeks in advance making, debating and wrapping the presents. I am sure your children will look back on this with happy memories.
Fantastic idea I would like to learn more about the decorations used. Wonderful job and a good teaching tool to the kids. Thanks