What was Christmas like, in the 50's? Back to Golden Days

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Looks like a 'Tonka' lorry.

Christmas only became a public holiday in Scotland in 1958 and Boxing day in 1974. In the 17th century it was banned by the church, but this was later repealed. In the post WW2 period, it was celebrated quietly and the Church did not attach much religious significance to it. It is still a fairly low key event here and it is possibly because of this that Hogmanay became the major Yuletide celebration.
 
I remember this table top decoration from my childhood. The noses used to blink (in no particular order), but the bulb that controlled the action burnt out years ago and I can't find a replacement. They will light, but not blink.

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One year as a kid, I bought my mom and grandma two extremely pitiful tiny poinsettia plants on Christmas Eve for five cents each.

My mom tossed hers out on Dec. 26th but grandma took hers home and nursed it back to health. She put it in the corner and over the next six or seven years, it grew up the wall and part way across the ceiling. It never "bloomed" again but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Poinsettia bushes grow up to 15 feet or more here in Florida, but this was in the frozen North.
 
I remember when I was quite young we used to go on various secret missions to buy or make little Christmas presents for parents, grandparents, etc...

We used to be able to buy things like linen calendar towels on a wooden dowel, Yardley soap, thin ribbon candy from the Fanny Farmer store, fancy jams and jellies, tea, a pouch of pipe tobacco or a pack of cigars, etc...

I also remember the fuss they made over our little offerings on Christmas morning.

IMO it was good training that helped us to understand the importance of giving and thinking about the people around us instead of thinking only about ourselves and what we might receive.

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I also remember getting these chocolate cigarettes from Fanny Farmer in my Christmas stocking! 😲

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