Today we’re going to take a trip through one family’s Christmas celebrations, as envisioned by Woman’s Home Journal, Christmas Number, 1967. The Swinging Sixties are just getting under way, but Susan and John are keeping it old school. We start John returning home from work in The City to a warm greeting from the wife and the nippers.
I think this first photo is a good representation of what my mother always wanted us to look like (as opposed to the grim reality). We had the kilts all right, worn only on special occasions, and I still remember how uncomfortable those shoes were. “Susan is immaculate in a slim, turquoise shift dress worn with toning diamond mesh stockings,” we are told, while John is wearing a lambswool overcoat with velvet collar over a three-piece suit and—most important—has remembered the champagne. BTW all the clothing, furniture, and tableware is from Liberty’s of Regent Street, if you’re in a buying mood.
Susan and John have invited a “close friend,” Elizabeth, to join them for the holiday. Here they all are at a casual cold buffet dinner, starting off with Swedish Glogg (hot red wine with gin and spices) and Consomme Paysanne, moving from these exotic dishes to the comforting blandness of cold poached chicken with lemon and parsley sauce, rice salad, and iced apricot soufflé.
Susan and John have left decorating the tree till the last minute, possibly because they spent the day emptying that bottle of cognac on the table. Now everyone has slipped into evening loungewear. Susan is comfy in a pink quilted “at home” gown, but she’s keeping up appearances with a fresh wig. Elizabeth opts for a stylish caftan. John, relaxed and debonair, is wearing a velvet smoking jacket as he tops up the ladies’ drinks.
Time for Christmas dinner! It’s turkey, which would not have been my first guess for a British family in the mid-1960s, but there you go. It never would have occurred to me to put gin in red wine, either. The magazine includes not one but three recipes for different forcemeat stuffings, as well as bacon rolls and mini-sausages, so you can have plenty of meat with your meat.
Time to walk off the turkey and sausages! That coat the girl Jenny is wearing is pretty much identical to the ones my mom bought for my daughters when they were little. She got them at Marks & Sparks, though, not Liberty of Regent Street.
Have you noticed how the children keep disappearing and reappearing in this photo spread? I have. Also, this is the first I’ve seen of the dog, who appears to be nameless but plays an important role: “the family Basset sets the pace throughout.” If you’ve ever been around a Bassett, you know that this is a pretty leisurely walk.
“Christmas tea is best kept strictly to Christmas cake and hot mince pies,” our anonymous author admonishes. “Appetites will hardly have had time to recover from a large lunch, and an elaborate tea would be a waste of time.” This is excellent advice, especially if you regard mince pies and a cake with marzipan and royal icing as a light repast. Enjoy!
Way back, my aunt passed on to me a tablecloth (that she had gotten from her Irish mother) similar to the one pictured in ‘Christmas tea.’ It was so pretty that I would never eat on it.
Pam, that’s so cool! That tablecloth was specially designed for the readers of the Woman’s Home Journal and there were instructions as to how you could get one, so maybe your aunt read that same issue!