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View Full Version : What do you remember about your childhood christmases?



Moley
11-12-2012, 02:03 PM
For me it was the last shop before christmas, when, this being in the early 1970s, the shops closed for a whole two-and-a-half days! In those days, things that we take for granted now, such as carbonated fizy drinks, were a once-a-year luxury; in fact, way back then, dry roasted peanuts were a new and exciting taste! My parents used to come home laden with shopping as if preparing to ride-out a siege or natural disaster, and we kids used to watch, eyes wide, as the christmas goodies were brought out.

At least we didn't lack for toys on christmas day, my father's connections in the toy industry (he used to work in a factory that made wooden toys) providing plenty of them.

How time moves on! Now as adults we can appreciate the sacrifices that our parents made to ensure that christmas was a great time of year, and even the times when it didn't quite work out as it should, for example when one year the turkey turned out to be an inedible, cardboard textured, tasteless, faliure, we could all laugh about it.

Sam the snowman
11-12-2012, 03:56 PM
When I was young (mid70's to early 80's) my parents would alway's be out visiting and my brothers and I would stay home, turn off all the lights , turn the tree on and listen to Christmas records...we would take turns talking about what we would do if we were the first one up on Christmas morning! Now that I'm older I still turn all the lights off turn the tree on and listen to records ,cassettes, CD and even 8 tracks...I love the sound of the less quality from the old medias.

ornamentmaven
11-12-2012, 07:05 PM
When I was young (mid70's to early 80's) my parents would alway's be out visiting and my brothers and I would stay home, turn off all the lights , turn the tree on and listen to Christmas records...we would take turns talking about what we would do if we were the first one up on Christmas morning! Now that I'm older I still turn all the lights off turn the tree on and listen to records ,cassettes, CD and even 8 tracks...I love the sound of the less quality from the old medias.

Love that sound too, Sam! I remember the one year when we opened gifts on Christmas Eve (early 1960's). My Dad took us out to see the lights and when we came home, Santa had already been there! My sister and I were amazed! It was great fun. Santa never did that again once he realized how bored we were on Christmas Day!

steph535
11-13-2012, 12:44 AM
When I was young (mid70's to early 80's) my parents would alway's be out visiting and my brothers and I would stay home, turn off all the lights , turn the tree on and listen to Christmas records...we would take turns talking about what we would do if we were the first one up on Christmas morning! Now that I'm older I still turn all the lights off turn the tree on and listen to records ,cassettes, CD and even 8 tracks...I love the sound of the less quality from the old medias.

me, too! especially the crackles on an old lp. it's almost as though they hold all the memories of Christmases of past family gatherings; just so nostalgic and sweet.


I know I have probably said this in threads from the past but I remember sneaking down the stairs in the dark really early in the morning with my two older brothers and older sister. My mother usually sat up most of the night wrapping presents and preparing for Christmas breakfast and dinner, so we would scramble as quietly and quickly as we could back to bed if we heard a sound indicating she was still awake. My brothers were trying to see what was in the stockings (even though it was the same thing every year) and I wanted to see if Santa had come yet. I also remember our traditional Christmas breakfast each year, which began with half a grapefruit, with a cherry in the middle. As I got a little older, it became my job (self-appointed) to polish all the silver each year. We usually had someone over for breakfast (as well as dinner) like one or the other set of grandparents. No presents were allowed to be opened until the grown-ups were finished with their conversation at the dining room table. That was so hard, being a child, because the conversations seemed to take forever, lol. I remember my mother making our house just magical. it's because of her, the decorations she put up, her love of the Christmas lps and tapes my dad had brought home (Robert Shaw, Alfred Deller, to name a couple) that I love Christmas so much. It was the only time of year that the house was decorated so beautifully and that things were not chaotic.

mina553
11-13-2012, 02:55 AM
this is s0 beautiful i can just imagine why you love christmas s0 much
thx for sharing this .ow


I can remember going window shopping with my parents in Port of Spain
it was chilly . my lil sister was like about 6 my baby brother was bearly walking
we would tell our parents what we wanted in the stores .

The decorations were s0 lovely n sparkely it was one of the 1st times I saw a moving santa toy
it was in the early 70 s

Then there was the Cristmas grocery shopping we kids did not go to
the super market with our parents but we helped pack the goodies away .
It was s0 fun the chocolate covered cherries
n the wafers n the dried or preservers fruit n real fruit in those days
apples amd pears ( fruit )was not as plentyful as it is now.

Sam the snowman
11-13-2012, 03:05 AM
Aahh the Christmas breakfast....it's not much but our tradition ,we alway's got the little travel size cereals in our stockings every year... I alway's get corn pops! :christmasdinner:

steph535
11-13-2012, 03:14 AM
this is s0 beautiful i can just imagine why you love christmas s0 much
thx for sharing this .ow


I can remember going window shopping with my parents in Port of Spain
it was chilly . my lil sister was like about 6 my baby brother was bearly walking
we would tell our parents what we wanted in the stores .

The decorations were s0 lovely n sparkely it was one of the 1st times I saw a moving santa toy
it was in the early 70 s

Then there was the Cristmas grocery shopping we kids did not go to
the super market with our parents but we helped pack the goodies away .
It was s0 fun the chocolate covered cherries
n the wafers n the dried or preservers fruit n real fruit in those days
apples amd pears ( fruit )was not as plentyful as it is now.

Mina, I'm not sure if you were directing your comment to me or not but, if you were, than I am very glad you liked it. Also, this has never happened before but Mina's thoughtful comment is all that is showing up for me EXCEPT when I clicked on "reply with quote" to reply to her, not only did Mina's comment show up, but also more that she had, apparently, included in the form of some of her childhood Christmas memories. I'm wondering why that is only showing up in this box that I am typing in right now but did not show up in Mina's post?? any thoughts?

Fezziwig
11-13-2012, 03:41 AM
My family is fairly large so my earliest holiday memories were people -- EVERYWHERE! But I can remember we would go to my aunt's on Christmas Eve for dinner (and still do) all us me, my brother, and sister would all bring our pajamas to sleep in. After dinner we'd all go down into the finished basement to play while the adults remained upstairs to talk and have coffee. My brother, Sister, and Cousins would all watch movies and stuff before we went to bed on the pull out bed and cots. My aunt had all kinds of decorations in the basement and a second Christmas tree (which also acted as a night-lite for the less brave of us lol)

Somehow, every Christmas morning we would wake up back home in our own beds with a tree full of presents. We still continue the tradition with my son, his cousins, and second cousins. It's definitely my favorite Christmas memory.

DayTek
11-13-2012, 01:38 PM
My little brother and I would scramble up to bed always before midnight or Santa might bypass the house! I never had trouble sleeping as a kid - Except on Christmas Eve! I'd wake up every hour on the hour and think, "Santa could be downstairs right now!" Then I'd try my hardest to go back to sleep. 5:00AM would come and that was a "safe" time in the morning I figured to go check things out.

I was always the first one up as a kid. I'd go in to wake my brother and we'd slink halfway down the stairs. We'd reach our hand through the banister to feel our stockings and Oh, the joy! They were full and Santa had indeed come! I'd have a flashlight with me and shine it into the next room where the Christmas tree was - And our hearts would jump again to see a mound of presents beneath it. My brother and I would never go completely downstairs as we liked coming down with our parents as a family (our parents loved the look on our faces too).

We'd go back upstairs and try to wake our parents up. They'd always make us wait until 6 or 6:30AM! I'd try to go back to sleep or watch TV, but would end up watching the clock for the next hour. FINALLY, we'd wake our parents up and go downstairs as a family. Mom and Dad would put on the coffee (make us wait another few minutes, geez...LOL) and then we'd open presents one at a time.

Great memories :)

MinnesotaMike
11-13-2012, 07:15 PM
I remember going to Christmas Eve church. The bell choir was always my favorite.

MisreadAlert
11-14-2012, 05:25 PM
I remember I used to do some heavy snooping when I was little before school in my parents room. One time, I found a SuperNintendo and I almost peed my pants. I also remember my first bike, awesome memories! Haha

Merry Christmas Darling
11-17-2012, 01:30 AM
When I was young (mid70's to early 80's) my parents would alway's be out visiting and my brothers and I would stay home, turn off all the lights , turn the tree on and listen to Christmas records...we would take turns talking about what we would do if we were the first one up on Christmas morning! Now that I'm older I still turn all the lights off turn the tree on and listen to records ,cassettes, CD and even 8 tracks...I love the sound of the less quality from the old medias.

That is so cool. I never got to do that until after I got married. But before we got married, we listened to Christmas music(LPs) together in July. :)

Merry Christmas Darling
11-17-2012, 01:39 AM
:christmastree: Our Christmases were really nice after my mother's second and third husbands were out of the picture. The second husband didn't want to spend money on a tree and the third one thought that Christmas was a time to get drunk. After that, my sister and I were old enough to start making Christmas ornaments. We made felt birds with sequins on them. And we were able to buy gifts for our younger siblings. :presents1:

MinnesotaMike
11-17-2012, 03:48 PM
:christmastree: Our Christmases were really nice after my mother's second and third husbands were out of the picture. The second husband didn't want to spend money on a tree and the third one thought that Christmas was a time to get drunk. After that, my sister and I were old enough to start making Christmas ornaments. We made felt birds with sequins on them. And we were able to buy gifts for our younger siblings. :presents1:

Sad...sounds like your mom really knew how to pick 'em.

ornamentmaven
11-17-2012, 06:50 PM
:christmastree: Our Christmases were really nice after my mother's second and third husbands were out of the picture. The second husband didn't want to spend money on a tree and the third one thought that Christmas was a time to get drunk. After that, my sister and I were old enough to start making Christmas ornaments. We made felt birds with sequins on them. And we were able to buy gifts for our younger siblings. :presents1:

This reminds me of my own great-grandma. She was born in the 1880's and was married 7 times - we aren't even sure if she legally married all of them - at a time when this was not done! Talking about not knowing how to pick them! Actually she oulived 3 of them, and one was institutionalized. But maybe she was the bad pick!!!

My grandma would always talk about her dad on Christmas. She idolized him, and used to say that her Mom drove him to the "nut-house". LOL