Christmas presents in the late 50’s

I was born in 1954 and when I was 4y old my favourite present was a miniature washing machine. Filled up at the sink washing daddy’s handkerchiefs my hands were like stones in the (eventually) cold water. I remember standing on a small stool to reach the big Belfast white sink, It came with a tiny box of (real - thrilling!) soap powder! Omo I think.

Anyway I must have spent hours at that sink.
Probably felt I’d done enough indentured time because I now hate and avoid ‘housework’ wherever I can.
#lazygran

I did too Calendargirl. My poor mother had nothing but always made sure we had a Christmas present. I drove her insane for those shoes and eventually got some.

So many lovely things on your lists that I'd have loved but didn't get ☹️. My parents didn't bother with Christmas much. Luckily, several kind patients of my Dad's did so we'd get home made tablet (confiscated at once!), knitted cardigans, a diary each and either an Oor Wullie or a Broons annual. We had a kind Gran who would give us a toy each though which was nice.
Oddest present was from a patient - a massive pair of pants, at least size 20. I was about aged 8 at the time. I can only suspect they were meant for someone else but the parcels got mixed up.

Paint by numbers !

My parents were very hard up so presents were often handmade - both my Grans were very good with crafts so would make me something - clothes for my doll or a jumper for me.

Dad could also turn his hand to anything, so he cut down my pram I had used as a baby and made it into a doll's pram for me. When I missed a whole term of school with bad Whooping Cough, he made me a farmyard with a Dutch barn and carved wooden animals.

For Christmas I would have:

A pen and pencil set
New pencil case
Schoolfriend Annual
A diary with a little padlock
A solitaire set with little pegs you could move around
One of those paper dress-the-doll sets with a cardboard doll
and you cut out the paper clothes to fit on the doll with tabs
Snakes & Ladders game
Ludo board game
Knitting Nancy
An Enid Blyton book

Selection boxes, selection boxes, selection boxes.
A chemistry set that got put in a cupboard when I made Stinky scent.
A Princess Anne doll that sat on the sideboard I was only allowed to look not touch.
magic set
A typewriter with real keys and I cried as didn't know what to write.
Cardboard dolls that had magnetic paper clothes.
Bottles of Stinky Avon scent, band as soon as opened and the house stank for days.
School Friend Annual
Second-hand bike
Second-hand dolls house both from a tomboy cousin who had wrecked them and my father had tried to make them look new.
Bath salts that made your bottom sore and all your body itch.
New clothes, slippers and pyjamas
Hand-knitted cardigans from my gran.
From my other gran all the plastic tat that I had asked for. Plastic coin etc.Best of all a plastic Nativity from Woolworths and a 1 lb bag of Dolly mixtures that made me sick.
I always wanted one of those chimps that they had in Woolworths but never got one.
We met all the relations over Christmas so I never had to write thank you letters I thanked them in person.

Annapops My Lego, which filled a big wooden tea-chest, wasn’t made up of sets like you get nowadays. Most Saturdays, when I went downtown with Mum and Granny, my Grandad would give me some money to spend.
It had to be spent on something “sensible”, that diktat came not from him who was a big softie and wouldn’t have turned a hair if it was all spent on sweeties or comics, but from Granny who was a wee woman of immense character who always kept a vice-like grip on the money. She’d grown up in a big family, 14 children, several of whom died before the age of five, the rest all brought up in a two roomed house. Not a lot of spare cash to spend on frivolities in that family as you can imagine. As an aside, of Granny and her siblings who reached adulthood and married, all only had one child.
So it was nearly always spent on Lego. You got wee boxes full of individual pieces, e.g. all windows and doors or all roof pieces. Then at Christmas and birthdays, I’d get bigger boxes of individual pieces. Imo, Lego is the best “toy” ever.

I remember colourful tins of toffees. Bluebird I think.

I’ve just remembered, we didn’t have Lego, we had the Airfix version, which was called Betta Bilda. It had special green roof tiles which made the roof of the building slanted, white bricks and red window frames. Wonder what happened to that?

Casdon it’s up in my loft!! Betta Builda kit, it’s a bit brittle after about 60 yrs, but it’s safe in a big box.
I guess I should sell it.

Smoking kit. Liquorice pipes an coconut tobacco.

Sweet cigarettes, chocolate cigars with a fondant filling, Lucky Numbers chocolates.

We used to get one main present, which could be some coloured pencils and a colouring book or an annual and then always a few walnuts an orange and maybe a bar of chocolate.
My gc had a birthday recently and all the presents were main presents. They arent well off but must have spent well over £100.
I always wanted a stiff petticoat and one of those round shopping baskets so popular in the 50s, and a record player, never got eitger so had to wait til I got a Saturday job at 13 and was able to buy my second hand Dansette which had taken me so long to save for.

My gc is 13 and cant believe I started weekend and holiday work when I was 13. Pocket money was 6d a week til I left school at 15, so it took a while.

Lucky Numbers were probably the 60s thinking about it.

I remember many things over the years:
A bundle of beautiful dolls clothes hand made by my Aunt for my Tressy doll & my sisters Sindy, we played with them for hours. Tressy’s hair grew when you turned a key in her back but I eventually lost the key and the hair extension.
Like Urmstongran I also had a little washing machine that actually washed my dolls clothes, loved it.
A Spirograph
Avon Pretty Peach soap on a rope & hand cream
A 10 shilling book token or a postal order every year from my Great gran in London which I loved going off to spend in the new year.
New brushed nylon nighties and a lovely padded pink dressing gown from M&S decorated with little rosebuds.
A selection pack shaped like a big stocking or a box of Weekend chocolates
A couple of annuals, usually Princess Tina, Diana or Bunty, my sister had Twinkle or Rupert annuals.
One year I got a really lovely dolls pushchair that was a copy of a full size pushchair that was in fashion at the time. I was thrilled to bits.
I remember trundling off up to the freezing cold bedroom to read my new annuals with a mug of Ovaltine (can’t stand the stuff now) all snuggled up under my eiderdown, luckily we often got a new hot water bottle for Christmas.

Oopsadaisy1

Casdon it’s up in my loft!! Betta Builda kit, it’s a bit brittle after about 60 yrs, but it’s safe in a big box.
I guess I should sell it.

It must be a collectors item now!

My brothers had pea shooters, water pistols and catapults.

I also wanted one of those chimps from Woollies Yammy but never got one. My cousin did though and she still has it!

I never had or even knew about Lego but its stood the test of time. My gcs love it, and have made some terrific 'creations'.

My brother had Betta builda, he played with it a lotl, but I don’t remember being interested.
I always had a doll, I used to choose one out of the Christmas catalogue, one year it obviously didn’t arrive on time, and on Christmas Eve afternoon I was taken by my dad to the local toyshop to choose another one.
My dad said the man in the toyshop would tell Father Christmas right away which one I’d chose, and he would bring it, I had my doubts, but good old Father Christmas, he did it!

Anyone remember meccano?

Oh yes I’d forgotten Spirograph, I had hours of pleasure with that.
Fuzzy Felts
Half Crown in my stocking, felt like a fortune!

Tiny Tears doll that my mum knit clothes for every Christmas after that
My older sister's hand me down bike repainted....
Colouring books
Snakes and ladders
Twinkle annual
Things to play shops with, one year I finally got the till and I was delighted.
A fake battery hairdryer with rollers, combs, etc. I tortured everyone with it. I made visitors sit in a chair while I nearly pulled their head off with the little brushes.

Your washing machine Urms reminded me of an oven I received when I was about 5years old. It really worked using methylated spirit as the fuel. I remember my dad lighting it for me and putting the small toy whistling kettle on the burner. I screamed with fear when I heard it. Where were the health and safety police back then? How did we survive?

SachaMac

I also wanted one of those chimps from Woollies Yammy but never got one. My cousin did though and she still has it!

I think unfortunately they had enough monkeys in our house with me, I used to stand and stare at them and will one to fall into my hands. You had a lucky cousin.
When one of my DDs was small she wanted a small one with a big dummy and a nappy it's still in her box in my loft.