Christmas on the Home Front

by Mike Brown

The outbreak of war in 1939 saw the disappearance of many traditional British celebrations. Guy Fawkes’ Night went immediately—gunpowder production was needed for the war effort and bonfires contravened the blackout. Summer holidays became a thing of the past and Easter all but disappeared as chocolate—and even real eggs—went "on the ration." In spite of this the nation remained determined to celebrate Christmas as a time of family and community; a time when war could be set aside, if only for a day. Drawing upon personal recollections, contemporary Mass Observation reports, newspaper articles, advertisements, and personal and archive photographs, Mike Brown looks at each wartime Christmas on the British Home Front, from 1939 to 1944.

Genres: Christmas

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2005

About the author

NOTE: There is more than one author with this name on Goodreads.
Mike^^Brown
This is the author of wartime histories of Britain.


The author of How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming Is here

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Brown looks at each wartime Christmas in Britain, from 1939 to 1945. He uses a selection of newspapers articles, adverts, antecdotes and first-hand accounts (and the like) to illustrate the hardships faced by Britons during this wartime period. Yet in true British fashion, people strove to enjoy the festive period (which was much shorter than it is now) and often came up with creative ideas for food and presents due to rationing.

I really enjoyed this book and a recommended read for anyone interested in this period of history.

[alleycats · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drawing upon personal recollections, contemporary Mass Observation reports, newspaper articles, advertisements, and personal and archive photographs, Mike Brown looks at each wartime Christmas on the British Home Front, from 1939-1944.

I enjoyed the journey of going through each year of the war and following the everyday existence of how it was. The craft and recipes, gifts of a bar of soap, a soft toy made from an unravelled sweater or the humble orange were highly prized and thought-provoking.

[David Pearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read which went through the war looking at the experience of Christmas amongst the civilian population. With a combination of anecdotes, advertisements, figures and social history nearly every page has an interesting insight. Well worth a read for any social historians in particular.

[Anne Zook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much interesting information with recipes and information on how christmas decorations, even Christmas trees, were devised. My family certainly has wartime Christmas pudding with mock marzipan in their future. Perhaps because the topic was so limited, each chapter was fleshed out with all the sporting news for Christmas Day each year, who played whom, where, how many attended, and who won. Quite a bore that, but easy to skip over.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative of the time, I enjoyed this book, very factual and helped me get a good background, very pleased!