Can anyone remember going round christmas caroling?a few of us used to get our tins with a slit in the top to put our sixpences in.we would sing our carols then knock on the door,sometimes they would invite us in for a mince pie and a drink and give us our sixpence on the way out.It was an honest way to get a bit of pocket money.we used to nearly freeze to death but i still hold those memories dear.Some of us used to paint our faces black so we could poke their fire for good luck.:partyhat:

Which what, christmas?! Did I fall asleep again and miss most of the year?!

probably before your time

I love the idea of Christmas caroling, but unfortunately we only tend to get the odd couple of kids singing a very off-key version of 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.

I remember there used to be carol singing events in Sheffield town centre; I think it used to be when the lights were switched on. I remember they used to pass around song sheets, so everyone could sing along! This wasn't too long ago either; probably late 70s.

And I have a vague recollection of going door to door with some friends with our recorders, playing Christmas carols. We were probably given 10p or so to stop playing! I do so love the sound of recorders played by seven year olds...

I used to go round with the church choir - we would visit the elderly & housebound. We had proper lanterns on poles & everything! Then back to the vicarage for tea & mincers. mmmmm

Oh - just remembered, the thing that used to make me feel really Christmassy was when the Salvation Army band used to come round our estate - wish they still did that.

know it's been trying to snow but a thread on Christmas???? I'm looking forward to my holiday not back to Christmas.
Stil...whatever floats your boat as they say:loopy:

hi She She .We are talking about our Memories of Chritmas carols,Some of our old memories we think of often,not just at Christmas time,I have been away from the uk for a long time and just found the forum and find myself re living a lot of old memories so go off and enjoy your holidays,remember your good times as we never had a holday when we were kids.:rant:

Thanks to all of those that answered sensibly,you obviously remember

Can anyone remember going round christmas caroling?a few of us used to get our tins with a slit in the top to put our sixpences in.we would sing our carols then knock on the door,sometimes they would invite us in for a mince pie and a drink and give us our sixpence on the way out.It was an honest way to get a bit of pocket money.we used to nearly freeze to death but i still hold those memories dear.Some of us used to paint our faces black so we could poke their fire for good luck.:partyhat:
Yes, I've got some very fond memories of this too and we have actually had some good Christmas carolers in the last couple of years. Won't be long now before they're coming around for this xmas now!:partyhat:

I reckon we should have a Sheffield Forum carol singing choir.


ALL IN FAVOUR SHOUT AYE


What do you think bananapie?

Thanks to all of those that answered sensibly,you obviously remember
I remember and nice memories they are too. Never mind these silly people who can't reply without being stupid. I remember the Salvation Army the same as Sultana, (I'm sure we must be from the same era, what do you think?).

I reckon we should have a Sheffield Forum carol singing choir.


ALL IN FAVOUR SHOUT AYE


What do you think bananapie?

Sorry

Just a little bit of humour not intended to offend. I loved going carol singing and did so until about 6 years ago. I used to take a few kids from our estate including my own kids, and went from house to house. We stopped going when people were reluctant to open their doors, which is quite understandable nowadays. I apologise again. :)

I reckon we should have a Sheffield Forum carol singing choir.


ALL IN FAVOUR SHOUT AYE


What do you think bananapie?

:partyhat: :partyhat: AYE!! Great idea!!

Come on folks, get practising "Jingle bells, jingle bells..."

It's an enterprising way for kids to earn money. Infact from Halloween onwards my little business used to start:

Trick or treat - I was one of the earliest to catch onto this as making a packet. Do it for at least a week to really annoy everyone.

Straight into Penny for the guy (the most blatant disregard of the trades description act I've ever seen - you wanted at least ten pence)

Straight into dark nights then so didn't mind offering myself up for more babysitting.

Carolling for the majority of December.

I was always loaded by Christmas! *And have annoyed the majority of my estate severely!


Then I had Christmas, quickly followed by my birthday so it was only the Summer months when I had to turn to washing cars to make a living!

Oh - just remembered, the thing that used to make me feel really Christmassy was when the Salvation Army band used to come round our estate - wish they still did that.
Christmas to me means The Salvation Army Band,sultana.I normally hate it, but this band always lifts my spirits.

A couple or three years ago we went to the Black Bull at Ecclesfield, a few pints and carolling at the same time :)

Once went carolling in Dortmund, Germany with some tipsy mates. Made a small fortune and got even 'tipsier' at the expense of the locals. Sympathy I think!! For some reason we ended up in a church at about midnight and all fell asleep on the back pews. They woke us when the service was over and we went carolling again. Nobody turned us away, and nobody failed to hand over money. Were we that threatening?:suspect:

As kids , in the '50's , we used to go carol singing round the Ecclesall Road area , starting about a week before Xmas .
When we reached our early teens however , I'm afraid the Xmas spirit took a bit of a back seat in the proceedings . We found that if we could get a couple of girls to go with us , the whole adventure used to turn into a good excuse for a bit of hanky-panky .
Those big gardens on Victoria Road and Collegiate Crescent were ideal for a bit of Winter romance , when you were 14 or 15 .Silent nights indeed !

In the 70s and 80s we used to carol sing for charity round the pubs in Crookes and Broomhill. Start off in the Notty for a quick practice then catch the bus to the Top Shop in Crookes. Needless to say we would need a drink in each of the pubs as we worked our way back down to the Notty.

In later years we were joined by members of The Oughtibridge Silver Band which swelled our numbers to about 20. On more than one occasion we would get split up with the collectors in one pub, the singers in another and the band in a third.

late 40s early 50s used to stand outside hillfoot club with our tins had to go to evry house in our street after 12 to let in new year I had dark hair whiich was considered to be lucky happy days before all this ooming right crap

That brought back memories! cold feet and hands but what a joy it was. I too have been in Australia many years now and couldn't imagine carolling here - far too hot at christmas time!

Me and a couple of mates used to go out carolling a few days before Christmas during the late forties- early fifties. We'd probably be doing it from being about ten years old to about the age of thirteen-fourteen. I remember setting off about 7 pm on bitterly cold nights, we'd cover all our area over those few days(Highfields, Bramall Lane, Edmund Road etc.). We used to really enjoy it, full of anticipation of Christmas day and also making a bit of spending money! We always made sure that we got back to Charlies (the Harwood House pub) on Hill Street for closing time-ten o' clock in those far off days. We'd make more money in those ten minutes as Dads and neighbours, who'd a few pints, came rolling out.
There was never a fear of us coming to any harm, although we were out for two or three hours in cold , gas lit streets. I look back on those Christmasses with great pleasure. Very happy days indeed!

Yes a gang of used to go and one old couple gave us £5 which was a lot of money in those days - in fact it was than I got a week when I started work in 1966 - and they invited us all in and gave us sweets and mince pies. It couldn't happen today could it? What a sad time we live in in some respects. My childhood was a happy time. I remember my parents used to tell me that I would have to be asleep by midnight as if I heard santas sleigh bells I wouldn't get any presents. I was gutted when I realised the bell was the pikelet man:D:D:hihi::hihi::hihi:

...Nobody turned us away, and nobody failed to hand over money. Were we that threatening?:suspect:I don't think that my brother and me looked threatening; it was what we sounded like... Anyone who heard our rendering of Good King Wenceslas would pay us to go away..:hihi:

Can anyone remember going round christmas caroling?a few of us used to get our tins with a slit in the top to put our sixpences in.we would sing our carols then knock on the door,sometimes they would invite us in for a mince pie and a drink and give us our sixpence on the way out.It was an honest way to get a bit of pocket money.we used to nearly freeze to death but i still hold those memories dear.Some of us used to paint our faces black so we could poke their fire for good luck.:partyhat:

Glen I think you are confusing caroling with Happy New Yearing.We used to go caroling singing carols at peoples doors before christmas and we had to sing the carol all the way through,and we wish you a Merry Christmas.
Then New Years Eve we would go mummering with our faces blacked and carried a lump of coal,and the darkest one amongst us would always be asked to poke the fire and we would sing Happy New Year,Happy New Year,Plenty of money and a cellar full of beer and we would always be given something to eat and perhaps a very small drop of Sherry.
We would wander all over the neighbourhood doing this we could in those days.Sometimes they would shout at us come back later your too early and when the pubs chucked out the men used to throw handsfull of copper at us.
When we had done we would go home frozen to the bone no long trousers thermals and padded jackets for us.However did we survive?

Why don't we all get together on New Year's Eve with our faces blacked (nellie - was that you I saw with a lump of coal down t' Rudyard in 1959?) Then as nosy nellie wrote, it might be:

Happy New Year, Happy New Year
Plenty of money and a cellar full of beer
Horse and a gig and a good fat pig
To last you all next year.

..or, more tunefully...

♫ O here we come a wassailing ♪ among the leaves so green ♪
O here we come a wassailing, so fair to be seen ♫
♪ ♫ Love and joy come to you,♫.and to you your wassail too ♪
May God bless you ♪ and send you a Happy New Year ♪ ♫
May God send you a Happy New Year ♫

I mentioned Carol singing tonight whilst out trick or treating with my kids, seems odd that we never went trick or treating but always went Carol singing and took the guy around to the neighbours to show them and they would give us a bit of money which we used to buy fireworks.
If we'd gone round on Halloween they'd have looked at us gone out :hihi: We always went out on mischevious night as well, knockedon a few doors and ran off that's all, but we felt mischevious.
Seem's like everything, and everyones attitudes have changed over the years as to what's acceptable and what's not hey ?

Why don't we all get together on New Year's Eve with our faces blacked (nellie - was that you I saw with a lump of coal down t' Rudyard in 1959?) Then as nosy nellie wrote, it might be:

Happy New Year, Happy New Year
Plenty of money and a cellar full of beer
Horse and a gig and a good fat pig
To last you all next year.

..or, more tunefully...

♫ O here we come a wassailing ♪ among the leaves so green ♪
O here we come a wassailing, so fair to be seen ♫
♪ ♫ Love and joy come to you,♫.and to you your wassail too ♪
May God bless you ♪ and send you a Happy New Year ♪ ♫
May God send you a Happy New Year ♫

Right Hillsbro I will be ready.
Hole in me stocking Hole in me shoe.
Please can you spare me a copper or two,
If you aint got a copper silver will do,
If you aint got silver God bless you.

I remember circa 1980 going out with a group of local punks and singing the most raucous out of tune Christmas carols we could manage. If my memory serves me well the old folks liked it more than the middle-class younger people in the area.

Right Hillsbro I will be ready.
Hole in me stocking Hole in me shoe.
Please can you spare me a copper or two,
If you aint got a copper silver will do,
If you aint got silver God bless you....or otherwise,

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat,
Please put a penny in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'.penny will do;
If you haven't got a ha'.penny, God bless you!

...or otherwise,

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat,
Please put a penny in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'.penny will do;
If you haven't got a ha'.penny, God bless you!

Happy new year, happy new year,
Plenty of money and a cellar full of beer,
A horse and a gig,
And a big fat pig,
To see you through next year.

(sorry, I didn't see post 27)

Yes a gang of used to go and one old couple gave us £5 which was a lot of money in those days - in fact it was than I got a week when I started work in 1966 - and they invited us all in and gave us sweets and mince pies. It couldn't happen today could it? What a sad time we live in in some respects. My childhood was a happy time. I remember my parents used to tell me that I would have to be asleep by midnight as if I heard santas sleigh bells I wouldn't get any presents. I was gutted when I realised the bell was the pikelet man:D:D:hihi::hihi::hihi:

I remember when I was a girl Uncle Paddy won some money (you'd be a baby) and he bought us some pretty flannelette nightgowns. Christmas Eve me and our Christine decided to sleep with our arms out of bed then Santa would see our new nightgowns when he came :hihi:

Happy new year, happy new year,
Plenty of money and a cellar full of beer,
A horse and a gig,
And a big fat pig,
To see you through next year.

(sorry, I didn't see post 27)

Yes and he's even got music notes :cool:
I haven't :(

Loved carolling in the 50s i was in a church choir and did the rounds of the local churches but 3 of us would then go round the estate and yes we had to sing carols all the way through we were taken into the front rooms to sing it was great what with that and christmas tips on my paper rounds for that week i earned more than my Dad.
Now the only thing i hear is we wish you a merry christmas which gets them nothing.

I don't think we can call it Christmas any with regard to our far east brother's,and if I'm going to take notice of that load of bull

Its not our far eastern brothers,its the ones at home who not being qualified for a job invented PC and HSafety and set themselves up as experts,i hope all their christmases !!!!!!!! so if you dont get carol singers blame them because its to dangerous or not PC,jeez i hate them,rant over.