Our birthday parties
Every issue, Yours writer Marion Clarke will be reliving the best bits of our lives. This fortnight, the thrills and fun of children’s parties
Trampolines and soft play areas are great fun for today’s kids, but our parties had a special magic for children growing up in simpler times. Of course, some things don’t change – parties will always be a great excuse for little girls to indulge their love of dressing up. I loved the blue angora bolero my mother knitted for me to wear over my pink taffeta party dress with a sash tied in a perfectly symmetrical bow at the back. Doreen Parker also recalls a time when “mums who could sew made lovely long dresses with frills and sashes. We felt so special. We played Hide and Seek, Pass the Parcel, Musical Bumps and Sardines, and ate jelly and ice cream and paste sandwiches.” Food was as much of a highlight as the games were for Heather Moulson: “I won Pass the Parcel once, but the real treat for me was getting my hands on the pink blancmange that was always immaculately set from a mould. It still wobbled as it was put on your plate and tasted so wonderful.” Janice Chatten’s also had a sweet tooth – which proved to be her downfall! “As I gobbled down a sandwich and sausage roll, I kept eyeing the meringues, praying they would not be snapped up by the others before I had one. At last I was able to take a large pink one, oozing with cream. Blissfully, I sank my teeth into it. Oh horror! The inside was green mould and tasted revolting. I dared not say anything and had to force it down. It served me right for being greedy, I suppose!” As parties were nearly always held at home, the number of guests was restricted – a consideration ignored by Margaret Rymer who was so thrilled by the prospect of her fifth birthday
‘All we had was fishpaste sandwiches and jelly with evaporated milk’
celebration that she invited everyone from school. “I can still remember Mum and Dad’s gasps of horror as children of all ages marched through the village towards our house. Thankfully, it was a sunny day so we could play outside. While we children were running around having fun, Dad had to rush off and buy more food.” At the other extreme was seven-year-old Shirley Green whose mother brought her and her brother up on her own. It was just after the War and money was in short supply. “I was allowed to invite only one friend for my birthday tea and all we had to eat was fish-paste sandwiches and jelly with evaporated milk. Unfortunately, no birthday cake. Still, because we didn’t know any better, we thought my party was delightful.” Pat Berkshire’s party memories are also of the Forties: “But we still managed to give little gifts; hankies, soap or bath cubes
for the girls, pencils and eraser sets for the boys. Sometimes the party girl or boy would get sweets from a saved sweet ration. Happy times, in spite of our dads being away in the services.” As well as preparing the party fare and a perfectly iced cake (no cheating with ready-made icing back then!) mums were expected to organise the fun and games as well. Fortunately for Paula Buttifant her mother had a flair for this. “My mum was fantastic at coming up with great ideas for parties and one in particular stands out. For my ninth birthday she drew a large spider’s web on an old sheet and made a spider to go in the centre of it. Gifts for my friends to take home were stuck on the web. “It was rolled up and put on the wooden airing rack above the fireplace until my older sister, dressed as a witch and riding our cylinder vacuum cleaner, ‘whooshed’ into the room and unrolled it. Luckily, no friends were scared of spiders!” But we all know that parties aren’t always as jolly as they are made out to be, especially if you are shy by nature. Christine Barrow was an only child who led a sheltered life, a big disadvantage when invited to a party aged nine. “We all took part in a game in which we had to discover clues based on TV adverts. We had to guess what was being advertised, but as I was not allowed to watch much television (especially not ITV), none of them made any sense to me. I was really upset as I was the odd one out and felt so stupid.” At one time or another, we’ve all been there, Christine! When she was 11 and having just started going to grammar school, Mary Archer decided the time had come to move on from jelly, blancmange and Blind Man’s Bluff. Her mother took Mary and two best friends out for afternoon tea. “We went to the Mandarin Tea Rooms in Staines. The tables were laid with pretty cups and saucers, shiny cutlery and fancy napkins. I ordered sandwiches, scones and cakes with a pot of tea. We giggled a lot and ate everything. Oh, how grown up we felt!”