From a Distance

Christmas in the early 1950s - when less was more Typical display of Christmas goods at Woolworth in the 1950s Once on a clear, sharp night in early December, our mum Betty Richards made a telephone call in the draughty hall while we eavesdropped, “What did you say?” she asked   “He’s flying past tonight?   Thank you for telling me. I’ll be sure to let the children know. Goodbye” She called us and announced,             “I’ve just heard that Father Christmas is flying past tonight on his way back to the North Pole and he needs to know what presents you’d like.”   Innocent, and flushed with joy we raced upstairs to a back bedroom and clambered on top of a built-in unit to fling open the casement windows which still had nursery bars across them. Bitingly cold air rushed in. Above Southdean Drive, the band of the Milky Way arched across the sky and the piercingly bright stars shimmered. Secure in the certain knowledge that he was flying overhead, In turn we calle