From Advocaat Snowballs to drink trolley delights, Jo Evans recalls fond festive memories of Christmas.
Christmas is for many a time of sentimentality and nostalgia. A time to remember your childhood excitement of decorating the tree and counting down cold December days with the thrill of seeing which drawing was behind the cardboard window of your Advent calendar. Who needed chocolate? A picture of a bell was just as good for me! I hate to reveal my age, but the Christmases I remember wistfully span the 1970s and 1980s, when tinsel was a fire hazard, Christmas songs were cool and your present shopping was all done at Woolworths.
The last week of school term was always exciting. Carol concerts and the Nativity, with the smuggest child as the Angel Gabriel and the rest of us donning our mothers’ tea towels to put in the performance of a lifetime as shepherds. We would come home clutching the decorations we had made in craft – unrecognisable objects covered in cotton wool, doily wings and glitter. Then two glorious weeks of holidays ahead with nothing to do but circle items in the Argos catalogue and watch TV. Having no remote control meant most of our exercise came from shuffling on our bums across the room to change channel, the friction between the polyester of our dungarees and shagpile carpet creating an impressive static charge.
The brown and orange lounge became a fiesta of colour; the ceiling traversed with foil garlands which opened like a concertina. The tree was adorned with brightly coloured baubles and vibrant tinsel was hurled at it recklessly. Christmas treats were plentiful - giant tins of Quality Street full of colourful wrappers, like jewels in a treasure chest, boxes of Matchmakers and After Eights, the latter being strictly for my parents’ dinner parties, but which I would sneakily eat, leaving empty little sleeves to disguise my theft.
The build-up to the big day in my house was an opportunity for my mum to don her maxi dresses, put some Boney M on the record player and wheel out the drinks trolley, a gold effect two-tiered marvel. I was allowed to help with the drinks when the guests arrived, before making myself scarce and leaving the grown-ups to it.
Of course, it wasn’t a Christmas party without a bottle of Warninks Advocaat. My dad would mix Snowballs with Advocaat and lemonade and occasionally allow us a sip. Who could forget such sweet, eggy glory? And the height of sophistication, or so I thought, was Babycham, served in Champagne coupes. The favoured wines were Blue Nun and Mateus Rosé or, if you were lucky enough, Chianti in a straw-covered bottles, which made excellent candlesticks afterwards.
Gin was a favourite, with my mum’s friend announcing upon arrival that she’d have just a small G&T, but quickly dispensing of the tonic, and indeed the measuring jigger. Beer was plentiful, but none of the artisan or local ales we have today, like our Shropshire Ales Dozen - Skol, Harp and McEwan’s all the way! The party would come to a close with the ladies dancing to ABBA and the men putting the world to rights over Whisky. Not dissimilar to my parties today.
And then just before Christmas Eve my family would arrive. My wonderful Nan, who existed in a cloud of cigarette smoke, often with a glass of sherry in her hand, the refrain of ‘Go on, just the one, after all it is Christmas’ echoing around the house. The Cream Sherry was used primarily for the Christmas trifle and my Nan’s pleasure, and I confess a love of that sweet, velvety taste. Port too was a Christmas tradition (although my great-grandmother would happily drink a Port and Lemon any time of the year), it was always on hand when the cheeseboard was being passed round. In my house today, a bottle of Tanners LBV and Tanners Cream Sherry is purchased as soon as the advent calendar is opened.
And before you knew it, Christmas Day arrived. The excitement of peeking in your stocking (or in my case, one of my Dad’s Army socks), which never failed to contain a satsuma, Bunty annual and chocolate coins. Present opening, board games and Christmas Dinner, with turkey, roast potatoes and boiled sprouts, kept soggy and warm in the hostess trolley. Followed by the Queen’s speech, Top of the Pops Christmas Special, which all the grown-ups slept through (my Dad occasionally opening one eye to ask who that idiot on TV was), more food and inevitably Morecambe and Wise. Throughout the day, a parade of people would pop round to say Merry Christmas and the glorious drinks trolley would be wheeled out, accompanied by oohs and ahhs, like a newborn in a pram.
So many things have changed now, some for the good (more than three TV channels) and some not so (I still miss Woolworths). But the traditions we have as children are often carried down to the next generation, and the excitement of Christmas is something that doesn’t change. So this year I’m embracing nostalgia and going all-out 70s. No more is the stylish tree with white lights and matching baubles; instead, I have one with every decoration I want, from my son’s primary school efforts to ornaments from my mum’s childhood, all garishly displayed amongst multi-coloured lights. And I love it! It’s a reminder of friends and family who are no longer here but who made those times so special for me. I’m also on the hunt for a vintage gold-effect drinks trolley, just like the one my parents had. I have the Sherry, Port, Gin, and Whisky ready to stock it, and a large bottle of Advocaat waiting to take centre stage.
Find your festive favourites at Tanners this season, from Spirits to Champagne and much more. Or, if a cocktail is calling, explore our Tanners Cocktail Guide. Merry Christmas!