Christmasses past.

Yes, I remember my brothers getting the smoking set or the tool set and I got the hairdressing set!

I remember both kinds of sweetie cigarettes, but the packets of tobacco was my favourite!

Oh and the sweet cigarettes with the red tips. We used to burn the ends to make them more realistic. I never went on to smoke the real ones. Lovely, simple memories.

I'm really enjoying reading everyone's memories of Christmas and haven't finished reading them yet. Willow your memories are very similar to mine but I have teenage doll envy! I wasn't allowed one (because they had bosoms!?) Did yours have a plastic bra?

I too remember the white sweetie cigarettes with the red end. It seems mad now to look back and think how, as children, we were almost encouraged to smoke! We also had the chocolate smokers set at Christmas and I definitely remember the shreddied coconut tobacco! I also seem to remember that my older brother was given a chocolate tool set at Christmas; chocolate spanner, hammer and wrench. Does anyone else remember these?

There are some lovely memories of Christmas here and Luckygirls post sums up mine around the same time, except we were just the four of us, we had no extended family around.

There were white sweet cigarettes with a red tip, liquorice pipes and tobacco made from shredded coconut. No chocolate at all as I remember

I remember sweet cigarettes that you describe Willow, but not the pipe. I remember gobstoppers which changed colour in your mouth, fizzy stuff you dipped liquorice into, Trevor chews, space ship things which dissolved in your mouth releasing fizz.

I remember those and also the liquorice ones and the candy sticks with red ends in cigarette boxes which only came out at Christmas.

Yes, Artyfarty - they both look familiar but I remember especially the coconut tobacco. Weird!

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Were the chocolate smokers set any of these?

Well, I'd never heard of them!

Although I have heard of 'couldn't organise a booze-up in a brewery' (polite version)
or 'a feast of pigeons in a cornfield'

Our didlums were run differently. One person collected and banked the money from different people every week. Interest was added to the account at the end of November so the first week of December every member got the amount they had saved. The didlum organiser kept the interest as a reward for doing all the organising.

The didlum was known as a menage ( pronounced minoj) in these parts.
A common insult about a disorganised person was, “ Couldnae run a menage”.

It sounds more like a lottery!

A didlum was a kind of savings scheme. Acertain number joined and agreed to pay weekly over an agreed number of weeks. Then lots were drawn with a week number. On your lucky week you received the full amount of everyone's weekly contribution. Someone trustworthy collected and paid out. I suspect the name didlum was from the many risks of being diddled!

Bah! I dont drink at all. Don't even like Baileys, but a snowball, well.. I think I would like one.

I think Bailey's took over from Advocaat

We really fancied a snowball last year. It seems they're no longer sold ready made, then we couldn't find any advocaat, and the idea just fizzled out. We had shandy instead.

Snowballs and nuts in their shells. I do like walnuts! but prefer Brazils. However, Brazils often needed Dad's strong hands to crack the shells.

Might have a snowball or 3 this year, quite fancy it now. ??

It was always my dad that made the snowball too. It was treated a bit like when he knew how to store and light fireworks. I always expected a fanfare of trumpets when he was about to mix up a snowball. I know it involved shaking up the lemonade a bit. Dangerous grounds, considering how houseproud my mum was!

Oh I always ate all the nuts. They're one of my favourite foods, still. Lovely!

A snowball with cherries on a cocktail stick made by my Dad made me feel so grown up!

The dates got eaten in our house (as did anything sweet!), but not the walnuts in their shells. Boring or what?

Oh yes! A snowball!
My mum would have one at Christmast too. Did anyone actually like those dates? Nobody in our house did. My dad would eat them, eventually.

Still about didlium

Yes, it was dates with a fork. I love dates but prefer the Medjool ones now.