By Jan Chapman

We all want the best for our children, but in days gone by Christmas presents were often a lot less lavish than they are today.
To find out about Christmas time past I asked some of the parish’s older, as well as noted, residents their memories of the most memorable or unusual presents they had as children.
Many of the parishioners had lived through the Occupation and the recurring comments were that they didn’t have presents at all at that time, due to a lack of goods in the shops in Jersey during the war. Most were happy with whatever their parents could find, like Mickie who received a monopoly set from a second-hand shop or Maud who only had an apple in her stocking. Mick Ryall remembers his father getting the local carpenter to make a wooden stool each for him and his brother, but some like Josie still received a Girl’s Annual every year throughout the war.
Most children had to wait until the Red Cross parcels arrived towards the end of the war before they had any treats at all. Charlie Harris can still remember the taste of his first chocolate from a Red Cross parcel when he was 5 years old and Joan recalled pushing a pushchair to Patriotic Street to receive her parcel, with the wonderful corned beef which she had never tasted before.
Those who were evacuated to England were more likely to receive gifts at Christmas – Cherie was given a beautifully dressed china doll by her foster family and Shirley had a carved doll’s cot made out of scrap wood which was made for her by a family friend in England.
As things gradually got back to normal after the Occupation, children received bigger and better Christmas gifts but usually only had one main present like Anita who fondly remembers Eddie Calvert’s Golden Trumpet and Denise Waller who was given a red & black tin gun which made a noise and sparks when the trigger was pressed. Mark Le Riche was delighted with a large plastic battleship - which he had not even asked for!
But what about those presents that just weren’t quite right? Phyllis Simon remembers praying for a doll’s pram and being bitterly disappointed when she only received a cradle, and vowed never to write to Father Christmas again!
Sean Power had an hand-knitted Aran jumper one year from his grand mother, which he hated, but when it was washed it stretched so much and the arms were long enough to fit a Lowland Gorilla - so he never had to wear it again! Sarah Ferguson recalls the year she opened her stocking at 4am to find a set of rubber moulds and some Plaster of Paris with which she made a great deal of mess before her family got up at 7.30!
Times may have changed and presents are far more lavish, but it is still the love shown by the giver that counts, as Doreen Chapman recalls, when they had very little money, her husband would still manage to put enough by to get her a special Christmas gift.