A Look Back At Christmas Through The Years (1950s-1990s)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 พ.ย. 2023
- Christmas has changed quite a bit since the 1950s. In this video, we are looking back at how Christmas used to be from the 1950s through the 1990s.
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#recollectionroad #nostalgia #christmas - บันเทิง
Thanks!
I was born in 1951, lived through all of these! Tinsel, the Sears Christmas catalog (how I miss that!), Peanuts and Burl Ives TV specials, Christmas albums (actual records), midnight Mass, writing thank-you notes the day after, Christmas at the mall, and Christmas didn't start till after Thanksgiving. We sent tons of Christmas cards accompanied by a Christmas letter, and got tons back to display. My family boxed up outgrown clothes and toys to give away (no Goodwill, I forget what agency came and picked it up) as part of the runup to Christmas. Never, ever had a fake tree. I grew up in postwar Japan, and they adopted Christmas with a vengeance (still do, although it has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus); the traditional Christmas meal in Japan is - I am not kidding - Kentucky fried chicken! I miss it all. Today's Christmas season starts in July and is all commercial - y'all don't know what you're missing. 💕🎄
St Vincent de Paul sent big panel trucks for scheduled pick-ups. They came to my house in the 50-60s. Merry Christmas!
What ever happened to Tinsel, was it banned? Always made the Christmas tree look so beautiful!
@@zsigzsag I have the same question! Possibilities are, it's a real pain to clean up. And it tangles in the tree, so when you dispose of the tree somewhere, the tinsel wreaks havoc with animals and doesn't biodegrade. My brother still gets tinsel for his grandkids to put on the tree, though, just like we did (covering the bottom 3 feet!)
1952 here. You're 100% right.
A fond memory of mine is the wood floors at Woolworths. The creaky sound.
@@zsigzsag Tinsel of the 50-60s was made of lead. It was krinkled, dull silver, and hung with hefty weight, came in cellophane covered slender boxes. The strips were folded in half and had to be separated from the hank. Due to toxicity, it was replaced with the wispy, very shiney, smooth strips of polyester or acetate (?). These sliped off the branches with a tiny breeze. In 70-80s, individual icicles made of plastic, metal, or glass were used.
I was a child in the late 70s ,80s. Christmas in the 80s was the best .I miss the Sears wish book. Nothing says Christmas like the Sears wish book and the Macy's parade.
Yes it was fun and exciting back then. I got to go to the Macy's parade in person one year in the early 90s and shopped at Macy's after it. Thank goodness for the pictures. I'd not want to do that now.
I miss those days.
Awwwwe....the Sears Wishbook🥹
I've collected most of the 80s Sears Wish Books, I still love thumbing through them and enjoying the nostalgia :)
@@toykeyper8914 Lucky you! Whoever thought they would go away?😢
Raised Methodist, we had Christmas Eve service at 8 PM. When I was a child, that was the highlight of Christmas for me, and then the meal of what seemed like 45 minutes of passing food around before you could get one bite of the food. And all the wonderful desserts like divinity and frosted cut out sugar cookies, and then yes, the presents. Now, being 57, soon 58, I am alone with no one to celebrate it anymore.
There are tons of us who share your sorrow. You are not alone in memories. Our parents made these holidays for us, and that generation is gone. 😢💔
I’m so sorry to hear that. I feel the same way a little, and I still have my parents. My grandparents are mainly gone. Christmas just isn’t the same anymore. I hope this year you have some loving people to spend Christmas with. Maybe go to a church. Or come to my house for Christmas! I don’t want you to be alone on Christmas
Christmas was so magical back in the 60s and 70s. We never got a whole lot for Christmas but the family traditions were so fun. I miss those days very much.
Where I grew up there was always a snow storm around Christmas and I thought that snow and Christmas went together. Until I had to join the military and I spent 4 Chrristmases in places where snow didn’t exist. Most of the places it was warm and humid. I had to get used to it. Also there were places where Christmas was not observed since those countries were not allowed to have Christmas because of non-Christian laws.
@@glennso47 I spent Christmas in Florida a few years ago and it was really weird. Just not the same. I'm glad I grew up in Vermont.
Thank you for your service!
Our family hosted a neighborhood Christmas with the whole neighborhood getting together at our house and the staging of the luminaries around the whole neighborhood. White bags with candles lining our subdivision and ALL the neighborhood was there. Then there were the Christmas tree competition between our tree and my uncle’s tree. So much fun!
Christmas is so remembered. Do you remember when you found out about Santa Clause? Or who spoiled the dream. For me it was my sisters.
1959 gal here & yes Christmas was special. It remained so until my parents few yrs ago. Family is everything.😢
The one Christmas TV commercial I miss most is the one with Santa Claus riding the Norelco electric razor over the snowy hills. When that one made its yearly return, for me it officially signaled the start of the Christmas season. I miss that commercial at Christmastime almost as much as I miss my family members who are no longer with us.
"Even our name says NOELCO"....th-cam.com/video/Y888mx7hMZ0/w-d-xo.html
I always remembered the commercial from the 1970s that had a horse pulling a couple in a small carriage through the snow at night. It was only a few years ago that I found out it was a Miller High Life commercial.
That was one of my favorite commercials!
Also the Coca Cola song along.
How about the Hickory Farm commercials and the sad thing is you’re no longer around anymore we used to go there all the time it around Christmas to get the package deal and even the box Lifesavers
This Christmas I want Peace on earth and Goodwill toward men.
Goodwill, Salvation Army, Rescue Mission Center, Carpenters Place, Ms Carley’s, etc.
No Jesus No peace. Know Jesus, know peace. 🙏
LOL 😂, good luck with that.
What about woman ?
@@jamesvw769 Take your dress off and you will be a man again instead of a fake woman.
I was born in 1961. We never put any decorations or the tree up until a week or 2 before Christmas . Always such an exciting time! We always had real trees. My kids were born in the 1980's. We kept our holiday traditions alive and I'm so thankful they live close by.
Another great video and a trip down memory lane. Thank you!
I was born in 59. Oldest of 5. Both my parents grew up in apts. so having a big house to decorate was fun for them. I think my father bought new lights & decor well into my twenties.
Born in 62 here. Great time to grow up
I was born in July of 1961.
Santa would decorate the tree Christmas Eve night at my house.
Born in 55 here. Me and my siblings always received *one* “big” present, and a bunch of smaller gifts, often including socks, underwear and other practical things. We were raised to observe the birth of Christ and weren’t spoiled by material things. My mother cooked for _days_ and we ate until we couldn’t keep our eyes open! After dinner we visited both sets of grandparents and random aunts and uncles.
We always had a live tree except for one year when Ma went with the aluminum tree with satin ornaments and a color wheel which we all decided wasn’t a keeper. We used to have Santa decorations but knew he wasn’t real, although we were taught no to spill the beans to our friends who believed.
It was all so long ago, yet somehow seems like yesterday.
We shopped in the downtown where stores had huge glass windows that were just magic displays of decorations. No malls yet, just open streets with lighted reindeer and candy canes festooned over the streets. Does anyone else recall Salvation Army red kettles and even bands playing carols with singers too?
The red kettles still exist where I live, although the local mall pushed them outside because people were annoyed by the bells. I'm a kid of the 40s. We made construction paper chains for the tree and strung popcorn. When someone in a store wishes me happy holidays, I respond with Merry Christmas.
When I was working at a supermarket bagging groceries, I remember that a Salvation Army band came up behind me and suddenly started playing. They almost had to peel me off the ceiling it startled me so much! 😮
I wouldn’t trade my 1970’s childhood Christmases for any other decade.
🎄🎅🎄🎅😁
First, once again I have to say how much I love this channel. It’s my time machine down memory lane. I was a kid in the 70’s. Back then, Christmas was everything to me. We always had real trees, & it was a family event to help with the decorations. From going to the mall, seeing the decorations & animatronics, to seeing Santa! It was just such excitement we kids had. I had that Evil Knievel toy & my sister had the female version.😂😂😂. Nowadays, times are different for kids. The world is different & not all for the better. That certainly is an era that’s long gone, unfortunately.😔😔
Beautifully said. I grew up in the late 60's into the early 70's and I can definitely relate! It was an amazing time of year. I miss those days and the people that were a part of my life. 🎄
I agree!!! I was a kid in the 1960s-1970s. Christmas was my favorite time of year!!!! I loved spending time with all my family and loved ones!!! The 🍱 food was plentiful and delicious!!!! I loved all the toys and gifts!!!! I loved all the Christmas programs on TV 📺. I miss those days!!! Many of my family members have passed away (grandparents, parents, favorite aunts, uncles, etc…). I miss them dearly!!! However, life goes on. I want to live my second half of life in peace and wonderful joy!!!! Have a wonderful and blessed holiday!!!!
This is by far my favorite TH-cam channel. I love reminiscing of days gone by. Wish my kids could have had half as good a childhood as I had. We've lost so much as a society. I long for the kinder, gentler, simpler days. Please keep the amazing videos coming!!!
The fresh scent of a Christmas tree still brings me back!!
Some of my favorite memories were walking uptown with my Dad and going from store to store to shop!! It was always snowing and cold, but I always loved it!!! Thank you for this sweet look back
The decorations were wonderful!
Mine was downtown Chicago in the early and late 60s on State Street. Marshall Fields, Carson Pirie Scott, Weiboldts, Sears, ... And the big snow of '67. Good times.
@@cathyt502I just saw elsewhere that the Macy Thanksgiving Parade this year is not going to be as family friendly as it was in years past. It’s going “woke “ with transgender people in it and liberals as featured entertainment and so on.
Shopping downtown for Christmas was always magical.
I was born in the early 60’s and have many fond memories of my childhood. The crisp winter air, the smell of coal burning stoves, going to the mall the day after Thanksgiving to see it transformed into a Christmas wonderland. The local fire department would drive Santa around the town with sirens blaring and he would throw those chocolate coins to the kids who went outside to see him. I remember the way the house smelled from all of the holiday cooking and baking; even now when I get a whiff of a certain smell it transports me back in time. I still watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph every year. I yearn for those days so much I want to cry. Life was so much simpler then. Thanks for the memories.
Add "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" and "It's A Wonderful Life" in that list.
Thanks for making me cry during this video. Seeing people dressed up during dinner. The grandparents are at the front of the table where they belong. The look and feel and just remembering the smells and sounds of laughter of family visiting. The record player would have a stack of records playing Christmas music in the background or later, a reel-to-reel playing hours of music. No football, hockey, or basketball games are being played on TV. We had six-foot aluminum trees with color wheels. Aunts and friends had flocked trees in a few colors but mostly white. It was a great time growing up but we didn't know it until you have us thinking about it today. Thank you.
I agree when you say " It was a great time growing up but we didn't know it until you have us thinking about it today."
"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory." Dr. Seuss
Nothing like a fresh tree to fill the house with pine smell and sentiment. ❤
And after the Christmas holiday you have a dry tree with needles on the floor and the danger of a fire. Oh! What fun! (Sarcasm off)
@@glennso47We always threw our tree out in time. 😊
My dad had his own special recipe for the tree water. Bought and put up the tree on Christmas eve and took it down the weekend after New Years. Loved the smell and loved hanging the lead tinsel. Yes, lead.
@glennso47 That's incredibly unlikely to happen and I wouldn't doubt if it's fear-based propaganda to get people to buy fake trees.
@@oreally8605 It’s good not to keep a natural tree around too long after the Christmas holidays. I know of people who have kept it for a long time and they have been deprived of their houses because of a fire. 🔥
Even though when I was a kid in the 1960s and early 1970s, the tree went up around early December, Christmas season started unofficially when the Wish Books arrived. If the book was on the coffee table when we got home from school, we'd certainly pick it up and start looking for stuff that was interesting. I still have a Sears Wish Book from 1972, whenever I get in the mood for some much-needed nostalgia.
How cool!You should post a few toys from 1972 Wish Book!
I agree.. I’d love to see that book again❤
@@GeorgiannaMartin Not sure how I can post pictures to this thread, but on my own channel I have a video I did back in I think January, where I made it using images from the catalog. th-cam.com/video/xqw3f0m_mRk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=bh_iQUOlXWyRo_nv
Times certainly have changed since then. I watch A Christmas story every year, and am immediately taken back to Christmas at Granny and Grandpa's. Such heartwarming memories.
LOL 😂, I love watching the Christmas Story every year. It's so funny.
My favorite was, "Scrooge", a movie version of, "A Christmas Carol", with Alastair Sim (1951).
1950 to today............lots of love little$$$$$$! aloha tommyt.
@@freedomrings1420 You Might be Old and Sane and Normal…If You Remember This, When teenage girls, were REAL girls, and teenage boys, were REAL boys and there was no MENTAL illness, or FAKE genders, and all kids, knew, what public bathroom, to use.
@@tommythompsonsurfer You Might be Old and Sane and Normal…If You Remember This, When teenage girls, were REAL girls, and teenage boys, were REAL boys and there was no MENTAL illness, or FAKE genders, and all kids, knew, what public bathroom, to use.
IN THE 60S WE WOULD DRIVE THRU THE CITIES IN OUR COUNTY LOOKING AT THE STREETS & HOUSES DECORATIONS
A Christmas Story... One of the most iconic movies
christmas in the early 60's was really nice with the smell of the balsam fir trees and the bubble lights. we also had a silver metal tree with a color wheel with 4 different colors. times were so much better back then!
I grew up in the 50's. It was always magical. When I was really small, my folks would put the tree up Christmas Eve so it would look like Santa came during the night. I would wake up Christmas morning and my folks would say "Looks like Santa came last night" ! I remember when I got my Scooter, my Roller Skates, even my "Jack In The Box" when I was 4. I actually still have it, and put it out every Christmas. I always went to see Santa, at least until I was about 7, or 8. My mom even sent my name into a Christmas Santa Show that would be on TV every day before Christmas from San Francisco. I REMEMBER how excited I got when he said my name on TV when he mentioned all the good little boys and girls on his list. As I grew older, the birth of Jesus became the focal point at Christmas in our family. We went to midnight mass every year. We were Italian and Catholic. Those are such wonderful memories. Thanks Mom and Dad...💙💙
thanks funny. I still have my Jack on the box that I got around four years old. I believe it was my grandpa that got it for me. I took good care of it all these years and always stored it sealed in a plastic bag.
That's when Christmas was CHRISTMAS! As a young mother, I decided to divide it between Jesus' birthday - Christmas Eve, a birthday cake for Jesus. and Mass - and Christmas Day, family, presents, Santa and relatives for a big holiday dinner. I miss all of that too!
I was brought up Catholic here in Scotland and in the 1950s we Catholics got a school holiday on 8th December for feast of the Immaculate Conception, so after Mass we went to the city centre store where they had Santa who gave us a present each, though I didn’t realise our parents had to pay the store for it! That was officially the start of Christmas for us, and we put the tree in the house up shortly afterwards. On Christmas morning itself we opened our presents and sweets, but couldn’t eat anything till we’d been to Mass as you had to fast from midnight, before receiving Communion. We were considered too young to have gone to the midnight Mass .
I was born in 1965. Every year my parents would take the family to Philadelphia to walk through the Dicken's Christmas Village at Lit Bros. department store. Then there would be a school trip to Macy's in Philadelphia for the Christmas light show, accompanied by organ music. The days leading up to Christmas were magical. I remember looking out of our front door at night, watching fat snowflakes fall on the big colored lights my father hung up outside. The big blow mold candle with 'NOEL' down the front cast the most beautiful glow. At school, I remember making Christmas decorations out of brightly colored construction paper. Sometimes, we'd make plaster tree ornaments and paint them. I still have one I made in the 4th grade. Every year we held a Christmas program for the parents in the auditorium. My grade school had a real wood burning fireplace in the lobby and the office staff would decorate it. During the week before Christmas break, a fire would be lit in it and we could enter through the lobby and linger a moment to warm up and take in the sweet smell of fresh evergreens. At home, I was tasked with taping the Christmas cards we received to the back of the front door. Christmas season during the 60's and 70's was glorious. I was so lucky to have experienced this time, but now find myself melacholy for the family members long gone, the delicate glass tree ornaments and staring out the front door to watch the colored lights reflect on the newfallen snow.
Kids today have no clue how much the Sears catalog meant to us. I miss that.
I miss those days of wonder and whimsy. Tonka trucks, Matchbox cars and trucks, Hot Wheels, board games, bicycles, my first .22 rifle. The family all together, especially at the dinner table. 😢
It's strange to think more about the good old days ... but with the division today ... I like thinking about ... the good old days.
I remember putting tinsel on the Christmas tree back then and those fake cardboard fireplaces were popular too. I used to watch The Little Drummer Boy with my Mom every year but sadly I can't seem to find it on TV anymore these days. Great memories growing up in those days especially around the holidays.🎄🎅🤶
Search TH-cam for “The Little Drummer Boy movie” and you’ll find several versions, long and short, with the most prominent one lasting approximately 28 minutes from 1968. Unfortunately for both of us, our Moms will not be here to share. Peace to you and yours.
The Little Drummer Boy.......th-cam.com/video/yRuuAn62qOQ/w-d-xo.html
We had a fake cardboard fireplace. I remember it seemed almost real to a kid.
I'm old enough to remember when Christmas was about celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I was a kid in the 80s, and our tradition was to put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. We looked forward to that day, stuffed with leftovers, decorating the tree and watching Rudolph. It was a great time to be a kid.
Lionel electric trains were the dream gift of most boys for Christmas in the early 1950s. I'm about to turn 75 and I still have mine from 1951, and it still runs!
Fax, I got one in 74.
Came here to look for descriptions of train sets running around the base of Christmas trees - or the jealousy if Santa brought you an HO-gauge train set but brought your neighbor a larger O-gauge set.
My dad has his set from the 40’s. Only he set it up every year. 🚂🎄
I GOT A SET & IM A GIRL
@@lovly2cu725 Those pink girl sets are worth big bucks 🚂🎀
Solid positive memories of the past in one's life are more valuable than anything money could ever buy. That is why it is so scary to lose that capability later in life.
I lost my dad to Alzheimer's in September. I agree with your comment. It was so sad to see him lose all of his memories.😢
Grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. Mother would play those Firestone Christmas Albums non stop.
One of my favorite memories is of my Daddy. He was always on a nightly mission to weed out that ONE bulb that caused the entire string of lights to not work.☺️
My husband does that too LOL
My mama loved throwing tinsel all over the Christmas tree, we would still be finding it in the carpet months later!!! 😂😊
I was born in 1975. I miss being a kid. Christmas was awesome then👍
I wish I could go back to these wonderful magical loving times and stay there❣️
Fortunately, my parents live in an area of their city that still goes ALL out with Christmas lights. Growing up, we would drive around and look at them. I thought every city had that many lights, but I was wrong. I remember rolling the window down and enjoying the really cold air on my face. Also, I would wake up around 3-4am...sneak into the living room to see what I got (Santa didn't wrap his gifts for us) and I would have to take each item to the front window and use the glow of the big bulb lights that were on the neighbor's house across the street to see the detail of what it was. I could then get back in bed and sleep soundly. Such great memories...
For the 1950s, I'll add that the supreme toy that most boys wanted was an electric train set. This was the decade when HO trains came out, which were made for smaller houses. Also, this was the decade when you could see bubble ornaments on Christmas trees. These ornaments had vertical glass tubes, filled with a liquid, which would bubble when the tree lights were turned on.
I still have a train set that goes around the tree. I gave it to my brother for his grandkids to enjoy.
Bubble ornaments came out in 1946. We had some of mom's when I was a kid. They got very hot and were an electrical hazard! Mom would only turn them on and let us watch them bubble for a couple of minutes.
Trains in 50s, slot cars in 60s.
Just a wonderful episode! I grew up[ in the early 60's, born in 1955, I remember much of the classic Christmas experience as a child. What a great time to be a kid! Downtown store displays with trains and toys and all sorts of automata! The TV specials, Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch with Boris Karloff narration, oh the anticipation of the TV specials season. All those wonderful Christmas themes shows, Andy Williams, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby etc. Thanks so much for the great memories! As always, God bless you and yours! Thanks for everything you do!
All of the above!🥰
Before the 60's we used the same big bulbs for Christmas tree lights as we did with the ones we put outside on the house. In the 70's the "mini-lights" became popular for trees, leaving the big ones for outside. Then "Twinkle" lights became permanently attached to the fake Christmas trees, while the mini-lights went outside on the house!
The National Lampoon Christmas movie where they had so many decorations that it made the airplanes confused as to where the airport was.
dad gave me all the large lamp christmas lights before he passed away, and I still use them, they take me down memory lane.
WOW, the memories! I loved the catalogues from Sears. The toy Christmas Catalog was worn out by me in the 1970’s circling and turning pages down to show my parents so they could tell Santa! Those were the best years for sure! I miss the simple times! Things are just so complicated today and the family units have fallen apart, I miss it!
This is my current Christmas tradition. When I was a kid we visited both sets of grandparents to eat and open gifts. They've passed and my family is no longer close-knit. Over the years I did pick up Christmas traditions that I will forever cherish (I'm 51):
- late September or early October: pull out my plaid shirts that I love wearing, and my uggs
- late October: catching glimpses of Christmas decorations pop up in the stores
- early November: really looking at the Christmas decorations in the stores, pull my Christmas decorations out
- mid November: listening to Christmas music, start setting up Christmas tree
- late November: drive around to parks to experience "drive thru" Christmas lights
- early December: drive around looking at Christmas lights on houses, order Christmas presents, watch my favorite classics
(A Christmas Story, Charlie Brown Christmas, Santa Claus is Com'n to Town, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus 1 & 2, Home Alone 1, and others. I also enjoy listening to Christmas music like The Carpenters, John Denver, and others
- often early in January have our "Christmas" because I don't like the rat race of EVERYONE having to do Christmas on the 25th
I love how you spread out the joy with your personal holiday rituals!
@@karenk2409 Thank you. No know for a lot of people it's just "rituals", but for me I'm really sentimental and nostalgic. I still remember a house next to me in 1976 or 1977 that had a blow-mold Santa Claus on its front porch. The front porch of the "railroad house" faced the railroad tracks. That little town is Berry, Kentucky. It used to be a large port on the Licking River that eventually flows into the Ohio River.
Tonka Toy Truck, View-master, Johnny West Action Figure among many others made my Christmas growing up in the 1970s. Born in 65’ here.
Powermites, hot wheel tracks and Corgy dinky cars ..Johnny West? Wow.. I had him and the Indian
I remember my family not decorating until 2-3 weeks before Christmas. We had an artificial tree. My dad put up a simple winter like lionel train display under the tree. But 3 things were omitted til Christmas morn. We never turned on the Christmas tree lights, the train was not on the platform, and we were heavy tinsel users and the tinsel was added Christmas Eve as we slept to represent an overnight White Christmas snowfall. It was awesome standing at the top of the stairs awaiting mom and dad to say we could come down and hearing the train running. Oh the memories. ❤😊
I own the DVD and play it every year.
I knew I was going to get choked up before I hit play and, well, dammit I did!
I miss great times.
Me too😢❤️
Actually I have seen Christmas stuff out as early as mid October at least. It’s insane! We didn’t put our tree up until after Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time if you please!
nothing like rushing the christmas season!!!!.
I've seen it in August, right alongside back to school stuff. Ridiculous.
I have seen Christmas stuff put out just after Labor Day. Now that is a bit early!
And then just after Christmas some stores put out stuff for the summer! And Easter and Valentine’s Day!
Thank you! I'm a big fan of Thanksgiving, and it kinda ticks me off that it gets steam rolled about a nanosecond after Halloween to jump to Christmas. We never ever put up Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving was over, and I'm glad. I used to love Christmas too until it became way too commercialized. It's all about sales and money now.
You knew the Christmas season had arrived when you saw Santa riding on the Norelco shaver.
For my three brothers and me, the day after Thanksgiving meant bringing Christmas decorations from the attic to the living room----to await the tree that would come in a few weeks. We put electric candles in all the windows, had a wreath on the front door, and in the enclosed porch we had Rosbro plastic figurines----Santas, reindeer, carolers, angels---
on a glass-topped table. We used salt for snow---to give the scene a realistic look. The Sunday evening after Thanksgiving marked the beginning of our neighbors' playing of non-stop Christmas music from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. They opened their garage door, and the hi-fi
took center stage, with stacks of LP recordings featuring every artist who had an album of holiday songs. Those songs were familiar and comforting, and we fell asleep each night
to music that filled the empty neighborhood streets. We always went to the same place for our tree, and when I look back at the photos of those trees what strikes me most is how scrawny they were---misshapen, branches missing, short, stumpy, or tall and gangly. No matter what my father brought home, my mother and I worked to minimize the defects with carefully placed ornaments. That tree stayed up through Jan.1, and it was tradition for us
to take down the tree on that day. Needles would be strewn all over the living room floor and rug, but that was just part of the litany of traditions we experienced each year. My brothers and I got three small gifts each for Christmas----and two were always some type of clothing (that was a given). Since my birthday was on Christmas, I got an additional two gifts at 5 p.m.---the time I was born. Again, one was an article of clothing, and the other was a doll, book, sled, or ice skates. Now when I look back at all the photos, it's almost hard to imagine that we had so little compared to other children in the neighborhood.
However, we considered ourselves fortunate with the presents we received, and we always knew that the house would be filled all day on Christmas and well into the evening. We would go out with our cousins and look for the first star of Christmas, and when we trooped into the kitchen my mother would have hot chocolate waiting for us. The traditional ham and turkey were staples in the house from my earliest memories. My mother was like a one-woman catering machine, preparing five to six meals on Christmas Day for the influx of relatives that came through the house and stayed to eat. Those were the happiest days of our lives----but we never realized that fact until we were adults, our childhood house was sold when my father died, and all we were left with were photos marking the holidays,
Christmas in the 1950s and early 1960s was a true time of happiness at the small things in life---homemade cookies, a gumdrop tree in the living room on the coffee table, Christmas carols sung at school and at home, sliding down the big hill across from our house, visiting neighbors with tins of homemade cookies, and falling asleep to Christmas music that meant we were surrounded (at least until 11 p.m.) in a musical cocoon of love and warmth.
Those were happy times, times that will never be repeated again. I find myself looking at those holiday photos marking our growth over the years, and I see fond memories of a time when life was uncomplicated, full of adventures, and the promise of the familiar traditions we experienced every holiday season. Those were the days!
What a wonderful memory! Many of us can still relate. Thank you for sharing, and Merry Christmas!
I really miss Toys'R'us during the holidays.....or even better walking the mall!!! Oh the good ol days
I miss the vintage ornaments, twinkle lights and tree toppers ♥️
SOME COMPANIES STILL MAKE START BRITE
I grew up in the 70s. It was a fun time, and my sisters and I looked forward to going to the mall and other stores to see the holiday decorations and the latest toys. I collected all the original Star Wars figures. I still have them somewhere. I remember the "melted popcorn" decorations that many families had in their windows. We watched all the holiday specials that came on, starting in Halloween and ending with a few New Year's specials. Fun fact - Yukon Cornelius in "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" tasted his rock hammer after he threw it up and it landed in the snow to see if it tasted like peppermint as he was searching for a peppermint mine. This was explained at the end of the show when he finally found it, but that part was only aired once, the first time it was on, and then cut out. The story of "Rudolph" started in 1939 when Montgomery Ward's created the story as a promotional gimmick! We always got a real tree, usually a couple weeks before Christmas since we wanted to decorate the tree and enjoy the lights, though not too early because the tree started to lose needles after while! I never understood the reference to aluminum trees in the Peanuts special as I didn't know anyone who had one. Some families had artificial trees but none were aluminum. I learned later they were big in the 50s and 60s. I also loved the big family gstherings we had. We still do, but they never seem to last long enough. Maybe that is due to my cancer diagnosis and the realization that I may not have many more, but I still enjoy them more than ever.
I hope you will recover from your condition.
I pray you recover, and have many more Christmases to celebrate
Sending hugs. Stay strong
Christmas back then definitely seemed a lot more magical and wholesome. It's almost strange how Christmas in the 60s was criticised for being "too commercial" yet it's much, much worse now. That's an interesting fact about Rudolph! I read somewhere that the scene at the end, where they go back for the Misfit Toys, wasn't in the original airing and was made after parents called in and complained that Rudolph had broken his promise to the toys. My mum was born in 1962 and she told me aluminium trees were very popular in that decade, I think her mum had one too. I miss when we had real trees, even though they were messy and a lot of work. They smelt so good though! We never had big family gatherings and I wish I could experience that. I'm deeply sorry to hear about that diagnosis, I'm sending lots of prayers your way. And while I know it's quite early, I hope you have a blessed Christmas this year and many more to come ❤❤
I was born in ‘83 and I still remember how excited we were when we got the Christmas catalogue. Me and my sister spent hours together checking out the new toys🙂
I miss the good old days.
In the late 60’s, we would pick out a real tree. Dad would take it outside and “Flock” it. That stuff was all over the house!!! Granny had an aluminum tree. My other granny had a gorgeous old time tree with tinsel, old ornaments, and big fat lights!! My favorite.
My parents decorated the tree after I was in bed. I came down Christmas morning to see everything. This was the late 50s. My husband said it was the same way at his house. Also he said Santa didn’t wrap any toys. We used to laugh at people who had artificial trees. They were so ugly early on. Now it’s rare to see someone with a real tree.
It’s funny when I was little it was always a real tree but my mom is a clean freak & the needles got to her. So by 70’s it was a giant bushy fake tree with garland instead of tinsel & those fuzzy apples & pears instead of glass ornaments. By the 80’s it was two trees, fake in the living room & real in the den by the fireplace. 🎄
@@samanthab1923Rarely during my childhood in the 1970's & 1980's we had live trees and artificial trees. My favorite artificial tree had color-coded branches that you plugged into specific spots on the tree trunk. A year or so ago I bought a color-coded tree.
we always had a live tree( in the early years, I was dads little helper, then in the later years I was the one who put up the tree- about a week before christmas) , one of my aunts had one of those silver trees with the tri- color wheel, we thought it was stupid..
@@atlantic_love Very cool. I have vague recollections of my aunt & uncle having a white tree when they first got married in the early 60’s 🎄
I was on in 1952 and our live tree was brought in and decorated in the 24th. My parents brought all the presents down from the attic after we went to bed, except for one year when Santa actually came and we were woken up and brought downstairs to meet him. Looking at the pictures brings a smile because it was a friend of my father's wearing a plastic Santa mask but it seemed real then.
Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. Even as a kid in the 80's I enjoyed the decor as much as the toys. When I bought my house, I raised the ceiling in the addition 2 feet (for a 10ft tree) and did the walls in knotty pine for a nostalgic Christmas look. It was worth it. Every person that has seen it has a fond memory of a relative growing up, who had knotty pine somewhere in the house and beautiful Christmas decorations.
I remember all these things...we watched Amahl and the Night Visitors every year. I learned the entire thing by heart and can still sing every note of the entire operetta.
I grew up on "A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS/ HOW THE GRINCH STOLL CHRISTMAS" and watched it every year.
I grew up on both Amahl and Charlie Brown!
I remember my sister wanting an Easy Bake Oven in the early 70's and later in the mid-70's skateboarding became a big thing with polyurethane wheels with sealed precision bearings and I was begging for a skateboard. Before then steel wheels and loose ball bearings were the norm. 😂
I remember getting G.I. Joe for Christmas along with a metal Texaco gas station one year. Plus lots if new clothes. Didn’t care about the clothes but sure did love the gas station and G.I. Joe.
For the longest time, we couldn't "officially" open our presents until our dad came down wearing the most hideous pair of plaid golf pants you even feasted your eyes on. Best memory ever.
I remember. Us kids would be waiting downstairs checking the presents to see which ones had which kids name on it. Us kids would be like "When are they (our parents)" going to get out of bed!? Seemed like they were going to sleep until noon. 🥸
I was born 1953 these memories are so true. It’s sad to me how Christmas has became. I remember popcorn strands on trees and paper chains on trees. Now Christmas is all about expensive gifts. And a lot is due to advertisements. I have a granddaughter that loves thrift stores and would rather have those things. How I wish people would just want to be together instead of all the “gifts” that need to be under the tree.
I have so many fond memories of Christmas in the 80s, including the Sears Wishbook!
Where I live in Rockford Illinois we have a store called Blains Farm and Fleet. This time of year they have a big toy department and they come out with a Christmas Wish Book that contains lots of toys and also gifts for adults to drool over! 😊 Not as big as the Sears catalog but it’s better than nothing.
Farm n Fleet isn't what it used to be :-( I miss 90s Toyland
@@katie7748Sad 😢
This might sound weird but the thing I most miss about the past is the future. Growing up in the 1970s the future looked so bright.
Anyone else remember that awkward period when you were really too old for the kids table, but a spot hadn't yet opened up at the grown ups table?
Totally!!!
I miss the days when greed wasn't so prevalent
You missed the old aluminum trees with the color wheel, my family had one - thanks for the memories!!!
Oh yes! I remember those well. Had one when I was 5-7 years old. Funny thing, during summer my friends and I used to use that color wheel for a "stage light" in our little band, LOL.
We couldn't even think about getting a Christmas tree until the two week "Christmas vacation" (NOT "winter break!) from school. It also came down on New Year's Day! A fun thing the family always looked forward to was going to see the Breuner's Furniture Store Christmas window display they would put up every year! They had these animatronic people and would set up an old fashioned Christmas scene in anything from a train station to a school pageant!
Our tree went up on the 24th and came down on the first. Because it was only there a few days it was really special.
In Rockford the Commonwealth Edison Electric Company had beautiful displays in their office windows downtown. They aren’t there anymore so that’s a thing I miss.
I hope you know how much Joy Your Channel Brings A 65 year old. Life can be lonely. Thank You!!!
Born in 50' seemed to be better times, who knows for certain. I remember my old man bringing home trees that couldn't have cost 2 or 3 bucks, many were rather skimpy. Remember the toys shown in the vids, especially my Fort Apache set and Lionel trains, Mattel machine gun too...
This really brought back some good memories. Thank you so much.
Another good one! I really look forward to these. Thank you for them.
Great memories of Christmas of the 1980s. It's a different country and culture today
1955 baby here. Remember it all fondly...even the 90s for my son.
Ah Yes Christmas in the 80's and 90's were my coming of age years. Back then we still went with Dad a few days before Christmas to cut down the tree and decorate it. My Parents had the pleasure of hosting the whole extended family for dinner and boxing day. Back then we all dressed up for dinner and played games after.😃
Of course we all got the Sears Christmas catalog and loved daydreaming about what we "could" get. But, as I got older and the Sears catalog was being phased out, another catalog was taking it's place for me. That was the Cabela's Christmas catalog! They had their main Christmas catalog that had clothes and miscellaneous items and then several mini catalogs for the various outdoor sports, like hunting, fishing, boating, golf, etc.
Christmas Catalog for Cabelas was pretty sparse in fishing gear. After New Year's is when us men got our "wishbooks" Master Spring Catalogs.
Oh, how I long for these days gone by. So simple, so innocent.
Very well done. I am 81 and can relate to all. My wife and I love Christmas with our family of two daughter and their wonderful husbands and our six grandsons. We (she) put the tree (Artificial) up today. Also all the Christmas dishes, etc. Our oldest grandson when he was 4? said to my wife "My Momma says that you're a nutball". We laugh about that every year. He is 22 😀
You are blessed. Enjoy every minute!
Going duck hunting on Christmas day was always the best! We'd bring them home for cooking....
Kids now days can't tie shoes and can barely walk.
True that... I did the hunting on holidays '80s and '90s.
By the 80's and 90's kids were duck hunting on their Nintendos.
Hey....hey .... hey .... they know how to hang on to a cellphone for dear life. LOL 😂
Love your channel!!! I was born in 1963. I wish I could go back to those times. Christmas was so much fun! Our whole family would get together for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Now everyone one is gone except my Aunt and Uncle. My cousins are all off with their family's. I miss the Sears Catalogue, so much fun to create a wish list!!!!
I'm a "Boomer". And I can readily admit that...as a youth...I have both "good" and "bad" Christmas memories.
The "bad": 1970...It was the first Christmas in our newly built house, out on our farm. A week before Christmas, some people broke into the house when we weren't home. They stole money; the TV; my dad's guns; and every present from under the tree.
The "good": On my 10th Christmas, my parents got me a brand new saddle.
On my 12th Christmas, I got a new acoustic Gibson guitar.
Wow the saddle and guitar were awesome presents! I am a horse fanatic and always begged for one. My parents wouldn't ever get me one, so I had to wait til I was an adult and get it myself.
@@Mick_Ts_Chick thanks
A 1980's holiday film classic. A Christmas Story.
I grew up in 80’s and 90’s and I’m pining for the old days. So much has changed and for the worse. I love this channel.
I was born in 1975 so the 80s are the Christmases I grew up with and loved so much! The trends and toys were awesome. Going to the mall was so much fun, up until the mid 90s then modern technology commercialized all the fun out of it
1960 here. Too many special memories for me to write about. But I can say this, besides the greatest smell being a Christmas tree, for me it would be the smell of a Sears toybox catalog book.
We always started the Christmas season the day after Thanksgiving and it's a tradition I still cherish. Soo many wonderful memories. Thank you friend 😊☃️❄️
My favorite was sitting on Santa's lap and having a picture taken. Now, the pictures are soo darn expensive. Definitely not like It was.
we never rushed the christmas season, or thanksgiving either, now they start pushing chrismas in september!!!!.
Best Christmas time? 60’s to 70’s
Born in 63 and this brought back many beautiful memories. Thank you!!
I loved the 60s aluminum trees, they were my favorite! My Aunt and Uncle had one, and she decorated it with red glass balls and light up Santa faces, as well as had the rainbow light wheel under the tree. I love it.
Although I do like Cmas decor, I really was never into Cmas. Even as a kid, it was just a time to get a present. I never really got what I would ask for, which wasn't much......so that squashed my appetite for the holiday even more.......even though I still love the decor, even now. As other kids looked forward to the school Cmas holiday time off, so did I, but only because I didn't have to go to school.
Seeing those 70s staches got me thinking.......have you done a video on hair, makeup, beard, and mustache trends through the years? I don't remember seeing one. I'd love to see that.
This channel is such a lovely and refreshing place to come to with all the chaos in the current world, thanks so much!
Christmas in the 60's and 70's was magical. Grandma and Grandpa would come out to our house to celebrate with my mom, their only child and my dad and us 4 kids. I swear we were so spoiled by them. Such wonderful memories. The Christmas music playing in the background, delicious smells, sweet treats, presents and most of all...family togetherness. I miss those days.
The color wheel was my favorite part of the tinsel Christmas tree. My dad would put a small glass of eggnog in the living room for Santa and it was always empty on Christmas morning 😊
My Mom always put out milk & cookies for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph! She would get a bit irritated w/me when I insisted she should put out NINE carrots, not just one! Now I understand that would have wasted a whole bag of carrots, but at the time it seemed so unfair that Donner, Dasher, & Co. didn't get anything.
I cherish the days when my parents put up the tree the night before Christmas. I wish the traditions would go back to that. I remember well how magical it all seemed to wake up to see if Santa had come the night before. And I was never disappointed when I came into a living room that had splendidly changed overnight into a fairy land wonder. They are some of my most cherished memories as a child. It's so commercialized now, but I still try to keep some of the old traditions alive. Some things I didn't see on this video was going Christmas Caroling throughout the neighborhood. Also, putting out milk and cookies for Santa. The Advent Wreath is another I can think of. The plastic Santa and reindeer that people put on their roofs. Stockings filled with fruit and nuts. Bing Crosby and Andy Williams Christmas specials were the best. The Christmas-not Holiday-Show at school when Christmas was still allowed to be celebrated there. Yes, my first grade class sang "We Three Kings" and it was a public, not parochial, school. Amazing how so much has changed. It's just not the same or is it that I'm getting too old.
Thank you for the walk down memory lane.
🎄🎄🎄❤️🎄🎄🎄
My favorite season of the year. Sadly it is eroding.
I was a kid in the 70s. Mom would always order a Christmas tree from the nursery & garden center that was downtown. The tree was ordered flocked with artificial snow, and it was so exciting to have the tree delivered to the house.🎄
I wish I had been around in the 50's 60's and 70's. What a beautiful, wholesome looking time ❤❤❤
Back in the 1960s when my siblings and I were youngsters, I loved it when the entire family would go downtown to shop for that perfect Christmas tree. I enjoyed browsing the many store windows. There weren't any malls back then, just stand alone stores and shopping centers. We'd gawk at all neat stuff we'd like to have. It was a delight to see all the beautiful Christmas displays and lights strung along the downtown streets. What was most fun of all was waking up on Christmas morning and running out to see our beautifully decked Christmas tree with loads of presents beneath it! Bliss!
Trading Places is another great Christmas movie.
I miss Christmas from the 80s! Always went to Maw Maws on Christmas Eve and then we would come home and have our own family Christmas and open gifts. Christmas Day we went to my other grandparents house ate and exchanged gifts. Late in the afternoon we came home and my sister and I would go play with the neighborhood kids and we’d all see what each of us got for Christmas. I still have my Nintendo that I got for Christmas back in 1988!
As each year passes, there seems to be fewer and fewer friends and family at holiday gatherings as we get older, so appreciate the season with your friends and family because you can never go back.
So true!❤