Christmas presents in the late 50’s

Dressing dolly cut out set. Twizzle, now was that an annual? Boxes of chocolates with a painting of a cottage on the lid. Ready filled net stocking filled with bits and bobs.

grannydarkhair

Annapops The summer of 1971, I went berry picking with my then best friend, we stayed on the farm in a caravan. Mum never said a word about it, but when I returned home after four weeks, she’d given ALL my Lego away! Talk about being traumatised, I couldn’t look at her for days, nay weeks. Her excuse was that she hadn’t seen me playing with any of it for a couple of years which was true but absolutely irrelevant imo😁
My oldest g’son, now 20, has a huge amount of Lego (a lot of it bought by me), it’s all up in the loft for future generations. He’s doing a Civil Engineering degree and I’m convinced Lego had a lot to do with him choosing that.

Poor you! Dh felt the same when his mother gave away most of his large and carefully nurtured collection of Dinky Toys when he was away at university. I don’t think he ever quite forgave her.

There were still a few left, which we stored in the loft when working abroad for several years and renting the house out.

When we finally returned for good, we found that one of the tenants had nicked them! Dh was 😩 all over again. They were all corporate lets, to French, German, or Japanese tenants - but we never did find out who the guilty party was.

Calendargirl Lucky you! That’s the way I feel about my childhood books. During the first lockdown, I started to seriously go through my many thousands of books, with a view to getting rid of a great many of them, ended up reading most of my childhood ones. They’ve all been put aside, will not be going as of yet.

Books I remember

Lucie Attwell’s Annual.

Jennifer and the Flower Fairies

Father Christmas and Belinda

Rupert Annual

Girl

Chicks Own Annual

Strip books - Mary Mouse series.

Hundreds of Blyton titles - an absolute favourite.

Heidi

Little Women

Black Beauty

I have some books in one of my bookcases I have kept, that I read, published in the 30s and I loved them.

One a very early cartoon book that belonged to an Uncle published in the 20s - I think it was called Felix the Cat.

I adored my books, and as a child had the ability to sit entirely absorbed - more than I have ever been able to do as an adult.

As a teenager I was lucky as my father worked for a book publisher, and would bring home bags full of books that had been rejected for one reason or another - pages not properly cut, etc and so had access to myriad titles and genre - some entirely unsuitable 😄 but the majority a whole world of enjoyment.
I remember being introduced to so many authors that I would never have tried.

I’ve rambled a bit there😳

Ramble away WWM.

growstuff I loved my Spirograph, it was probably my next favourite after my Lego and my books.
Witzend Tbh, I don’t know if I ever really, truly forgave my Mum. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s the main reason why my g’son’s Lego is in their loft and wasn’t given away or sold.
Whitewavemark2 Nowt wrong with a bit of rambling now and again 😁 for all my love of books, I was never a Blyton fan except for the Mallory Towers series. I loved them, but never owned any, they were all library books.

Milly Molly Mandy books

A typewriter that had a dial on it for the letters, took about 3 days to type a thank you note!

I think more in the 60s a pogo stick ( on Christmas day I fell off it straight through the window)

At the risk of a touch of ‘the good old days’ syndrome, isn’t it telling that we all speak so fondly, after so many years, of these, on the whole, quite simple, inexpensive gifts that obviously gave so much pleasure because we remember them so vividly.

Wonder how many of this year’s Christmas presents will be thought of in 50/60 years time?

A second hand dolls house which my dad ‘did up’ beautifully,
Rupert Annuals (still have a couple)!
Selection boxes and a tin of those round flat toffees you find in Quality Street tins,
Always Reeves paints in a tin box - found an identical one at an antique fair recently with only a couple of the pans used - can’t bring myself to use it.
A miniature Vulcan sewing machine
A Bako building set, which I loved. You’d never get away with letting children loose with all those little metal rods these days. They come up at auction from time to time and I’m tempted!
And one year a Hornby OO train set (much to my mother’s disgust) which was added to every birthday until I grew out of it and it was passed to my nephews. With hindsight I wish I had kept it because I looked after it and they didn’t!
Post Office sets,
Sweet shops with tiny jars of sweets, scales and a cash register.
I don’t know how it came up in conversation but I was talking about those smokers sets last weekend with DiL. And packets of brown coloured coconut “tobacco”. They really were determined to get us going! Fortunately I never progressed further than the sweets!
I did have dolls, as a concession to my mother, but I hated them all. She got the message eventually.
Does anyone remember “Crow Shoot”? You shot them off a wire rail with corks from a pop gun! My cousin had one and it was huge fun!

Oh, and one year I got a cowgirl outfit, plus gun, holster and caps to shoot. Loved it.

My sister and I were big fans of The Lone Ranger, Champion the Wonder Horse, The Range Rider, Roy Rogers….
Different western on every teatime.

Oh happy days!

Many of the things already listed, also a pretty tin of toffees, awful toffee but lovely tins.

When a bit older there were always bath cubes, strong smelling and they never fully dissolved in the bath.

Calendergirl I had one of those guns. I can remember the smell of those caps when they were fired. Loved it!

grannydarkhair, poor you regarding all that Lego given away. Fortunately for me my parents had kept mine at their house and used it to entertain my children. Once my DD's and DS became too old for it, it found a home in my loft until my GC came along. I love telling them about the things I used to build with little sis. The GS's have continued to play with this toy and enjoy following the instructions to build their models at home. In my day it was more design your own, which is what GC tend to do with my old set. Such a wonderful creative toy.

A second hand bike which I loved. Dad had re-chromed it and added a new saddle and basket.
Bounty and Judy annuals
Tin of tooth cleaning powder - what was that all about. I don’t think I ever used it and never saw it in the shops.
Enid Blyton books
Knickers
Bath salts
Manicure set

I always had a sugar mouse, a shiny new penny and a chocolate father Christmas. Over the years I received, a dolls pushchair with a black doll and a white doll sitting in it. Ladybird Cinderella, A Christmas Carol, Black Beauty, Little Women, Rupert Annual, Girl and School Friend Annuals. Beano Annual. A rabbit shaped torch. Toy mincing machine, typewriter, printing set. Sweet shop, post office. Card game, Uno or Ugo, I think it was called. I think I was almost seven the Christmas I had a beautiful coach built dolls pram (probably second hand). I remember waking up the Christmas before I was six and in the glow of the embers of the fire (yes we had fires in the bedrooms) there was a a dolls house complete with furniture. Again, probably second hand. Also that Christmas a small, plastic doll dressed as a fairy in white crepe paper. It seemed magical. Another gift I remember well was a child's handbag. Loved that. I had jigsaws and the usual bathsalts and embroidered hankies. I still have a large collection of hankies. Just kept in an embroidered hankie case. That reminds, I once received a pink satin pyjama case. Over the years various dolls, especially David. He was a big doll. I think he probably had seen life as a baby clothes model in the local haberdashery shop. My father died when I was ten and Christmas was never the same.

I hated those Newberry fruits Casdon

I had a coach built dolls pram too Aldom and a doll with long eyelashes who said 'Mama' I was the only child of older parents so I was a bit spoiled with presents. My favourite was always books though.

Christmas was a frugal event and my brothers and myself were given very little. The present that stands out for me is when I was about 10yrs old I was given a bottle of shampoo - it was in two parts, with shampoo one side and conditioner in the other, it was called 'Two Step'. I felt so grown up and sophisticated having it, and all these years on haven't forgotten the thrill it gave me.

A few of the above, but immediate memories., as in specific 1950's....(born 1951)

A tangerine, which were luxuries, in the bottom of my stocking.

Roller skates, my how I loved them.

A doll with black skin, (tho white features) mum must have trawled to find it.

Always Cadburys chocolate in the stocking

"approved" books. Enid Blyton was not approved of, but there were. ( I loved Enid Blyton of course...and once when I was ill in bed being good keeping my measles away from the others (who got it in the end anyway) ...my Dad got me "The Faraway Tree" a real new book just for me not library.

My I loved that book, anyone recall, as you climbed the tree you passed through different lands, and once was made of chocolate and sweeties)

What happy memories of mainly rubbish presents by today’s standards but I remember being delighted with my Post office set and Rupert annual. Think I had a little kitchen but at 5 I had a twin pram with twin dolls. Was over the moon with it. It might have been Silver Cross.

I once had a toy post office, and I particularly loved a Mabel Lucie Atwell annual I had, I must have read it one hundred times it more, I still remember the poem at the front of the book.

I had a colour change torch that I loved. I bought various grandchildren colour change torches but they didn’t find them as delightful as I did. I had some sort of telephone exchange one year. I wish I could go back in time and thank my parents for the presents they gave me because we were very poor and they must have put a lot of thought into it. I’ve got some Bayko in the loft that was my ex’s ( I’ve got his Dinky cars, too). There was a display of toys from the past in the Museum of Scotland ( I love that museum) and most of them were from my childhood. I must ( under close supervision) show the Bayko to my grandchildren

Six of us kids at home. I remember Beano, Dandy and Beezer annuals. Bath cubes, a little piano that you could play, dolls, plastic high heels that looked like glass slippers, selection boxes shaped like stockings.

Cowgirl outfit
Cowgirl doll. Harriet with a Lariat
Bath salts
Handkerchief
Girl
Colouring books
Whip and top
Skipping rope
Knitting kit
John Bull Printing outfit
I could go on but……

Oh Kate1949, I longed for a pair of those plastic high heeled shoes that looked like glass (Cinderella) but was never given any. Health and Safety even back then, no doubt.