Growing up in the 1970s there were certain things that always signalled Christmas. I'm not referring to carol singers or Christmas decorations, instead all of the things we'll be reminiscing about below concerned a large wooden rectangular box that sat in the corner of the room which weighed a freaking tonne!
Christmas time began on the television.
And long before the days of the Coca-Cola 'Holiday's are Coming' commercial there was...
Woolworths
I loved Woolworths. It really was the only store you could buy a 7" single, a Soda Stream gas canister, some sweets, a fishing rod, non-branded school uniform and whatever latest product Ronco was peddling that year. In many ways it was the middle idle of Lidl in a whole shop format.
The annual Woolworths festive commercial meant Christmas really was around the corner. It also meant it wouldn't be long until Dad would take us to Woolworths buy something for Mum, and then he'd wait outside whilst we found something for him. I swear to god one year my brother and I bought him the exact same Supascrew Kit featured in the above commercial. £3.99 - a bargain!
The "have a cracking Christmas" song is etched into my memory, like the Shake 'n' Vac jingle, it's one of those tunes I will remember until I die. Watching the commercial again now the most shocking thing is how expensive a tub of Quality Street was back in 1980 - £6.89!
Surely the shared annual ritual in many a British household, and one that I would look forward to for weeks, was the day Dad bought the Christmas Radio Times home. My brother and I would promptly go through it page by page with a felt tip pen marking every single show we wanted to watch. Colour coding was involved so we knew who wanted to watch which show.
This seems to have been something everyone did as kids, amiright? Nothing can quite match the excitement of finding out when the Crackerjack Pantomime would be on or what Disney films you could watch that year.
And then, of course, there were those years when New Years Day fell on a Friday so you had to get the 'New Season' Radio Times to cover the rest of the school holiday or live in fear of missing somuchentertainment!
Blue Peter Advent Crown
Each year Peter Purves, John Noakes, Valerie Singleton or whoever was hosting, would light the candles on the Blue Peter advent crown. Each episode another candle would be lit, when all the candles were glowing it meant Christmas was just days away - and BBC Television Centre had an enormous fire hazard to dispose of.
I also have vivid memories of collecting things like stamps, milk bottle tops and old linens to send in for whatever was that years Blue Peter Christmas appeal.
It was a very different time!
BBC Movie Season
One of the strange things I loved as a kid was the annual BBC2 season of movies which would be on daily, usually mid-morning after the cartoons ended. Featuring either Gene Kelly or Elvis Presley, in fact I'm sure they just alternated between them bi-annually. It started a lifetime appreciation of Singing In The Rain and GI Blues, and to this day I still think of Blue Hawaii as a Christmas film.
The Spinners At Christmas
OK, there were presents to be opened, but on Christmas Day the television always seemed to be on. It didn't matter what was happening, it didn't matter if we had visitors, or if there was some major emergency taking place - the TV was on! I know I shouldn't have been paying it any attention as I really should've just been playing with my new Scalextric or Hornby Train Set (with real smoke!), but I just couldn't help but take it in, and that includes The Spinners At Christmas.
Every single Christmas morning throughout the 1970s seemed to have the same line-up. After the church service there was an hour devoted to The Spinners. And not the Detroit funky type Spinners either. No, this was the Scouse Folk group who only ever popped up at Christmas time to sing some middle-earth style festive rhymes.
I don't know where they went the rest of the year - hell I don't want to know (but you could buy their albums on cassette in Woolworths for just £1.25.) - and apologies if they are your 'bag', but they sort of spoiled a lot of traditional Christmas music for me as in my head I still hear their versions of things.
Blue Peter Advent Crown
Each year Peter Purves, John Noakes, Valerie Singleton or whoever was hosting, would light the candles on the Blue Peter advent crown. Each episode another candle would be lit, when all the candles were glowing it meant Christmas was just days away - and BBC Television Centre had an enormous fire hazard to dispose of.
I also have vivid memories of collecting things like stamps, milk bottle tops and old linens to send in for whatever was that years Blue Peter Christmas appeal.
It was a very different time!
BBC Movie Season
One of the strange things I loved as a kid was the annual BBC2 season of movies which would be on daily, usually mid-morning after the cartoons ended. Featuring either Gene Kelly or Elvis Presley, in fact I'm sure they just alternated between them bi-annually. It started a lifetime appreciation of Singing In The Rain and GI Blues, and to this day I still think of Blue Hawaii as a Christmas film.
The Spinners At Christmas
OK, there were presents to be opened, but on Christmas Day the television always seemed to be on. It didn't matter what was happening, it didn't matter if we had visitors, or if there was some major emergency taking place - the TV was on! I know I shouldn't have been paying it any attention as I really should've just been playing with my new Scalextric or Hornby Train Set (with real smoke!), but I just couldn't help but take it in, and that includes The Spinners At Christmas.
Every single Christmas morning throughout the 1970s seemed to have the same line-up. After the church service there was an hour devoted to The Spinners. And not the Detroit funky type Spinners either. No, this was the Scouse Folk group who only ever popped up at Christmas time to sing some middle-earth style festive rhymes.
I don't know where they went the rest of the year - hell I don't want to know (but you could buy their albums on cassette in Woolworths for just £1.25.) - and apologies if they are your 'bag', but they sort of spoiled a lot of traditional Christmas music for me as in my head I still hear their versions of things.
And it's not good!
Because, when it comes to Christmas music shows then there's really only one worth mentioning...
The Top Of The Pops Christmas Episode
This really was the perfect antidote to the cardigan wearing folk antics of Christmas morning. An era when there were actual new Christmas songs at number 1 on December 25th, none of that X-Factor malarkey that dominated most of the first two decades of the 21st century, or the constant return of Wham! and Mariah Carey in recent years.
OK, yes, over the last decade or so, many of the people involved with the show in the 70s have been 'helping the police with their enquirers', and that's obviously soured the memory somewhat, but back in the day entire families would sit around watching this together - parents and grandparents, often debating which member of Abba was the sexiest.
Because, when it comes to Christmas music shows then there's really only one worth mentioning...
The Top Of The Pops Christmas Episode
This really was the perfect antidote to the cardigan wearing folk antics of Christmas morning. An era when there were actual new Christmas songs at number 1 on December 25th, none of that X-Factor malarkey that dominated most of the first two decades of the 21st century, or the constant return of Wham! and Mariah Carey in recent years.
OK, yes, over the last decade or so, many of the people involved with the show in the 70s have been 'helping the police with their enquirers', and that's obviously soured the memory somewhat, but back in the day entire families would sit around watching this together - parents and grandparents, often debating which member of Abba was the sexiest.
Benny! Clearly.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
With a tummy full of food and a slightly wonky paper hat on head, Christmas afternoon would be spent slowly breaking the toys opened only hours ago whilst keeping one eye on the BIG MOVIE. There was no VCR, there were only three channels, so when a good film was on TV you watched it - heck when any film was on TV you watched it! on a 1970s Christmas afternoon, more likely than not, it was something like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or The Wizard Of Oz. Every. Single. Christmas.
.
Stanley Baxter's Christmas Special
Obviously each and every Christmas bought some comedy specials like The Two Ronnies or Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, shows which are still often repeated on BBC2 today at Christmas. However, lost to Christmases of the past is Stanley Baxter. Unlike other often forgotten comics of the 1970s, for instance someone like Dick Emery, Baxter had a touch of The Spinners about him. Meaning he only ever seemed to be on television at Christmas time.
I also remember my parents (and forgive me this turn of phrase) losing their shit over Stanley Baxter. Like he was the funniest person to ever walk the Earth. My Dad would be snorting at the television set, alcohol of some sort coming out of his nostrils from laughter. I never really got it, but as he was on late at night, and if it meant I didn't have to go to bed, I'd laugh at anything.
James Bond
Long before the days of DVD box sets the only way to get your Bond fix was on a Bank Holiday, and Boxing Day was no exception.
Everything mentioned so far was on the BBC, but Bond was always on ITV, so it was time to turn over to spend Boxing Day afternoon in the company of 007 himself. It didn't matter if it was Connery or Moore, regardless of which actual movie it was, everyone tuned in. And with all those adverts the movies seemed to go on forever, but that only made them more special.
Watching a Bond movie at that time seemed like a real event, how could a 22" PYE TV hold all of the cars, gadgets, girls and glorious locations inside of it? Someone really needed to invert a 48" high definition flat screen to do it justice. And thankfully, they did.
Billy Smart's Christmas Circus
I never ever once went to the circus as a child, rather this was the closest I ever got, so I have fond memories of these shows. Billy Smart's Circus specials were also on at Easter Monday and Summer Bank Holiday but I think the festive ones tended to be on New Year's Day and so they often signalled the end of the school holidays for me.
If you grew up in the 1970s, which Christmas shows and movies did you always watch every year when you were young? Let us know in the comments below.
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