At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 36,000 film and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including film and tapes of local TV and radio.
This film is part of Free
Family Christmas Home Movie
It's an austerity Christmas from 1948 with a scary looking Santa Claus dishing out the presents and the kisses.
From the collection of:
Overview
This film from 1948 features Christmas at the height of austerity in post-war Britain. We see families arriving and expectant children gathered round a Christmas Tree, where Santa Claus, wearing a rather spooky-looking mask, dishes out presents and kisses. Soon it's bed-time and the children are seen asleep with books, dolls and Teddy Bears on their pillows. Meanwhile the men are playing cards downstairs while Mother locks up the house. The long Christmas Day closes.