The Nostalgia column with Margaret Watson: Various groups held parties for children at Christmas

CHRISTMAS is a time for children, a time when parents try to make everything as magical as possible.
Party time: A picture to gladden the heart this Christmas. It shows the children who attended a Christmas Party during the early years of the war been organised by members of Eastborough Working Men’s Club, Dewsbury, for the children of their members. The club, which had one of the largest memberships in the district, closed some years ago.Party time: A picture to gladden the heart this Christmas. It shows the children who attended a Christmas Party during the early years of the war been organised by members of Eastborough Working Men’s Club, Dewsbury, for the children of their members. The club, which had one of the largest memberships in the district, closed some years ago.
Party time: A picture to gladden the heart this Christmas. It shows the children who attended a Christmas Party during the early years of the war been organised by members of Eastborough Working Men’s Club, Dewsbury, for the children of their members. The club, which had one of the largest memberships in the district, closed some years ago.

Our parents did the same but they didn’t do it by stuffing our Christmas stocking with loads of presents.

For a start, they didn’t have the money, but they made up for it in other ways and always managed to make our Christmas memorable.

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The parents of my childhood were what you might call the “organised poor” because they made sure they saved for the things they wanted.

Margaret Watson.Margaret Watson.
Margaret Watson.

They didn’t have bank accounts or credit cards and certainly wouldn’t have got into debt as so many do today.

But by putting a little away each week in Christmas clubs they were able to get the festive food and presents they wanted.

No matter how poor, they always made sure Christmas Day was the day they were able to enjoy food they rarely saw at any other time of the year.

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The festive spirit, however, extended far beyond the family home, going into our schools and churches, our hospitals, pubs and clubs.

The photograph above shows children attending a Christmas party during the war organised by members of Eastborough Working Men’s Club.

Other clubs also held similar parties, but sadly most of them, including Eastborough, have since closed down.

Other Christmas parties, especially for children from poorer families, were held throughout our towns and villages.

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Local churches, including the Salvation Army, and charitable organisations, were at the forefront of organising such events.

Ebenezer Chapel on Longcauseway always put on a special Christmas breakfast for poor children on Christmas Day.

I still marvel at those kind men and women, who gave up their Christmas Day for those less fortunate than themselves.

Looking through old newspaper files you can read of the enormous amount of good will which existed in local communities in those days.

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In 1933, a Christmas party organised by Ebenezer Chapel nearly didn’t take place because of an epidemic of sickness which had closed all the schools.

The organisers considered cancelling but decided not to because they didn’t want to disappoint the children, and anyway they’d already ordered the food.

Despite the epidemic, over 500 boys and girls turned up on Christmas morning to enjoy a festive breakfast of ham sandwiches and buns.

They also each received a box of sweets, an apple and an orange, a new penny and a present from Father Christmas.

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The same week, a party for 216 of the town’s “poorest mites” was organised by the Dewsbury Poor Children’s fund.

It was held in Dewsbury Town Hall, and the children sat down to an excellent meat tea, provided by Messrs Fullerton.

Afterwards, entertainment, including a magic lantern show and Punch and Judy show, was provided in the Victoria Hall.

Each child was also presented with an orange, apple, a bag of sweets, two toys and a new penny, and a hamper of clothing was sent by the Mirfield League of Pity.

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That same week, members of Dewsbury Rotary Club organised a Christmas Party for children with disabilities.

They took them to the Playhouse cinema to see and hear a “talkie” film, and afterwards took them to the YMCA centre where they enjoyed a “sumptuous” meal of sandwiches and cakes of all kinds.

Christmas crackers were pulled, and after the tables were cleared, the children enjoyed a film show, and Father Christmas distributed gifts.

The inmates of the Workhouse also enjoyed festive food on Christmas day that year and also received presents.

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The number of inmates at this time can be estimated from the amount of food eaten that day.

Over 600lbs of beef, pork and mutton were cooked, 400lbs of mashed potatoes, 112lb green peas, 499lbs of plum puddings, 300lbs spice cake, 70lbs of cheese and 60lbs of jam and marmalade.

For the sick patients in the workhouse hospital, 12 chickens were cooked, and for the children in the Cottage Homes and nursery, 30 rabbits.

Also, 300 hundred barrels of apples and three cases of oranges were distributed.

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The men each received an ounce of tobacco, the women, an ounce of tea and sugar, and children the children a chocolate teddy bear and a toy.

Looking back on these days it is clear that nothing and no-one was allowed to dampen the festive spirit.

Yes, through good years and bad, through sickness and health, our forefathers, always made Christmas special.

Bless them, they always found a way of keeping the spirit of Christmas alive without spending loads of money.

Let us hope we will do the same this year, despite everything that is happening around us.

Happy Christmas.

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