IN a world of plenty it’s hard to imagine some of the more austere times when Christmas and the appearance of Santa was a lot less demanding all round.

It is no exaggeration that the parents of most of the children pictured here, were born in the 1940s and 1950s, when rationing of even basic commodities including milk, butter and cheese, was part of the national post Second World War psyche.

It was more a time of want and not need, as opposed to today’s shopping fest, which would definitely give Santa a bad back after lugging all of those gifts down the town’s chimneys. Waking up early on a Christmas morning was punctuated with squeals of delight as children opened their gifts, which would range in the 1970s from an Evel Knieval stunt cycle, a skateboard, Weebles, Pet Rock, Speak and Spell and early Star Wars toys.

Even then, tradition died hard and it was inevitable that youngsters would still get a stocking containing fruits and nuts, an orange, and apple and other little novelty games.

For those of us who lived through it, it was a magical time, not just because we were young but because the joys of Christmas and a sense of giving, were only ever interrupted by getting the occasional electric shock from the dodgy coloured lights hanging from the Christmas tree!