I do love Christmas, and these days my lovely husband does everything to make it a lovely time for me. So different to my childhood. I didn't have many presents as a child, it was post war (WW2) and money was short.. so every thing was scarce..One year I remember Father Christmas bringing me a red doll's pram, with a china faced doll, she was beautifully dressed. I never noticed that her dresses were made of material like that of my own dresses. One of my Aunty's was a seamstress and made all my dresses and my dolls clothes too! I must have been 5 so 1947?
I loved that pram and the doll whose name was Maureen, don't know where I got that name from, as no TV and so probably heard it. I was happy to walk with my other Aunty to the town later that week, me pushing my pram. We met one of her friends, who was housekeeper to the local Dr. She said, she had a special present for me and put it under my doll's cover with a .....'shhhh don't show till you get home!'
And this was it... an orange.. I'd never seen one before, during the war there were none.
I'm sure it was delicious and shared between us all, my gran and two Aunties.. what joy! I've always loved oranges.
Do any of you have similar memories?
Chrisxx
7 comments:
I can remember my Dad having to go to Grimsby,something to do with his work,and he came back with oranges.What excitement.
I remember Mum making bedding for a home-made crib for my baby doll. I also remember that my Tressy and Sindy dolls (not Barbie - too expensive and too American!) had mainly knitted outfits, bought from stalls at Chapel Christmas Fairs. This would be in the late 1960's. What a kind lady to give you the gift of such a rarity. It is amazing how things like that stick in the mind and make such a big impression.
Yes, same here - no oranges or bananas until I was out of toddlerhood. We are the same age, I was born in September 1942.
This Christmas, I told my grandchildren the story of why they always get oranges in their stockings, from me. I added that even though we have the resources to get oranges, now days, I have another reason why I put oranges in stockings. The slices remind me to share a little bit of sunshine, a lot of kindness, and a sweet smile with another person. They loved it and now they share a slice with anyone who happens to be around.
Grace & Peace,
Pam
What a lovely memory. Oranges were so precious back then weren't they, it must have seemed like a lovely ball of tasty sunshine.
I remember having a porcelain doll with eyes that closed when I laid her down, and moving arms and legs. These were all held in place inside on lengths of elastic. I'm not sure if she was new when I got her but after a while the elastic stretched and the limbs would go limp or the eyes wouldn't work. I was beside myself when this happened but my mum had a metal hook thing (I don't know what its real purpose was) which she put through the holes and hooked the elastic back in place. I remember getting an orange for Christmas. I was born in 1948, times were hard. I love Pam's explanation of giving an orange.
That is a beautiful memory! Thank you for reminding us of true Christmas joy and spirit. Happy and Blessed New Year!
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