A Christmas in the 1920 s

(Here is an extract from Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, which de-scribes a Christmas in the 1920 s.)

Adam and Nina Littlejohn are spending Christmas with her father, the Colonel. Mr and Mrs Florin and Ada work in the Colonel's house.

Next morning Adam and Nina woke up under Ada's sprig of mistle-toe to hear the bells ringing for Christmas across the snow. "Come all to church, good people; good people come to church." They had each hung up a stocking the evening before, and Adam had put a bottle of scent and a scent spray into Nina's, and she had put two ties and a new kind of safe-ty-razor into his. Ada brought them their tea and wished them a happy Christmas. Nina had remembered to get a present for each of the Florins, but had forgotten Ada, so she gave her the bottle of scent. "Darling," said Adam, "it cost 25 shillings." After luncheon they went down to see all the decorations in the servants' hall.

This was a yearly custom of some antiquity, and the Florins had pre-pared for it by hanging paper streamers from the gas brackets. Ada was having middle day dinner with her parents who lived among the petrol pumps at Doubting village, so the Florins ate their turkey and plum pud-ding alone. The Colonel knocked on the door and said, "May we come in?" "That you may, sir, and welcome," said Mrs Florin. Then Adam and Nina and the Colonel admired the decorations and handed over their pre-sents wrapped in tissue paper. Then the Colonel said, "I think we should have a glass of wine together."...

... Later, Nina came in to say that there were carol singers outside the drawing-room window. "Bring them in," said the Colonel. "Bring them in. They come every year. And tell Florin to bring up the punch." Florin

brought up the punch in a huge punch bowl and Nina brought in the waits. They stood against the sideboard, caps in hand, blinking in the gas-light, and very red about the nose and cheeks with the sudden warmth.

"Oh, tidings of comfort and joy," they sang, "comfort and joy, Oh, tidings of comfort and joy."

They sang "Good King Wenceslas", and "The First Noel", and "Adeste Fideles", and "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks". Then Florin ladled out the punch...

The Colonel tasted the punch and pronounced it excellent. He then asked the carol singers their names and where they came from and finally gave their leader five shillings and sent them off into the snow.

"It's been like this every year, as long as I remember," said the Colo-

nel.

(from Англия, No. 69, 1979)

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