MARGARET: "My mother was a good manager, she always put money aside to buy me a decent present at Christmas, maybe this Christmas I'd get a baby doll, one Christmas I got a doll's house, but I always got one what you'd call a good present every Christmas. But I used to have to take great care of these and clean them and put them away when I wasn't playing with them.
"A girlfriend, who I saw this year in fact, reminded me of the fact they all used to be jealous of all the lovely toys I had, and they could never understand, knowing our circumstances, why I could have all these beautiful things. But they all had brothers and sisters so the things were getting knocked about you and destroyed you know, maybe six months after Christmas, they were no longer there, but I always had every single present all boxed, ready to bring out at any time. So I'd say I was fairly lucky."
ANN: "As my father worked on Christmas Day when I was a child, our Christmas dinner was held on the Sunday beforehand. I remember one Christmas morning finding a letter from Santa Claus in my stocking. The letter stated that Santa's sleigh was too small to carry my desk and chair, and that I should watch for the railway porter bringing it to my house. I later found out that the warehouse where my parents had bought them had resold them, and when they went on Christmas Eve they were out of stock. The firm had another one sent from England, and it was delivered on Christmas afternoon. Needless to say, I was thrilled to receive a letter from Santa!"
ANNIE: "I lost my mother right enough when I was still at school. Just before the first war started, I must have been about twelve.
"I had to do a lot in the house, do housework. You were talking about washing machines, I was at school when you had to go into the wash-house, and do the washing before I went to school. My father would get up around 5 o'clock in the morning and light the boiler, put the water in, light the fire, I would get up and do the washing and hang it up before I went to school."
Created by
Paula Cuccurullo and Howard
Mitchell
Updated 26 August 1999
© 1999 WEA Scotland
