Christmas / New Year Memories

Out of the mouths of babes and infants!! The following is from a Church newsletter: THE NATIVITY as scripted and performed by a class of 10-year olds: Innkeeper: I've told you twice, I'm very sorry, there's no room in the inn, we're full up. Joseph: But look here, my wife Mary is having a baby, she's due to have it any minute! Innkeeper: Well that's not my fault is it! Joseph: Well it's not my fault either! Merry Christmas everyone!

They shouldn't have been surprised to find the place full.... after all, it was Christmas!!!

Every year Holy Trinity held a service of "Carols and Nine Lessons", and each year The Coventry Standard sent a photographer to the choir practice for the service Here are a couple of such photos from the early 1960s In both photos, the choirmaster is Leonard Tanner PS I see the service is still held, although its title has been altered to "Nine Lessons and Carols" Happy Christmas

My grandson use to sing in the cathedral choir but now his voice has got deep

I was not much on parties but did I love Santa. I wonder if anyone remembers Johnsons Pet Shop just off Trinity Street, New Buildings, the shop stood on the corner just to the right as you walk in I remember going with my mum to see Santa at the back of the shop (I think it's a bookies now) just to the right was a path that led to the Grotto (could not wait to see Santa). Makes me feel a bit sad now most grandparents that have taken their grandkids to see Santa over the past few years will have noticed the difference, we sat on Santa's lap when we were young but now it's almost like visiting a prison (not that I ever have visited a prison, just to make that clear) the kids have to sit in rows of seats not having any contact with him at all. What's the world coming too? A bit o.t.t if you ask me. Anyway the question was, does anyone remember Johnsons Pet Store and Good ol' Father Christmas? The photo is me as you may have guessed but note the wellies, it had been snowing. Best make it clear, I am the one on the right lol. All good stuff. Colin.

Hi all! Quite a few people have written about their early memories of Christmas in Coventry, under the 'first jobs' thread. I'd like to extend that theme under its own thread! I don't know how to move the original postings, unfortunately. To kick off this thread - what sort of decorations did you have in the house?

Bizarrely, I didn't have any till I came to Coventry. It wasn't the same thing where I come from and I wondered what all the fuss was about?

What sort of things did you do there?

Nothing that I can remember Anne. My first Christmas in Coventry is the first time I ever heard it mentioned. I kept being told it was something I should be looking forward to but I had no idea why? I also remember it was the first Christmas I slept in a proper bed of my own, bought from Owen Owen a few weeks before.

The earliest recollection of Christmas decs was those DIY morbid, drab links of paper that you had to stick together to make garlands, combined with a few balloons and those dusty Chinese Lanterns which were far more magical than the latter. There were those cut-out paper decs as well, bells and such like. None very glamorous like todays sophisticated stuff. A real tree that smelled lovely and in my childhood, electric fairy lights and woolworths baubles and a nasty plastic angel for the top After all my derision, I still thought it was magical though! People/families didn't seem to travel about so much and meet up if they lived away so it was a time for 'gathering of the clans' which seemed to whip up a bit more excitement. After the austerity of the war rations as well, it must have been a treat to have the 'christmas spread of food' that we are used to all the year now. I do remember hearing from my nan that she truly only had oranges and nuts in her christmas stocking at the turn of the century. A Woolworths Christmas

Up until perhaps about 8 years of age, the whole of December was an absolutely magical time, which seemed to go on for ever and ever.... would Christmas day EVER arrive??? The wait was made bearable by a very old and beautiful Advent Calendar that my parents had, which was a fold-out, pop-up type with the whole nativity scene on it. The 24 doors to open were of various sizes, hidden in different parts of the scene - and after a few years I knew each window number and the picture behind it off by heart. No need for a chocolate treat back then - just sitting staring at that scene and knowing that Christmas was around the corner was easily good enough! That whole period for me was warm, magical and slightly mystical - I hope we managed to give our own children the same feeling as they went through those wide-eyed innocent years.

Foxcote, I LOVED those paper strips - I remember myself and my brother sitting at the kitchen table, deciding which colours to put together! My mum made an angel from a doll which she dressed herself and gave wings to. I did love those 'honeycomb' decorations as well-the ones that turned into lanterns and so on. I loved all that tinsel - of course, no lights but I loved them when they appeared later on! Rob, the advent calendar sounds lovely - is it still around? Or is there photo of it? We didn't have an advent calendar but I do remember all that magical excitement!

The biggest Coventry Christmas build-up memory I have is on the Father Christmas sleighride upstairs in the Co-op. In this more modern micro-chip age I'm sure that if it were recreated exactly now it would seem extremely naff but my memories of it at the time were it was amazing. I'm sure the 'sleigh' held a lot of people on each ride and it rocked back and forth and I'm sure (though it might be rose-tinted) that there were moving images along the walls giving the impression of the sleigh moving along. This would have been mid 70s. It was on the upper floor in the Co-op where their Bank/Item repayment office was.

Hi Anne, I really wish it was still around so I could show our kids, but it disappeared many years ago - I assume it eventually got tatty and was replaced by a more modern one. I'll ask my mum and dad some time, though, just in case they kept it somewhere. I don't know if it was ever captured in a photo, I'll have to search through their photos to see if there's a picture with it on.

I have been on the sleighride in the 70's and is so cleverly done with the sleigh wobbling about. I found a bit of film of it in recent times and some info on the Co-op site. The Sleighride Co-op Newsletter At some time they must have moved it from the top of the Co-op, because hubby remembers it when it was in the basement.