The Parish Magazine December 2024

feature — 2
Christmas pudding and
boneless turkey — Claude
recalls Christmas past
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
Please put a penny in the old man’s hat!
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do,
If you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you!
Well, we didn’t have a goose but, for a couple of years during
the war, my mother used to fatten a chicken, writes Claude
Masters.
I don’t remember where it came from but the neighbours
would leave us scraps in exchange for eggs. I used to go to
the bottom of the garden, where the chicken was kept in a
wire cage, and feed it the scraps and left overs; I sometimes
collected the eggs. It didn’t produce all the time but we had
some fresh eggs when it did.
My grandfather, who lived with
us, would slaughter it and I helped
him. I remember chopping off the
head, after it was dead, and helping
him to pluck and prepare it.
We ate it on Christmas Day along
with fresh vegetables from the
garden, grown by my dad.
A POUND NOTE
Before Christmas every year,
my grandfather entrusted me with
a pound note to take to school
where I would buy eight half crown
savings stamps, one for each of his
grandchildren, for Christmas.
The stamps were stuck onto a card
and you could eventually redeem
them. I wasn’t very good at saving
and can’t remember what I would
have bought.
Desperate Dan — one of Claude's heroes
However I used to enjoy reading
comics, so perhaps I would have
bought one of those. My favourites
were the Beano and the Dandy.
During the war, they were published
fortnightly so you could buy the
Dandy one week and the Beano the
next. I particularly enjoyed reading
about the exploits of Desperate
Dan!
CHRISTMAS
My grandfather wasn’t a great
drinker but he always bought a
five gallon (20 pint) beer keg at
Christmas. It was about the same
size as the one I used when making
my own beer.
I don’t really remember much
about Christmas time in the war,
although I do remember one year
looking forward to it so much
that I hoped I wouldn’t die before
Christmas came.
However, I do remember that, on
Christmas Eve, I put labels on the
bedroom doors, one for my
mum and dad’s
bedroom, one for
Grandad’s, and
one for mine!
DC Thomson en.wikipedia.org
The Parish Magazine — December 2024 19
Claude and his wife, Barbara — and his favourite Christmas waistcoat!
I wanted Father Christmas to
know exactly where to come!
I also put out a special sock but didn’t
get very much.
I expect that it had holly at the
top to prickle my fingers before
finding any gifts, as that’s what
happened to my own children!
When our children were younger,
my mother-in-law cooked the
Christmas pudding.
Just before it came to the table,
my father-in-law would slide silver
sixpence coins into it — one for each
person.
They were all of different dates and
each date related to a specific amount
of money that he would pay to buy
them back. Probably not very hygienic,
but a favourite family tradition!
Many years later, when I was
church warden for St Bart’s and at
St Luke’s, we invited members of
the congregations — often foreign
university students or older people
who would have been on their own —
to join us for Christmas lunch.
For some years, I prepared the
turkey by cutting out all the bones and
then stuffed it into shape with sausage
meat so it still looked like a turkey.
A friend who taught cookery was so
impressed that she asked me to show
her how I did it! It was so much easier
to cut and less messy on the day!
Although I am less active now, I still
look forward to Christmas with my
children and grandchildren.
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