CHRISTMAS 1967, and an elderly lady at the Red Cross welfare centre party at Glasgow’s Cowglen Hospital, is excitedly looking forward to meeting the U.S. president, Lyndon Baines Johnson. There has, alas, been a slight misunderstanding. The President Johnson who arrives is in fact Mrs Douglas Johnston, president of the Glasgow branch of the Red Cross. But the elderly lady is pleased to meet her, and later describes it as a “very proud moment”.
Across the city, Rangers striker Alex Ferguson is guest of honour at a children’s festive party at the ABC cinema in Riddrie. With Santa looking on, he presents (right) a Christmas cake to Sister Addie and Nurse Dempsey, of the Waverley Park Homes, Kirkintilloch.
The files of the Herald and the Evening Times from Christmasses past have untold numbers of accounts of festive parties for young and old. The main image here was taken in December 1956, and shows Santa giving presents to children at the Denmark Street child welfare clinic in Glasgow. That same afternoon, December 19, children at the Salvation Army orphanage in Pollokshields were being entertained by the C.O., officers and airmen of the No.1 Ground Radio Servicing Squadron, RAF Bishopbriggs, who between them had collected £34 for the party. Six babies each received 15 shillings, and older children were given toys. Christmas stockings, chocolate, fruit and crackers added to the cheerful atmosphere.
Boxer Dick McTaggart, Scotland’s Olympic gold medallist in Melbourne, was visiting children in Dundee Royal Infirmary, and took with him the Val Barker trophy, which he had won for being the most stylish boxer in all weight divisions at the Games.
The Evening Times of that week teems with Christmas advertisements from shops and stores: toys, ocelot lamb coats, jewellery, Singer sewing machines, Christmas puddings, wines and spirits, dressing gowns, twinsets, television sets. There was a last-minute rush to post Christmas letters and cards; all told, Glaswegians sent 13.3 million such items over the festive period, creating an all-time postal record for the city.
On Christmas Eve, Glasgow dockers held a party for 2,000 youngsters in the Gaumont cinema, in Ibrox. At night, there was a carnival at the Berkeley Ballroom; Frank Weir and his Terrific Orchestra were playing the Playhouse Ballroom, and there was an Old Tyme Dance at the Astoria Ballroom.
Christmas Day itself saw light traffic on the streets as families headed to pantos, the theatre, the cinema, or the Kelvin Hall carnival and circus. The stay-at-homes listened to the radio (Scottish, Light, Third or Luxembourg) or watched the telly before it closed down with the news at 11.15pm. It wasn’t a white Christmas, though; the city hadn’t seen such a thing since 1938.
Read more: Herald Diary
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