Bringing this one up to the present.
Always well worth a read at this time of the year.
The following “Christmas Don’ts” were published in the special 'Christmas Supplement' of ‘The Maitland Mercury’ newspaper ninety two years ago on Saturday, 19th December 1914.
This was to be the first ‘Christmas-tide’ of The Great War and for some of the Maitland and Hunter Valley First World War men, it was to be their last.
We hope you gain some enjoyment, entertainment and an insight into what Christmas was like ninety two years ago.
1. Don’t court indigestion.
2. Don’t grumble whatever you do.
3. Don’t half fill the kiddies’ stockings.
4. Don’t give presents which will be useless.
5. Don’t forget the mistletoe. Romance still lives.
6. Don’t forget the postman. Christmas is no joke for him.
7. Don’t, if you go to the pantomine, leave the wife at home.
8. Don’t scoff at the lingering superstitions of the good old days.
9. Don’t expect too many presents. Take what you get and be thankful.
10. Don’t try to be funny after dinner if you really can’t play the fool.
11. Don’t, if you get up on your wrong side, make everybody else miserable.
12. Don’t forget to treat the poor aunt and the rich uncle alike at least for one day.
13. Don’t forget to think at least once during the day what Christmas really means.
14. Don’t give a present unless you want to. Better not give at all than insincerely.
15. Don’t forget that the giving of Christmas boxes, like charity, should begin at home.
16. Don’t give Johnnie a trumpet and Peter a whistle and expect to have a quiet time. It’s unreasonable to think so.
17. Don’t post your cards and presents on Christmas Eve and expect them all to be
delivered next morning.
18. Don’t, even although you have not eaten enough, fill your pockets after dessert. It’s bad form in these particular days.
19. Don’t spend all your money on other people. Remember that present-giving, like
charity, should begin at home.
20. Don’t make presents which your friends will not know what to do with them, and
which would merely encumber the home.
21. Don’t visit your newly-married friends – unless they keep a servant. The first
Christmas pudding may be a deadly affair.
22. Don’t rush off to the pantomine or the club after having promised your wife to spend the evening with her at home.
23. Don’t be ill-natured today. Have a romp with the children, and forget all about
Christmas bills and similar worries.
24. Don’t give because others expect you to. Give because you love to. If you cannot
send your heart with the gift, keep the gift.
25. Don’t tackle your share of the plum pudding with a do-or-die expression. Your
hostess will not think you very complimentary.
26. Don’t put anyone under an obligation to you with your Christmas gifts. Select your presents carefully and give judiciously.
27. Don’t give your children more expensive presents than you can afford, simply
because the people across the way are well-to-do.
28. Don’t give too bulky articles to people who live in small quarters, unless you know that they need the particular things you send them.
29. Don’t go about boasting of the value and number of your Christmas presents. Many estimable persons, less favourable, will not like it.
30. Don’t wait until the last minute to buy your presents, and then, for lack of time to make proper selections, give what your better judgement condemns.
31. Don’t – if you are a young lady – stand under the mistletoe and pretend that you are quite unaware of the fact. Young men fight shy of such “artlessness.”
32. Don’t go about with a cynical smile on your face because you don’t like Christmas. A churlish heart is out of place, at any time, but a hundred times more so just now.
33. Don’t look bored if you are listening to your host’s silly jokes when you would much rather be at home – or elsewhere. That is one of the little penalties of being asked out.
34. Don’t forget to arrange with one of your friends to tell a few funny stories while you are carving the Turkey. If they are listening to him they will perhaps fail to notice your struggles.
35. Don’t buy a yellow fleshed Turkey. It is a sign of poor feeding. A fine Turkey should have firm, white flesh. Purchasers should also notice that redness and coarseness about the legs are the sign of an old bird.
36. Don’t be surprised if the postman smiles sweetly to you today; or if the ticket-
collector is more polite than usual; or if the porter shuts your carriage door gently – that’s a way they have at this time of the year.
37. Don’t yawn in Brown’s face when he asks you some silly conundrum. That’s only Brown’s little way, and if you laugh – well, it migh mean a jolly good Christmas present. There’s nothing like being tactful in these hard times.
38. Don’t decide to obstain from giving just because you cannot afford expensive
presents. The thoroughness of your gifts, the interest you take in those to whom you give, are the principal things. The intrinsic value of your gifts counts very little.
39. Don’t give things because they are cheap and make a big show for the money. As a rule it is a dangerous thing to pick up a lot of all sorts of things at bargain sales for Christmas presents. If you do, there is always the temptation to make inappropriate gifts. Besides, there is usually some defect in bargain articles, or they are out of style, out of date, or there is some other reason why they are sold under price.
From all of the team here at Hunter Valley Military History, have a very happy and peaceful Christmas-tide and a prosperous New Year in 2007.
Merry Christmas!
