Last Christmas I wrote this post which mentioned how my mum still had one of the chocolates from 1959 in her box of decorations - and if you read Kathy's comment, she found this very difficult to believe (anyone who knows my mum will not find it so hard to believe!). So I was determined to get it to show you it really does exist. But to do this has been a very delicate operation, because if she thought I was making fun of her, I would be immediately struck from "the will". However, with some very gentle persuasion, as you can see I am now the proud owner of possibly the oldest chocolate tree decoration in the world.
I was thinking today about the Christmas when mum was unable to cook the Christmas lunch. We loved mums roast dinners, and her stuffing was legendary. Mum and dad had never gone out on Christmas Eve before, but it was the year that dad had been made redundant from the Coal Board and he was working for a builder who lived just around the corner. The builder and his wife invited mum and dad round for drinks. I don't think mum really wanted to go, but as I was about 16 years old, I was deemed old enough to look after my brother and sister - off they went. Unfortunately, they sat mum next to the whisky decanter and she came home a little worse for wear.
That year, Santa put all the presents in the wrong sacks!
We children were utterly disgusted and adamant that she wasn't going to spoil the day, so we all piled into mum and dads bed as usual on Christmas morning to open our gifts - she got greener and greener as the smell of chocolate from the selection boxes wafted through the air.
She couldn't get out of bed, and it dawned on us that we would have to make the dinner. I think what finished her off was when my sister went upstairs with the basin full of stuffing ingredients and thrust it under her nose to see if it looked OK!
We all sat downstairs eating our lunch, whilst a disgraced woman lay in bed trying to force down two digestive biscuits and a glass of water. She never went out on Christmas Eve again.
31 comments:
I wonder if that is the eldest choc decoration - it's amazing that its lasted.
Love the story about your mum
viv
xxx
Oh wow the choc tree decoration is amazing, ours rarely last until christmas day!!
And oh your poor Mum with all you kids bouncing on her bed!!
Em xxxx
I think your mum might forgive you for showing the choc umbrella - but I wouldn't hold out too much hope for your inheritance now you've told us all of her hungover Christmas Day!!! I remember those choc umbrellas!
What a funny story about your mum. I feel so sorry for her missing out on Xmas Day with her family due to the evil booze.
xx
What a lush lol! Perhaps you should check with the guinness book of records, that decoration could be your road to fortune he he. x
ohhhh wow such a wonderful vintage choc' decoration ;0) amazingly sweet its lasted x
i do believe you as i have a kind of similar story about a lovely friend ruby...she had shelf apon shelf of lovely ornaments, decorations and amongst them a 'speckled egg size pebble'...
on the bottom was written 1960 something....i asked her about it, by that time she was in her late 60's....'my late husband decided to cook scones...they went as hard as rocks'....she kept this scone forever more ;0)x
somethings really do last the test of time, even foods ;0)x
love the story of your mum, not to laugh at her but how sometimes things like christmas dont always go to plan...thanks for sharing really made me smile x
lovely blog x kazzy x
..wine gets better over time..not sure it's the same for chocolate, LOL!
xxxxx
I can't believe that chocolate tree ornament has lasted that long, they rarely last till Christmas day in our house. I can understand why your mum doesn't go out on Christmas Eve after that. I've only ever had one hangover like that and it taught me never to drink so much again.
What a great story. it is almost unbelievable to still have a chocolate decoration but I had a similar experience. We sent a chocolate Bilby (similar to a rabbit) to my mother in law in Switzerland back in the 80's it was wrapped in foil and coloured like the animal looks.Many years later when we visited her she still had the Bilby sitting on a shelf as an ornament. I don't think she knew it was made of chocolate.
I remember those umbrellas from the same era. I didn't eat chocolate in those days and we often saved them with the other decorations to use more than one year. My mam had a similar experience when I was about 8, though it was on Boxing Day and the tipple (so I learned years later) was Drambuie.
Isn't that JUST what Christmas is all about, all these funny family situations/stories? Loved this post, and roared with laughter about the chocolate umbrella. Thanks for remembering it.....
Wow, I wonder if your umbrella is a record breaker in the world of chocolate statistics? You never know. Your poor Mum! I had to laugh at the bit about the stuffing bowl! I hope she isn't at this moment at the solicitors changing her will!! ;)
Oh! diane I just had to smile at this story & I can see your Mum now,hope you pass on the chocolate umbrella on to your daugther, Merry christmas to you & all your followers.
Love the story of your Mum :-) I remember my Mum forgetting us at a party one year as she was drunk and we hid behind the sofa - she hadn't even realised she left without us until her friend shouted down the street asking if she had forgotten something :-)
That taught your Mum not to be so decadent!!! Naughty sister shoving the stuffing bowl under your Mum's nose! The chocolate decoration should be in a museum. I think my Mum had kept some tinned food in the cupboards for about 20 years! x
How has it never melted?? You must keep it in a cool place. Love the story of the Christmas Eve, shame your poor mother. Diane
What a story!
The only time I had to cook was when my Mum couldn't get up because of the flu. And there you had a 15 year old cooking a goose. Actually, it wasn't THAT bad! :-)
That's a great story - it's those kind of things that form your personal history. Like when my mum tipped a whole dish of bread sauce all over our brand new dining room carpet one Christmas dinner - much to my daughter's delight. My daughter still remembers it, though she was only quite small at the time.
Oh your poor Mum, whisky is the worst thing to get drunk on (my best friend when we were on holiday almost 50 years ago, she still can't stand the smell).
Fancy being able to resist a chocolate Christmas tree decoration, especially back in the 50's when we didn't get many "treats". My favourites were the pink and white mice with string tails.
Carol xx
hahaha what a funny story!!! As for the chocolate, blimey! I have to be careful with chocs and candy canes on the tree cos the dog pinches them and i find the wrappings in her bed!!! One year she actually got on the kitchen table and ate all the quality street that were in a bowl, soggy wrappers all over the kitchen !!!
I remember chocolate umbrellas like that ... whatever happened to them I wonder? I remember when I was really small being allowed to chose a chocolate off my aunty's tree .. I chose the star at the top. I saved it smugly when my brother and sister scoffed theirs, and I put it under my pillow ... yes, next morning there was melted chocolate all over the bed and all over me!
Your poor mum!
Love Kathy xxx
nice memory!
we too used to climb into mum and dad's bed on christmas morning!!!!
LOL what a funny story! Your poor Mum!
It was me who deleted that comment, oops! Anyway, I do love that tale about your mother, what a corker. I know you wouldn't, but I'd love to know how the chocolate decoration tastes now ..
x
Oh, this post is just great...on SO MANY levels! hahha Just too funny!
That choc must never be eaten!
Oh your poor mum having all those delicious smells wafting around and not being able to enjoy it all!
Lisa x
Oh your poor Mum, that experience would put me off Christmas dinner for a lot of years.
What a great tale!
I wonder if the chocolate is all white if unwrapped? you know like old easter eggs that get left!
love
Lyn
xxx
Brilliant post! I can remember those umbrella xmas decorations from my childhood. We never ate them and they did come out year after year!!! Thank you for the memory! xxx
LOL...I'm still laughing over this post. Your poor Mum. Ah well it was only once and I'm sure she felt terrible and not only from the booze! That's amazing that the chocolate ornament lasted that long...had I been her child I'm sure it would have been gone the first Christmas I had seen it. Enjoy your ornament and have a wonderful weekend!
Maura :) (ps...I just read your comment on my blog. Thanks for stopping by! I'm enjoying your blog too....I LOVE St Ives by the way (was there in 99) in fact I loved all of Cornwall and Devon that I saw. Hope to go back again one day.
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