American Couple Reacts: How to Have a British Christmas! Special Christmas Episode & PO Box Gifts
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- čas přidán 7. 12. 2021
- American Couple Reacts: How to Have a British Christmas! Special Christmas Episode!
Join us on our Christmas episode! See our Trees, see our P.O. Box gifts at the end of the video. We learn in this video How to have a British Christmas! Some things really surprised us! We always appreciate your continued support for us. We hope you enjoy this video and it puts a smile on your face. Please give us a Like and consider Subscribing to our channel.
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We KNEW as kids that Papa Nöel was real, because the mince pie and glass of port we left out for him had both gone by the morning. The glazed look on our grampa's eyes at 06.00 escaped our attention!
She missed out the bit about putting a coin in one portion of the Christmas pudding. Whoever found it was supposed to have luck for the next year (as long as you didn't choke on it!)
I just replied to @Robin Finnerty about the silver sixpence my mum would put in the Christmas pudding. Except whoever got it, she would exchange for a small gift and put the coin away until the following year... And yes, I used to dream about eating and choking on it - LOL!
My cousin hated christmas pudding, but he would always have some, just for the chance to get the sixpence.
she also forgot Christmas cake
Fun fact: Norway sends a real Christmas tree to the UK every year (since 1947), as a THANK YOU gift for the role Britain played in the Second World War, to help them. It gets erected in Trafalgar Square in London.
It is usually a Norwegian spruce, over 20 metres high and 50 to 60 years old. It is selected from the forests surrounding Oslo years, in advance. The Norwegian foresters who look after it describe it fondly as 'the queen of the forest'.
The tree is felled in November during a ceremony in which the Lord Mayor of Westminster, the British ambassador to Norway and the Mayor of Oslo participate. It is brought to the UK by sea, then completes its journey by lorry. A specialist rigging team erects and decorates it in traditional Norwegian fashion, with vertical strings of lights.
The tree remains in Trafalgar Square until just before the Twelfth Night of Christmas, when it is taken down for recycling. The tree is chipped and composted, to make mulch.
A bit of a sorry specimen this year
This years one looks rather pathetic
@@Suprahampton That's true! I think the foresters may have had too many 'Juleøl's' (Norwegian Christmas beer) LOL! 😂😂😂
And we thank you for it.
@@stewedfishproductions7959 miserable lot!
She forgot to add, but still important, is how many of us still turn out, even in snow, for Midnight mass on
Christmas Eve at our local church. There is a carol service, and often we are handed a candle as we go in to
light up and hold during the service.
Boxing Day - the name comes from a time when the rich used to box up gifts to give to the poor, it was also a day off for servants and they would receive a box gift from their masters. They would then go home and give a box to their families.
Stockings contain gifts from Santa - traditionally larger gifts are under the tree and from your family.
The Christmas pudding usually has a coin hidden in it and the person who finds it will have good luck for a year.
As well as the brandy and mince pie for Father Christmas. We also leave a carrot for Rudolph! LOL
Really??? If so that's awesome
Although I have lived in London for many years, I come from the Wirral. As a kid it would snow around Christmas, so we would build a snowman in the garden. I remember that we WOULD stick a carrot in his face as a 'nose' and use two pieces of coal as 'eyes'... but on Christmas eve we took his 'nose' to leave out with a mince pie & a 'drink' both being for Father Christmas, but the carrot was for Rudolph!
The pieces of coal were for New Years eve, and taken to the neighbours to 'first foot' (my dad was Scottish). Also, the cracker pulling happened immediately after we sat down for Christmas dinner and everyone had to read out the joke, wear the paper hat all the way through and could only take it off after watching the Queen's speech...
Mum would stick a silver, 'sixpence piece' in the Christmas pudding, the person getting it during the meal then handed it back to her, in exchange for a small gift (she then put the coin away until the following year...}, I often wonder what happened to it?
Mustn’t forget the carrot for Rudolph. Our parents used to put out the mince pie and drink for Father Christmas when we were all tucked up in bed.
Yes a carrot for Rudolph, but my kids used to leave a beer and a mince pie. Father Christmas told me he doesn’t like brandy 😉
@@krissyg7026 It was always a sherry and mince pie in our house, not forgetting the mandary carrot for Rudolph. Mum would put out the mince pie and carrot while Dad poured the sherry. They would set them on a low table in front of the fire just before we went up to bed.
Christmas crackers are table decorations that have a paper hat shaped like a crown a plastic item and a joke,when my kids where small we left out milk and biscuits, we also left a carrot fir the reindeer.
Haaaaaaa! Debbie cracked me up! "Why the piece of cheese?" Ha! The 'cheesy' gift inside the cracker is not made of cheese, Deb's! lol Cheesy means rubbish/cheap. Love the trees, girls, especially the pine cones! x Have yourselves a GREAT Crimbo! x
Tom Smith, a baker from London’s East End invented the Christmas cracker over 150 years ago. On a trip to Paris he came across French sweets (candies) wrapped in paper. They proved a hit at Christmas time so he included a love motto inside the wrappers. This inspired the introduction of a Christmas cracker. It was supposed to imitate a crackling log fire. Eventually the crackers included a paper hat, silly joke and a cheap novelty. Example- What did Adam say to his wife on the 24th of December? “It’s Christmas, Eve.”
would you adam and eve it
Boxing day isnt always about shopping, thats a very recent thing. Traditionally its when we got dragged to see EVERY aged relative and eat buffet food A LOT.
And yes its usually a bank holiday but its on a Sunday this year so we get an extra day off the week after to make up for it.
And yes we drink A LOT at Christmas, even people who dont normally drink. Even kids. I was drunk most years growing up 😄
Wow!
Yeah I was allowed to drink at Xmas as a kid… pretty common in the uk
Burning letters to Father Christmas is an old thing not really done today as most people don't have open fires. I worked for Royal Mail and any letters addressed to Father Christmas were sent to a department set up for that purpose during the run up to Christmas. Now he has his own postcode: Santa/Father Christmas, Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ and if ther's a return address they get a card from Santa and you can have one in Welsh if you ask (nicely). Oh! and the last day to send letters is tomorrow to guarentee a reply so be quick. :-)
I worked for RM years ago too, and I remember any letters sent to Santa/Father Christmas addressed for Lapland, actually did get sent to Lapland.. Anything that said North Pole , or Fairyland etc etc were sent to Belfast ! 😂 I remember a sticky greasy envelope once that obviously had a biscuit in it for Santa ☺️😆
Most new houses don’t have a fireplace so we post them to Santa.
@@catshez I expect they still go to Belfast as that is where the Returned Letter Branch is, so they must be experts at opening mail and returning them quickly.:-)
@@Beejay950 Yes I reckon so... I only know this because I was on international mail and missorts, nightshift, and always have told my friends with children, if you want your letter to get to Father Christmas direct , send it to Lapland, Finland ! 😉
Must be a fun job in Belfast though, always thought it seemed a great job being the only ones legally allowed to open "the Queen's mail"
😄😂
I’m British and never heard of putting them in the fire
During the Stuart and Georgian times, in the UK, mince pies were a status symbol at Christmas. Very rich people liked to show off at their Christmas parties by having pies made is different shapes (like stars, crescents, hearts, tears, & flowers); the fancy shaped pies could often fit together a bit like a jigsaw! They also had pies which looked like the 'knot gardens' that were popular during those periods. Having pies like this meant you were rich and could afford to employ the best, and most expensive, pastry cooks.
Hi ladies. I'm British and I'm 54 years old. I have never heard of hanging stockings on the bed in my life. When I was a child in the70s my dad would fill a stocking with fruit, chocolate and small toys and slip into my room when I was asleep and leave the stocking at the end of my bed, but on the bed not hanging anywhere. Of course I didn't know it was my dad I firmly believed it was Santa. Also we do call him Santa as well as Father Christmas. Love to you both. ❤️
Quite a few Christmas traditions (including the tree) are German. The were introduced by the German Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.
Can't remember if you're already aware but, just in case you're not, mince pies consist of mixed fruit, spices and possibly a dash of booze in a pastry case. In medieval times they were filled with meat but fruit and spices started to be added, either to disguise the taste of rotting meat or to bulk out the meat. In Victorian times the meat was left out entirely leaving us with the sweet treat we know and love today.
It is fairly recent that shops opened and sales started on Boxing Day. Everything always stayed closed !
We often visited relatives we hadnt seen at Christmas, or invited friends around for a cold lunch and
a few drinks.
Queen Victoria's German hubby Prince Albert brought the Christmas Tree to the UK. The alcohol is burned off xmas pudding.
Really? That is fascinating and we didn't know!
My mother told me Father Christmas would bring me presents as long as I kept believing in him. My sister and I are in our 50s now and still believe and still receive presents. Admittedly, we now help Father Christmas to find each other's presents, but it's good to keep some magic alive.
I loved in on Christmas morning, all I had to do was kick the foot of my bed to check if "He'd been" .If there was a thud he had😅. A big pillow case was the stocking equivalent in my case. This tradition continued one year when we were all back home with mum and dad for various reasons even though we were in our 30's.❤🎄🦌
Yes, Boxing Day is a bank holiday/public holiday. It is also a day many of us stay in Pyjamas and eat leftover Turkey sandwiches and lots of chocolate. It is also often a day to see extended family for more celebrations. Fruit cake is lovely!!! And she hasn’t even mentioned mince pies, small pies filled with juicy spiced sultanas and raisins.
I remember as a kid putting the socks at the end of the bed. When we woke up and it was full of nuts, an orange and sweets then you'd know that Santa has been.
When I was a child we used to hang our stockings at the end of our beds 😊. Usually the stockings were a pair of our mother’s clean stockings. My Brother and I used to wake up at some ungodly hour ( usually around 4 or 5 am ! ) and we would both run into our Parents bedroom to show them what Father Christmas had left us lol. It was a magical time. We used to get sent back to bed once they had seen what we had and weren’t allowed to get up again until at least 8am lol. Then the fun would begin again after breakfast when we got to open our main Christmas presents 😍. Christmas during our childhood was a magical time ❤. I love your Christmas tree with all the birds and animals on it. So cute. X
Boxing Day is great, maybe better than Christmas Day! It’s just Christmas Day: Part 2 - nurse hangovers, drink more, eat more, relax watch amazing TV. It’s Christmas Day without the stress of the main day. And yes, we have it off work.
not all of us have the day off, only a select few jobs are given the day off as standard.
And one of the best days of the football season for many fans
Boxing Day is a Bank Holiday, so yes; most people will not be working.
@@rogoth01themasterwizard11, it's a Bank Holiday, obviously some people are working, but most people have it off.
And, if you have to work, then you'll get paid time off in lieu, or extra pay for working it.
@@gillianrimmer7733 no, you don't, all extra payments were stopped years ago, and the 'time off in lieu' was stopped a few years back in most sectors, also, most people do not have it off, it was only due to the pandemic that retail chains decided to give it off last year and some are still divided on doing it this year, prior to the pandemic, all retailers were open and it was a normal work day, and seeing as retail was and is the largest employer sector, 'most people' did not in fact get it off, that's not even touching the emergency services/military that are required to be staffed 24/7/365.
Traditions vary around the country.our stocking were hung on the fire place. We didn't leave brandy and mince pies.and our gifts were put in the sitting room.again she is genralising. And we do not drink so we don't use alcohol.
The best bit about Christmas as a kid was waking up to the stocking at the end of my bed and opening presents sitting on the bed. It was always little things like colouring books and pens and stocking filler gifts, and of course the satsuma and walnut. Then we would get to wake the parents up and go down stairs to open the 'big' presents.
All our 4 kids had a stocking with little bits in on the end of their beds - they'd all come into us when they woke up and there'd be all six of us in/on the one bed while they went through their stockings. Then, we'd send dad sneaking downstairs to see if Father Christmas had gone so we could go down and open the big presents he'd left around the tree - magical times!
It was always pillow cases for us. One each normally
My stocking was always downstairs, I’d wake up if someone came into my room in the night
All our stocking had holes in them so the treats must have fallen out - never did find them though!?
In the olden days most houses had a fireplace in every room, including bedrooms, so Father Christmas would come down the bedroom chimney and fill the stockings hung on the end bedposts. We would wake on Christmas morning to find two sooty footprints on newspaper in front of the bedroom fireplace. Left by Dad, of course.
My great Grandmother who worked in a stately home as a teenager told me that servants only got one day a year off work to go and visit their families. They were given a box of gifts and foods to take with them and as Boxing Day was their only day with their own families. It was originally called unboxing day.
1) never heard of burning letters to Father Christmas! 2) I used to have all my presents by the bed! 3) Why crackers? Because they're fun! Some in Canada have crackers too! 4) never heard of bread sauce, but did not have cranberry sauce until I moved to Canada! 5)we never set our Christmas pudding on fire but had custard on it (like Vanilla sauce) Boxing Day is most of all a day off work! Most stores here do NOT accept returns on Boxing Day! Christmas pudding is like a moist fruit cake, We, UK and Canada, aslo have Christmas cake which is a fruit cake topped with icing and Marzipan. Pantomime is a a whole new world for you! Lots of cross dressing, and cross gender, ribald humour that goes over the kids' heads, audience participation . "Oh yes he does" "OH NO HE DOESN'T"! great video!
Twelfth Night is when the three magi (wise men/kings?) arrived following the star of Bethlehem, that’s when the tree can be taken down.
Yes, it isn’t the ‘setting fire’ to your letter to Father Christmas, it is the letter disappearing up the chimney winging its way to its destination. Magical.
Unfortunately with most homes now lacking a chimney and a fire, this has died out.
Also, we had our stockings laid on the bottom of the bed at night and when we awoke they were magically full of little presents - always an orange at the toe end and nuts at the heel.
My mum started making the Christmas pudding October/November. Everyone had a stir of it with a huge wooden spoon, to bring luck. The brandy was warmed before pouring over the pud and the flaming dessert (burning off the alcohol) brought in with a flourish. But personally I’ve not experienced that for 60 years!!
Happy Christmas 🎉
My stocking wasn't over my bed,it was at the end of my bed.
Christmas crackers are a traditional Christmas favorite in the UK. They were first made in about 1845-1850 by a London sweet maker called Tom Smith. He had seen the French 'bon bon' sweets (almonds wrapped in pretty paper) on a visit to Paris in 1840. He came back to London and tried selling sweets like that in England and also included a small motto or riddle in with the sweet. But they didn't sell very well.
In 1861 Tom Smith launched his new range of what he called 'Bangs of Expectation'!
Legend says that, one night, while he was sitting in front of his log fire, he became very interested by the sparks and cracks coming from the fire. Suddenly, he thought what a fun idea it would be, if his sweets and toys could be opened with a crack when their fancy wrappers were pulled in half.
To both of you - thinking of you and your dogs - I have just lost my 14 year old dog Willis and it is heartbreaking so sending you all my love
As a postman for Royal Mail, letters to Santa don't require a stamp and we have a whole office set up for Santa and if you supply a name and address inside, you will get a reply
I beleive the reson we leave out brandy for Father Christmas is because my dad likes brandy and the Christmas pudding is soaked in booze because it means it keeps for weeks afterwards if you don't finish it. Most people have turkey at Christmas but the tradition would be to have a goose, turkeys originate in the Americas but we breed them for Christmas now.
both your Christmas trees 🌲 look absolutely beautiful x
We do have Yorkshire Pudding with our Christmas dinner and lots of stuffing, I usually have sage and onion and thyme and parsley stuffing. The Romans used to wear hats at their feasts. Crackers were made by a sweet confectioner in 1847 in order to sell more sweets, the person who gets the bigger part of the cracker wins what is inside, there are some very expensive ones with real jewellery in them.
The carol "Good King Wenceslas" celebrates the feast of St Stephen "Boxing Day".
Main Boxing Day tradition is dragging the whole family out for a walk! To blow the cobwebs off your hangover, usually through country parks, or along the beach.
The stockings on the bed are a parents way of getting some sleep Christmas morning. The kids wake up early, of course, but hear the rustle of wrapping paper by their feet, open their presents from Santa and that keeps them busy for an hour or so playing with new toys while parents have a lay in. Just like the letters in the fire saving a stamp, British parents are cunning 😎
Boxing day is goes back to when the wealthy would allow there staff to go home to visit family , also box up the presents for the staff , this was the age when people would be in service .
Xmas tree down…12th night (last supper reference there). Bacon wrapped sausages are called pigs in blankets. We also cook stuffing, a a sage and onion mix with pork sausage meat. Boxing day is leftovers with salad and pickles but that’s a Yorkshire thing. Most people hate sprouts but we often fry them with bacon and other things, depending on the recipe. Another weird thing we do in Yorkshire is serve Xmas dinner with Yorkshire puddings and apple sauce (boiled up apples with sugar). Otherwise we have cranberry jelly. Queen’s speech is always at 3pm, so there’s always a mad rush to finish up before gathering round the TV at 3.
Like the Christmas pudding, Christmas cakes were made months before and fed brandy to keep moist. For luck the tradition was to stir in silver sixpences Normally by the children of the house and then on Christmas day you might be lucky enough to find one or break a tooth. Xx
Check out the Welsh Christmas tradition of Mari Lwyd. It's a bit like Halloween meets Christmas. Adds a little stuff of nightmares to proceedings.
You have peaked our curiosity
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow No one knows how old Mari is. I suspect she's seriously old. One of those fragments of culture that continue on and on. The White Horse of Uffington is a bronze age art work. It's cut into the turf on a hill, revealing the chalk below. Without yearly maintenance, it would disappear back under the turf within a few short years. This means that every year, for nigh on 4000 years, people have gathered to scour the chalk and trim the grass edges. Again, a fragment of the ancient past in people's activities.
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow
Approach Mari Leyd carefully 😜
Gr8 to see you both. And learn Jazz is not in pain. And I didn't know about the letters to Santa in the fire! xxx😁💕
I love the Boxing Day meal with cold meats leftover from Christmas Day, special cheeses and fancy pickles. Oh, and we have trifle for the main pudding. Yum!
Oh yes I love that about boxing day!
As a child I was terrified of Father Christmas (a big strange man) sneaking in my bedroom whilst I was asleep to leave presents, so I told my parents I wanted him to leave them in their room instead... thus unwittingly making their lives A LOT easier as they didn't have to wait until I was asleep and try to sneak into my room without waking me up.
Leaving a stocking at the end of the bed with some small gifts in it is actually quite sneaky. It means the kids have something to do in their room which can give you an extra half an hour before they come and drag you out of bed. 🤫
Indeed, when my kids were small we had a rule not to wake us before 7am, they could open their stockings and play with them. To be fair i was usually awake a lot earlier than that and i loved going in and watching them play with all their stocking stuff on xmas morning.
My stocking was always by the fire, I must be a yank
We always hung a pillow case :D
Although I’m English, my parents always used to get my youngest sister an Oor Wullie and The Broons annuals - we older siblings used to get Rupert the Bear books.
I'm 62 and still have to get my Broons annual.
When we say Mince Pie. It isn't minced meat. It is fruit with a soft sweet pastry. Can be eaten cold or warm with some ice cream/brandy butter. It is enjoyed throughout the Christmas season. It is separate from the Christmas Dinner.
As far as boxing day is concerned I was told that it has the name because that is the day that the boxes from presents were put outside to be collected by the bin men.
I was also wondering if you have heard of sugar mice. They started in Victorian times I believe, this is when sugar being expensive was more available to the general public. Which is as it sounds sugar moulded into the shape of a mouse with a little string tail, this is another traditional treat put on the Christmas tree not very common now although still available. But similar to the more modern chocolate decorations.
Originally mince pies did contain minced beef and fruits in pastry hence when you buy the filling in a jar or tub it's still called mincemeat
Ice cream? It’s usually normal cream
Christmas crackers are a traditional Christmas favorite in the UK. They were first made in about 1845-1850 by a London sweet maker called Tom Smith after a trip to France.
Hi ladies, our Boxing Day derives from giving the poor a parcel of foodstuffs. Most people probably don’t realise that nowadays but it’s a very old tradition. We used to love having our stockings at the end of the bed so as soon as we woke on Christmas morning we knew Father Christmas had been! It always had a satsuma and walnut in with lots of chocolate! Christmas pudding is very rich and an acquired taste! Crackers are obligatory and so are hats, it’s all good fun! Love the videos, and so sorry to hear about your poorly dog. Love from Staffordshire England 🏴
We used to leave a whisky and shortbread for Santa. It’s a tradition for our family to have trifle for Christmas pudding. For 40 years the same trifle bowl has been used, it’s in my possession now so for the last 20 years it’s my job to make the trifle. Christmas was banned in Scotland for around 400 years which is why we Scots tend to celebrate Hogmanay more than Christmas xxxx
Didn't do the letters in the fire because we had a gas fire. Stockings in bedrooms are so kids have something to open and play with like lego, so it keeps kids in their room and not waking adults up too early. Christmas Day and Boxing Day are bank holidays - because they are the weekend this year we get time in leau so 27th and 28th off work too, wahoo! A Yorkshire pudding is good with Christmas dinner, a small one. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and your dogs are in our prayers.
Nice video. Nice outfits. Very sophisticated.
Aw thank you!
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow Thank you for your sweet reply.
Well sweet compliments certainly deserve sweet replies!
I think the throwing the Christmas letters in the fire is maybe something from times gone by. Most people ‘post’ letters to Father Christmas nowadays… lol !!!
The first 'Christmas crackers' were created by Tom Smith, a sweet maker in London, around 1845. He developed the idea from the almond sweets (Bon Bons) wrapped in gorgeous decorative paper that he saw in Paris in 1840. He took the idea to another level altogether.
Hey Natasha and Debbie. You don't have to boil the Christmas Pudding, you can steam it and it is gorgeous! Lovely channel. x
I’ve never known it to be boiled, only steamed. I love it especially with cream and brandy butter. 😍
Best Wishes to all four of you!
I remember going to my grandma's as a kid and I'd write my list to santa and put it in her fire. I always looked forward to it
Tom Smith, an enterprising baker in London's East End, invented the Christmas cracker over 150 years ago. Our collections contain some of the earliest examples of this popular paper novelty.
The Christmas cracker was invented by London-based confectioner and baker Tom Smith (1823 - 1869) who set up shop in Goswell Road, Clerkenwell in the 1840s. Smith initially produced wedding cakes and sweets. On a trip to Paris he discovered the French 'bon bon', a sugared almond wrapped in a twist of tissue paper. Bonbons proved a hit at Christmas time and to encourage year-round sales, Smith added a small love motto inside the wrapper.
The inspiration to add the explosive 'pop' was supposedly sparked by the crackling sound of a log fire. Smith patented his first cracker device in 1847 and perfected the mechanism in the 1860s. It used two narrow strips of paper layered together, with silver fulminate painted on one side and an abrasive surface on the other - when pulled, friction created a small explosion. To stave off competition, the company introduced a range of cracker designs, which were marketed as a novelty for use at a wide range of celebrations. Tom’s son, Walter, added the elaborate hats, made of fancy paper, and sourced novelties and gifts from Europe, America and Japan. The success of the cracker enabled the business to grow and move to larger premises in Finsbury Square, employing 2,000 people by the 1890s, including many female workers.
We tended to put out pillow cases in the living room for our gifts, not in the bedroom.
As an American growing up in the UK we adopted UK traditions like hanging a stocking at the end of the bed, pigs in plankets is a must! But we had cranberry sauce not bread sauce, but bringing my kids up in France they would leave their shoes by the fireplace hoping Santa will fill them with treats and France don't do Boxing day. By the way your trees are gorgeous.
Stockings at the end of the bed make sense. It gives the parents an extra 30 minutes or so in bed.
How does one fit presents in a pair of shoes though?
P
KattyKitty66, you didn't mention the French tradition of a seafood (fruits de mer) platter on Christmas eve.
I've never had bread sauce (whatever that is) - we always have turkey and cranberry sauce (or "Turkey Jam" as my sister dubbed it)
The lady in the video seems to be from the upper-middle class ... NOBODY I know has ever had bread sauce - always cranberry with their turkey on Xmas day.
How that happened, I don't know - must have been an idea we got from USA Thanksgiving.
Even the turkey itself.
"It's Xmas, it's Xmas, the goose is getting fat ..."
No it isn't - it's turkey these days,
Hi everyone! We got the video out, late but we got it! Jazz was snoring next to us the entire time. We would love comments about the origins on most of these. Please Like the video & thank you for your continued support & love. We truly appreciate you all during this very difficult time for our family. We hope you enjoy our Christmas Episode! 🎄
A bad fruit cake is awful but a good one is delicious. Yes everything is soaked in booze (my mums christmas pudding is basically a lumpy cocktail) which is fantastic for me, I love a drink. However Christmas is the one day a year that I usually can't drink as I'm usually driving everyone about. I hope Jazz has the best time left to her and an easy and peaceful passing.
I’ve never burned a letter to Father Christmas… never even heard of that ‘tradition’ in my 50 years!
On Christmas Eve, children in the UK often leave out mince pies with brandy or some similar drink for Father Christmas, and a carrot for the reindeer.
Debbie, there IS no cheese in a Christmas cracker...
😂 She said cheese wrapped in plastic... ? Lol
It's a cheesie plastic toy in the cheep cracker as you pay morey you get better toys
@@marydickinson2917 went back and listened, thought she said "Cheese in plastic!"
The pudding Dark fruit cake laden with fruit, peel, spices drizzled with hot, thick Birds (brand) custard.
I’m from the UK and growing up my sister and I always had our stocking downstairs. Never in our bedroom , although our parents did.
We left Sherry and a mince pie. My mum likes Sherry. All makes sense now haha.
Christmas Crackers are the best. Have to wear your paper crown for dinner. I have a small head so mine always falls off 😐. The cheesy gift isn’t actually cheese, it means it’s a bit of a rubbish present ☺️. The mince pies aren’t mince meat. It’s like currents and raisins in a sweet sauce.
Also my birthday is Boxing Day, the day after Christmas! So the main thing for me on Boxing Day is pretty much doing Christmas all over again! We do get the day off work, it’s a bank holiday. Well those of us who get bank holidays off get the day off.
As a child we wrote letters to Santa but we posted them.
Can’t stand Christmas pudding or Christmas Cake!
In the coal fire days the kids would write a letter to Father Christmas [ never Santa] and hold it above the fire and the draft would pull it out of your hand. It would fly up the chimney. Leaving the children with the feeling someone had pulled the letter from their hand.
I didn't know the draft up the chimney would take the letter! It all makes much more sense!
I know that in a lot of our houses the bedrooms had open fireplaces, so the stocking on the bed wasn't such a bizarre thing cos father Christmas had access lol
I remember my dad doing this with us. It was magical x
I am a CHRISTMAS NUT! I LOVE EVERYTHING about Christmas!! So I really enjoyed this show so very much!!!!
Stockings are left by Father Christmas and include small gifts, chocolate money, satsumas, walnuts and last but not least a Terry's Chocolate Orange.
Childrem are allowed to open their stockings when they wake up but presents under the tree have to wait for animals to be walked, fed etc. Happy Christmas!
One year when we were kid's my brother put his letter to Santa straight onto the fire without showing it to our parents - he insisted it was private. So they never found out what he wanted for Christmas that year... :)
Tom Smith, a London confectioner in approx 1845-1850 went to Paris and saw their Bon Bons wrapped in pretty paper..he decided to make them back in the UK, later adding a moto and a snap to them..My wife and I both work in Theatre and our Pantomime begins this Friday! Cinderella! It will be a magical 4 weeks, especially as last year's got cancelled because of covid! I've never thrown a Santa letter into the fire, always mail them (or pretend to mail them) Boxing day is just an extension of Xmas day..over eating, tv, drink..although most people do work, we have 2 Panto performances on Boxing day, shops are open etc. Never left Brandy, was always Milk, a mince pie and a carrot for Rudolph. Stockings can be left at the end of the bed, but mainly by the fireplace. Pigs in blankets on Crimbo dinner (small sausages, wrapped In bacon..yum! Bread sauce is yuck, prefer cranberry sauce.
We want to see the Pantomime!!
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow they are great fun, full of songs, slap stick, humour and silliness..they are feel good and get you ready for Xmas..especially with all the sparkly sets and costumes. We have a lovely cast, it's like one big family! Seeing the kids faces is magical!
Do you have anything you can share with us? Either here or our Facebook page?
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow A absolutely magical time for young and old, the audience participates in it with the cast, I'm taking my 4 year old grandson to his very first one this year, and I can't wait to see his face when the lights go down and the music starts and the actors appear.
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow czcams.com/video/I7KxO8Vhxp/video.html A for a quick introduction, to Pantomime, that you should enjoy. All the best to you both.
A lot of older houses had a fireplace and chimney in the bedrooms my gran did.
Wow Natasha I didn't know that, very well done for admitting it to so many people, I sometimes wish that I didn't drink, but I do enjoy a few pints
The 12 birds of Christmas are the cards from the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and it's one way I can donate to their charity, I've sent them to all my friends this Xmas. Graham x
Absolutely LOVE it, thank you so much!!
In my house the Christmas stocking would be placed at the end of the bed while were were sleeping. It was always one of my dads socks, never one of these fancy christmas stockings you can buy. Inside was always fruit, usually a tangerine. some nuts, a piece of coal and some small gifts and thats it. Our main presents were always in a big sack downstairs. We were allowed to open the gifts in our stockings as soon as we woke up and could choose 1 gift to unwrap from our sack, the other presents we had to wait until all the family was there before we could open.
We did exactly the same ...best times ever ...Christmas has become too much peer pressure now and completely commercial
@@debbie8674 ...yes it's Santa's way of saying be good for next year 😂...we then use it at New Year's to let in the New Year to bring warmth and prosperity to the home carried in by the eldest darkest haired male of the house with a slice of bread and butter symbolising food, warmth and prosperity ...however if a fair haired female let's the New Year in it symbolises bad luck for the year 🤷🤦xx
Xmas when I was a kid was the best
Hiya Natasha and Debbie, when I realised there was no such thing as Father Christmas (AKA Santa Claus), My Dad used to come in from the pub on christmas eve, Mam and Dad would be sorting the presents out and my sisters and Me would be upstairs in bed, you could hear my Dad downstairs saying "THIS IS FOR PAUL OFF (UNCLE) JOHN, THIS IS FOR TRACEY (OLDER SISTER)OFF YOUR MAM, THIS IS FOR LEANNE (YOUNGER SISTER) OFF (UNCLE) MICHAEL, MAM (TERESA) WOULD BE SAYING KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN DAVID OR YOU'LL WAKE THE KIDS, this is circa 1984, this is Choppy
Absolutely love your channel. We would have the presents under the tree as usual but on Christmas eve the kids would get a 30 second feel to try and guess what they have. Then on Christmas Day we would open our presents after dinner and before the Queens speech. Now our own difference. We would put 2 presents each back under the tree. one is opened on Boxing Day and the last one on New Years Day. We felt it kept the surprises through the whole holiday and made the tree still look pretty. Blessings from Sam in Birmingham, England.. Love to the dogs.
traditionally we say Santa Claus, some modernisers go for "Father Christmas" but I prefer the former !
That's a cool Ten Shilling note (commonly called a ten-bob note) - I haven't seen one of those for ~50 years. Since 15th February 1971, it's been replaced by a 50 pence (pennies) coin.
The trick with smoke post is to place the letter above the flame and let the warm draft lift it up the chimney. It looks magical when it works so a small, light weight leaf of paper works best.
Bread sauce is very easy to make but surprisingly good.
What exactly is it?
It’s probably easier if I give you a recipe.
Poach one onion in water (roughly a pint) until soft (it is traditional to stud the onion with cloves, but I don’t as I don’t like the flavour, it’s up to you).
Remove the onion and add milk to that there is twice as much liquid as before. Add salt and white pepper and reheat until almost boiling.
Add white bread (not crust) and blend with a hand blender until you have a consistency similar to porridge.
Adjust seasoning to taste and serve as and accompaniment to Turkey. X
Boxing day is also a bank holiday so we always get the two off and normally half day on Christmas Eve ,if Christmas or boxing day fall on a weekend like they do this year then we get the Monday and Tuesday off as well , Christmas cake here is a fruit cake and it has marzipan on then royal icing on top ,you either love it or hate it .
Christmas Crackers are also called Bon Bons in Australia, she was correct it's not Xmas dinner until everyone is wearing their paper crown.
We really learned a lot from this video!
The hats never fit, my head is too big.
@@CrazyCatWoman1 I hear ya, try getting one over 25 years worth of dreadlocks
The bon bons are the almond sweets that were wrapped in pretty paper in 19th century France that helped inspire a London sweet maker, Tom Smith, to make the earliest 'Christmas crackers'.
Bon Bons are powder covered sweets where I come from
Dear friends, I believe that Boxing Day was originally the day when the alms chests (charity boxes) in parish churches would be opened and all the
money inside distributed to the poor of the parish. Later it became a tradition for richer people to give a present box to their servants on December 26th
(the Feast of Stephen mentioned in Good King Wenceslas). It's so good to see all the cards and gifts that people have sent to you both but, please
remember that for every coin, card, flag or recipe book, there are at least 10 of us sending love and best wishes to you all at this particularly grim time.
Stay strong and hold on to happy memories.......................................the ancient Englishman.
I am a subscriber and I just found this video. Here in Australia, we still carry on a lot of the Christmas traditions from Britain but, like Americans, we leave milk and cookies out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Because it's hot here at Christmas, a lot of people have a barbecue lunch or cold meats and salads. As a non-drinking family, we don't put brandy on our Christmas pudding! Happy Christmas 2023 to both of you.
The sausages wrapped in bacon are better known as pigs in blankets! Our house never had crackers mum always said they was a waste of money lol 😂!!! Never heard of burning a letter to Father Christmas, was always a mince pie and whisky left out here! Hot custard is poured on our Christmas Pudding, ppl used to put a six pence in them years ago
Not to be confused with the American pig in a blanket, which is not the same thing.
Sorry didn’t know American’s had pigs in blankets else would of clarified that 🙈🙈
@@racheltopp4968 I think they're a sausage wrapped in pastry. I could be wrong.
Thank u for that! So basically a British sausage roll?
@@racheltopp4968 not far off. But an actual sausage rather than sausage meat and I think it's shortcrust pastry.
We used to have 3 or 4 Christmas trees up each year around the house. And take them down around new year but never longer
We would also decapitate local snowmen and use tomato sauce for blood in the neighbourhood for effect
Point 1 we don't burn the letters we let the warm updraft draw the sheet of paper up the chimney as a letter in an envelope will be too heavy and fall in the flames plus most houses don't have open fires anymore to do this
I was born in Scotland and grew up here and in England, and I'm now back in scotland, and I've never heard of that throw the letters in the fire thing 🤣
we put pillow cases at foot of bed, send letters to santa in post box, never heard of fire idea,we do have crackers and crowns, boxing day for bus is another feast,and family meet up, we dont go shopping,i cant wait to take the xmas tree down, and forget all about crimbo
Wish you too a lovely Christmas girls
Most origins came about during the victorian period and mainly from Prince Albert.
Certainly the Christmas tree and decorations came from Germany and Prince Albert.
Boxing day is indeed a Bank Holiday.
Never heard about the letter in the fire.
On a personal note, my family Christmas traditions were:
Christmas Eve, cooking the turkey and having a hot turkey cob (bun) for supper.
Watching "It's a wonderful life" with my parents.
Christmas day, exchanging gifts. Christmas lunch with turkey and either a joint of pork or beef, chipolata sausages, roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots, cauliflower cheese and mashed potato.
Christmas pudding with brandy sauce.
Party games in the afternoon and evening with family.
Sandwiches later in the evening.
Boxing day, around to grandparents for afternoon tea and dinner. Could take a present you had on Christmas day.
Those were the best days....
Oh to turn the clocks back 40 years.
Very sorry to hear about Jazz, I completely understand your state of mind. We had to have a very treasured pet euthanized a year ago. To make it worse, it was on the wife's birthday.
In our house growing up, the stockings were hung from the foot of the bed. We left a bottle of beer and a mince pie for Santa. Alternatively, we could leave a bottle of beer and piece of fruit cake.
A desert for Boxing Day is trifle.
With the flag. If you hang it, make sure you hang it the correct way up. If you hang it upside down, it means you are in distress. That is a naval tradition that enemies of England never figured out. Especially in the age of sail - Napoleonic time - if a British ship was captured by an enemy, they would try to fool any other British ship by having the crew raise the Union Jack and then stand on deck. The crew would raise the flag upside down to signal that all was not well and that the ship had most likely been captured. This of course caused shock and horror amongst the enemy aboard the vessel when the other British ship(s) opened fire on it. Enemies of that time never did figure out how other British ships knew what was wrong.
Yes Boxing day is a bank holiday the same as Christmas day and the good thing about it is that if either or both of those days fall on a weekend we get the Monday, or Monday and Tuesday off as a holiday as well....
Not fair!!
Or BOTH this year
Many families in the UK have their own traditions as well as those mentioned in the video.
To get my sister's friends kids to go to bed on Christmas Eve, she would ask me to call them and pretend to be Father Christmas, telling them that I was really close, but unless they were in bed, I couldn't come into the house.
Talcum powder sprinkled onto the soles of a pair of shoes and dabbed on and around the fireplace to represent snow was another trick used to convince my sister's own kids "He" had been was another, along with the "I believe bell" which they had to ring before going to bed so that the big red man would know how to find the house!
Strictly adults only pantomime is Jim Davidson Sinderella with the late great Charlie Drake.
Most of it is ad lib and very funny, well worth the watch.
Don’t forget that Jim Davidson actually made two adult pantomimes, Sinderella and Babes (or is that Boobs) in the Woods. Both of them are hilarious and you can find both of them online.
The reason we put our decorations up 12 days before Christmas and twelve days after dates back to Tudor times or before when there was literally 12 days of Christmas beginning on the 25th of December and ending on the 5th January and every day had a different purpose. Gifts usually weren’t given until the fifth they were mostly feast days
All of those are definitely standard for every Christmas of my life, except the letter burning, but I've never lived in a house with a real fire!!
As Christmas and Boxing Day are the weekend this year, Monday and Tuesday are Bank Holidays.
Hope all goes well with your dogs, pets really leave the deepest paw prints on your heart.
We didn’t even have a fireplace, so Santa had a special key for the double glazing 🤔😜🎄🎅🏻
We didn’t burn the letter but let the draft catch them and take them up the chimney to Santa
@@clarelawton4653 same, my mum told me Santa had a key because we had an electric fire place
We used to burn the letters I genuinely believed that it went directly to father Christmas!! Happy memories for sure x