WHO remembers social club Christmas parties?
This lovely photograph shows Bradford youngsters enjoying a post-war Christmas celebration.
Vincent Finn, a regular contributor to our nostalgia pages, is one of the children in the picture, taken at East Ward Labour Club's Christmas party in the late 1940s.
“Back then the club was on Free Street in Barkerend,” says Vincent, who grew up in the area. “The number of children in the picture gives some indication as to how large the club membership was at that time.
"I am in the photo somewhere, with my brother Peter. Everybody has their coats and hats on - there wasn't a lot of heat in the concert room at that time. There are a couple of young girls with a pixie hood on - you don't see those any more! It was the biggest function of the Christmas season for the Otley Road kids of the day."
Vincent says this picture was taken in 1947 or 1949. “If I remember correctly, a member could bring as many children as they had along to the party,” he recalls. “There was entertainment like a Punch and Judy show, a sing-along, a film projector showing a children’s film - and of course the arrival of Santa Claus. Toys were scarce back then as it was post-war austerity but we had sandwiches and a glass of pop.”
Adds Vincent: "When this was taken the club was on Free Street, just off Otley road. That area was to become a victim to the clearance schemes of the 1970s, and the new club was built."
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