Memories of bygone Christmases in Thurso

Thurso's Heritage by a Thirsa Loon

It’s that time of year again when the festive season is upon us. Thank goodness the reindeer travel by air because they would never avoid the potholes today.

Thoughts of Christmas made me think of memories of my youth and others before me. Here is a selection of both, which I’m sure a wide-ranging age group can relate to.

In the days when Sir Archibald Sinclair was MP, he and Lady Marigold financed a “bun-fecht” (tea party) in the Salvation Army Hall during Christmas. Jinad Maclean remembered “Sir Erchie” and Lady Marigold that “was the first time I ever saw a Christmas Tree! Later I saw another one and got a present from Santa (Miss Katie Innes, schoolteacher, dressed up) in our local YWCA Club."

One former message boy wrote of his deliveries, “Although we received an odd twopence or threepence on our regular deliveries throughout the year, we were sure of a tidy sum during the festive season. We would receive sums ranging from 1s to 10s – a fortune! I remember one customer to whom I delivered messages every week during the whole year, gave me sixpence for my Christmas Box. I wasn’t too careful with that person’s eggs in the next few weeks’ deliveries.”

“Fruit was unobtainable in 1940 and early 1941. The Christmas ration was usually raised slightly, perhaps with a small extra on tea, fats and dried fruit. People used to substitute these by eating carrots! There were many experiments with the humble carrot – 'carrot marmalade,' 'carrot flan,' carrots recommended as a replacement for fruit in our Christmas pudding!”

There were no “fantoosh” toys then, costing equal to the deposit on a mortgage. People didn’t have the money. What you got could fit into a sock and, in later years, a pillowcase if you were lucky. An orange and an apple were standard gifts for any bairn. One lady told me that over 75 years ago, she discovered a tin of custard powder was one of her stocking fillers on Christmas morning.

With Woolworths, you could practically do your entire Christmas shop in the store. From tools to toys and chocolates to Christmas cards. Of course, not forgetting packs of batteries when toys requiring them came into fashion.

Remember the dust collectors that were honeycomb paper bells and lanterns that opened concertina style? Not forgetting fairy lights that when one bulb went, they all went, requiring patience to figure out the faulty one. How many of you had a crafty feel of your presents, giving them a shake, trying to work out what it was? And it wouldn’t be a first to find your tree lying on the floor if you had an adventurous moggy who tried to scale the top.

Christmas was also the time of year when snaps were taken. If some partially used film was in the camera, you had no idea what pictures were on it until it was used, popped into the chemist, or sent off to get your prints back. Photographs with no decapitated family were carefully put in albums with self-adhesive pages. The glue eventually failed, and they would fall out on the floor.

I will end now in the hope you have enjoyed my Thurso articles this year, and though it never is for the turkey, Merry Christmas!

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