Readers’ memories of Christmas past

Were the good old days really the best?

Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year or at least it used to be.

Back in the day it always seemed to snow. Toys were ace Action Man, Spacehoppers, Raleigh Choppers and train sets. And there might only have been three channels, but even the telly was better. That’s why they’re still showing the same old programmes today. We reveal some of your favourite Christmas memories and whether you think today’s celebrations measure up to those of years gone by.

When I was young we got much less but it meant so much more. Spirograph was the best present.

Judi Martin, 56, Maryculter.

There’s no atmosphere today everything’s so commercialised. My favourite Christmas memory is waking up to find fruit, a selection box and small toy red bus in my stocking they meant the world to me.

Joe Clancy, 55, Glasgow.

We were grateful for one main present and a handful of stocking fillers and we celebrated the birth of Christ.

Clifford Chambers, 60, Blackpool.

In the early ’70s I got a blue Raleigh Chopper. My parents let the tyres down so I couldn’t disappear on Christmas morning! I loved that bike.

Gary Hopton, 52, Kinglassie.

I always loved getting the latest Eagle annual but my best present was a bagatelle then a Dinky tractor and trailer.

Tom Fazakerley, 66, Mawdesley.

Christmases are better now I’m the grandparent, I love to see my grandchildren’s reactions when they open their presents.

Graham D’Arcy, 67, Glasgow.

Best present is between a real leather football and a homemade, pull-along, beautifully painted wooden model of the Queen Mary liner.

Bob Smith, 72, Aberdeen.

I loved seeing my children’s faces when they came into the living-room and saw their presents. Christmas has lost its sparkle.

Pamela Moran, Cockburnspath.

There really were days of an apple, orange and threepenny bit in the stocking. We didn’t expect more, so I’ll never forget the time I woke and found a beautiful doll sitting at the end of my bed. We’re all spoiled these days.

Irene Thomson, Perth.

I recall a wooden cot my grandfather made for my doll. I treasured it and when my sons were born, both slept in it.

Margaret Brown, Rutherglen.

It starts too early and is too commercial. Plus, there’s little mention of the main reason for CHRIST-mas today. I appreciated everything I ever got from Santa kids nowadays get it too easy.

Alan McQuillian, 63, Dunoon.

Modern Christmases are better because we have the means to buy presents for the family. When I was growing up times were hard although we had a loving family, there weren’t many presents.

Ronald James, 69, Kirriemuir.

I remember getting an electric train set I can still smell that warm metal. My parents and all my uncles contributed to buy it. I never got to play with it until Boxing Day my Dad and uncles commandeered it on Christmas!

David Collins, 67, West Yorks.

Christmas seems to go on forever now. No sooner is Halloween over than Christmas decorations adorn houses.

Dawn Nelson, Dunfermline.

During the war we didn’t get much wooden toy, balloon, orange and apple, but we thought the world of them. Now, children expect and get too much.

William Westwood, 71, Methil.

We were pleased with anything we received at Christmas too many today are influenced by expensive toys advertised on TV. My best present was a doll from my mum. My aunt knitted clothes for it a wonderful surprise.

Jacqueline Burton, 65, Birgham.

I remember going to my granny’s the big table, food, crackers, the sheer enjoyment of the family being together and everyone playing games. It’s too money focused now.

James Plenderleith, 64, Edinburgh.

We were so happy and appreciative of the simple toys, annuals and tangerines. We celebrated the true meaning of Christmas unlike today’s display of greed that many are still paying for when it comes round again.

Edna Cuthill, 62, Bannockburn.

We tried so hard to stay awake for Santa. I remember getting a sixpence in my stocking and a tangerine they were so different from a plain old orange!

Joan Fordyce, 67, Forfar.

When I was 10 or 11, I got a big silver torch with three batteries. When they ran out, mother didn’t have money to replace them. She promised I’d get more for my birthday in March!

Norrie Mclellan, 65, Portobello.

My best present was my grandson born Christmas Day, 2000.

Liz Bell, Aberdeen.

Kids today want everything the day before yesterday and put their parents under pressure and into debt to give them it and still they’re not happy.

Isabella Mearns, 61, Aberdeen.

It’s expensive and stressful things were far more enjoyable in my youth. My father’s war job was repairing planes that had been shot at. The best present was just to have him home somehow he’d also found me a beautiful doll. It was a wonderful Christmas as we rarely saw him.

Liz Kelly, 80, Glasgow.

I remember creeping downstairs very early to see my mother in front of the fire desperately trying to dry my old doll’s cot which she’d painted pink. We didn’t have much money in 1940.

Sheila Webb, Edinburgh.

My best present was a train set that a family friend gave me when I was five in 1951. He was a pilot and brought it from America. I was the envy of my street.

John Morrison, 67, Wakefield.

My dolls’ house was the greatest present ever. Dad led me downstairs by torchlight to see if Santa had been. Quietly, we opened the living-room door. There in the corner were twink-ling lights shining through little

lattice windows. I loved that house even though my brother later painted the stair black!

Allison Scotland, 66, North Berwick.

Christmas is ruined for everyone by non-stop advertising, non-stop demands by charities and all sorts of other things connected with Christmas but which start months before the event.

Ian Wheeler, Springfield, Fife.

One year I got a lovely wooden train, painted red. I had it a few years and loved it. Suddenly, it disappeared. Funnily enough, that year my younger brother got a lovely wooden train, painted GREEN!

John Ainslie, 63, Preston, Lancashire.

When very young my son had cancer and we got the all clear in December that was some present. Nowadays Christmas is just an excuse for a shopping spree.

Bob Mitchell, 71, Paisley.

In the 1940s Christmas was usually very cold. We had no electricity or flushing toilet. We got clothes, boots, an apple, orange, maybe some nuts and sweets, which were on ration. If we were lucky, we’d have creamed rice for pudding. Them were the days!

Robert Christie, 75, Shortstown.

There’s more pressure on parents now as children aren’t satisfied with the simple pleasures any more.

Sue Jones, 61, Wallasey.

We always looked forward to our new bedtime pajamas and chocolate.

Davina Kennedy, 63, Methilhill.

When I was two my mum could only afford a 2d red hairslide from Woolworths I was delighted with it. No amount of money could have bought anything better.

Isabel Roy, 69, Aberdeen.

When I was young, Christmas Day was just another working day for grown-ups if they were lucky they might only have to work a half-day.

John Macpherson, 70s, Montrose.

It’s far too commercialised now. Most things children want are in the region of £150. Just after the war, we had to be content with something costing £1.50 and we were just as happy.

Keith Foxton, 78, Preston.

It was an ordinary working day for my father. He didn’t believe in celebrating Christmas and I don’t recall either parent saying “Happy Christmas”.

Margaret Cooper, Cheadle.

On Christmas morning the street was full of children playing with their new toys. Boys with scooters and footballs, girls with new dolls, skipping ropes and, for a lucky few, a dolls’ pram. Now, I look out on an empty street. So sad.

Mary Campbell, 68, Gosport.

Modern Christmases are not a patch on the good old ones a roaring fire, homemade decorations and a stocking with a 6d, an orange and toy. Kids these days expect far too much.

Avril Simpson, 74, Forfar.

Christmas today is much more materialistic the build-up seems to begin in the autumn! My favourite Christmas memory is working as a temporary postie in Bridge of Allan while a student in 1962. The fun we had pushing a hand-cart through the snow delivering parcels.

Patricia Croker, 70, Liverpool.

It starts too early, costs too much and has lost its way.

Alan Baldwin, 66, Market Weighton.

Our stockings contained nuts, an orange, colouring book, crayons, and a small toy. I remember one year being so happy with what we had then Dad suddenly remembered the table tennis set he’d hidden under the stairs as an extra present! We played all day.

Susan Ireland, 59, Kendal.

We’d wait for my parents to go to bed then sneak downstairs, and put the light on to see what we had our presents were laid on just a seat each. I think children today would be on the phone to Childline!

Brian Campbell, 65, Ponteland.

I was determined to sit up and meet Santa when I was four. There was a noise up the chimney and I got such a fright I jumped into bed with Gran and my young auntie.

John Donnachie, 78, Leslie.

I’ll always remember the Christmas I got a pair of winter boots that’s when I said to myself there really is no Santa!

Annabel Paterson, 82, Kinross.

My favourite gifts were a cowboy outfit and, best of all, a farmyard with metal animals not like today’s plastic stuff.

Tom Johnston, 69, Ayrshire.

We always had a chicken for dinner it was a luxury. When I was nine or 10 I was given a watch by Santa. My sister, who was three years younger, was unsure about Santa. The watch was proof because “mummy would NEVER buy big sister a watch”!

Isabelle Grant, 74, Glasgow.