Making merry on the Home Front
Not even wartime shortages could dampen Christmas spirits. MARION MCMULLEN looks back at families’ festive celebrations on the Home Front
TURKEY with all the trimmings and Christmas pud were off the menu for most during the Second World War. Instead the holiday alternatives ranged from jelly trifle with stewed rhubarb to spiced bread pudding made with mixed spice, margarine, bread and reconstituted dried egg.
There was also cauliflower custard for the adventurous and endless recipes for chestnuts including a chestnut “cake” that involved boiling the nuts in milk, sieving them to then create a paste, flavouring with vanilla and then moulding everything into a cake shape.
Extra rations of sugar and meat were generally made available over the holiday season and there was also a 1/2 lb sweets allowance for children and the over-70s one year. Many people even saved their ration allowance so they could use it for treats over Christmas
Decorations, cards and gifts were normally home-made with presents of food being a top choice for many people followed by gardening tools, seeds and even bags of fertiliser. The most popular gift of Christmas 1940 was a bar of soap.
Wounded soldiers in hospital often did their part by playing Santa and helping to make toys for children.
And nursing staff at Westminster Hospital treated patients to a carol concert on Christmas Eve, 1940.
Christmas cards were a big morale booster both at home and for soldiers fighting overseas or being held as prisoners of war. The Ministry of Information made several films urging people to post them early so deliveries would arrive in time.
Old newspapers were widely recycled as paper was also difficult to come by and there was none around for wrapping presents. The Ministry of Supply said in 1941 that
“no retailer shall provide any paper for the packing or wrapping of goods excepting food stuff or articles which the shopkeeper has agreed to deliver”. Pantomimes and Christmas shows helped to lift spirits as well as church services and carol singing. Harrods worked to bring toys to children during wartime austerity and the famous store also made uniforms and parachutes for the Armed Services during the war as well as parts for Lancaster bombers. Some families brought a festive touch to bomb shelters, decorating them with garlands and homemade Christmas stockings.
King George VI launched a festive tradition with his first Christmas message on December 25, 1939, as part of a sparse BBC Christmas Day radio programme. He told the nation: “A new year is at hand. We cannot tell which it will bring. If it brings peace how thankful we shall all be. It if brings continued struggle, we shall remain undaunted.”
Christmas trees still went up across the land and bombs and blackouts did not stop Santa from making appearances. He even paid a surprise visit to youngsters sheltering in the tunnels of the London Underground in 1940.
There were no Christmas street lights allowed, but home decorations were encouraged with the Ministry of Food suggesting: “A Christmassy sparkle is easy to add to sprigs of holly or evergreen for use on puddings. Dip your greenery in a strong solution of Epsom salts. When dry it will be beautifully frosted.”
A shortage of imported fruit meant no fruit bowls, although one government department suggested vegetable bowls as an alternative because “vegetables have such jolly colours”. They added: “The cheerful glow of carrots, the rich crimson of beetroot, the emerald of parsley – it looks as delightful as it tastes.”
There were many gestures of goodwill during the war years. An anonymous donor and members of the Bootle WVS (Women’s Voluntary Services) stepped in to save Christmas in 1942 after people were bombed out of their homes.
An anonymous Canadian also donated £50 to The London Air Raid Distress Fund in 1944 so children at Eastcote in Middlesex could enjoy the holidays. Men on leave from HMS Anson threw a Christmas party for the pupils of the Cranbrook Terrace School in Bethnal Green in 1943.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill dressed in a siren suit and dressing gown after an informal luncheon party on Christmas Day in Carthage 1943 to celebrate his
recovery from a severe case of pneumonia. He was joined by a number of Allied chiefs of staff for the festive season including Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of the British and US Expeditionary Forces in the UK for the liberation of Europe.
The war was always in the shadows and a Germany V-1 flying bomb – not Santa – woke villagers in Tudhoe, in the north of England, on Christmas Eve in 1944. It landed on a tennis court and damaged houses nearby.
White Christmas star Bing Crosby said in a Christmas message in 1944: “On our fighting front, there are no silent nights, but there are plenty of holy nights.”
FOR more on the Second World War, The inostalgia Book – The Home Front (1939-1945) is available to order from inostalgia. co.uk/books or call 01928 503777.
ELENI mae’r Mentrau Iaith yn codi ymwybyddiaeth o draddodiadau hynafol Cymreig yn cynnwys y Fari Lwyd. Fel rhan o’r ymgyrch bydd Stomp y Fari Lwyd yn cael ei chynnal ar-lein i ddathlu’r Hen Galan ar Ionawr 12fed, 2021.
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