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A CHRISTMAS PARTY

MetadataFramesRelated records
Metadata

WORK ID: NEFA 21593 (Master Record)

TitleYearDate
A CHRISTMAS PARTYc.1951 1948-01-01
Details Original Format: 9.5mm
Colour: Black & White
Sound: Silent
Duration: 4 mins 13 secs
Credits: Indivduals: Victor Sidney Carman
Genre: Home Movie

Subject: Family Life



Summary
A home movie made by Victor Sidney Carman of a Christmas party taking place inside a prefab house in Wallsend in around 1951. The film begins with a woman laying out a Christmas goose on the table. The family are also seen eating both the main course as well as cakes and sandwiches with tea. A group of children are seen dancing and playing together ...
Description
A home movie made by Victor Sidney Carman of a Christmas party taking place inside a prefab house in Wallsend in around 1951. The film begins with a woman laying out a Christmas goose on the table. The family are also seen eating both the main course as well as cakes and sandwiches with tea. A group of children are seen dancing and playing together in a room. Back around the table they all eat again. The film ends with a man waltzing around a room with a girl. Placed in front of a Christmas...
A home movie made by Victor Sidney Carman of a Christmas party taking place inside a prefab house in Wallsend in around 1951. The film begins with a woman laying out a Christmas goose on the table. The family are also seen eating both the main course as well as cakes and sandwiches with tea. A group of children are seen dancing and playing together in a room. Back around the table they all eat again. The film ends with a man waltzing around a room with a girl. Placed in front of a Christmas tree beside a bottle of Stones Ginger Wine and a number of crackers is the title card. Title: A Christmas Party Into a dining room walks a woman in a stripy top carrying a large cooked goose on a tray. General views around the table show the family eating their Christmas dinner. Down the centre of the table are a number of bottles. Some of the family are wearing paper hats, an older man is wearing a fake nose. Standing over the table the woman carefully unwraps three Christmas puddings. She pours liquor over them and attempts to light it. On both sides of her sit two small girls who aren’t watching her. General views around the table show Christmas cake, mince pies, Swiss roll and jam tarts as well as bread and sandwiches. The children eat enthusiastically while the adults drink tea from cups and saucers. In another room the children dance in pairs. The film changes to show them sitting around the edges. They are then seen playing together watched over by the older children. A little girl holds a large doll. On the sideboard in the dining room is a Christmas tree. The film cuts back to the dining table and more views of the family eating and drinking tea, starting with the children and moving onto the adults. Christmas lights decorate the tree. The film cuts to a little girl holding a teddy bear almost as big as her. Behind her stands a man in a tank-top and wearing a paper hat who bounces her on his knee. Another man dances with an older girl. They waltz around the small room. The film ends with a man kissing the little girl on the cheek. Title: Best wishes from Movie Magazine Title: Merry Christmas and a Good New Year On an easel sits a photograph of a woman holding a young child. Title: Movie Magazine. The End
Context
Baby boomers celebrate Christmas with a party at a prefab in post-war Newcastle upon Tyne. This touching and chaotic home movie records a cheerfully indulgent Christmas dinner with the Bartholomews at a post-war prefab in Wallsend. Leaving the gloom and “unspeakably dismal meals” of austerity Britain behind, this family’s table displays a glut of goose and festive goodies. After food, in the family-centred 1950s, the filmmaker’s focus is on the children and their spirited games and dancing...
Baby boomers celebrate Christmas with a party at a prefab in post-war Newcastle upon Tyne.

This touching and chaotic home movie records a cheerfully indulgent Christmas dinner with the Bartholomews at a post-war prefab in Wallsend. Leaving the gloom and “unspeakably dismal meals” of austerity Britain behind, this family’s table displays a glut of goose and festive goodies. After food, in the family-centred 1950s, the filmmaker’s focus is on the children and their spirited games and dancing to vinyl 78s.

This amateur film was shot by Victor Sidney Carman, who lived in Wallsend and Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne. The work features his sister’s family Christmas with many generations around the table. The words quoted here on British food during the austerity years are those of cookery writer Elizabeth David, whose wartime experience in Italy, Greece and Egypt didn’t prepare her for the food back home. However, the standard of living actually improved for working class families during rationing and diets were more nutritional.

This film is available to be licensed for non-commercial creative reuse.  For more information please contact NEFA@tees.ac.uk
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