This Christmas ‘hamper’ was a present from Bryony and Mark – note how the rather lovely bag even matches the carpet! It contained lots of exotic relishes, preserves, biscuits and sweets; all individually wrapped. I love the sensation of unwrapping each item and the surprise of seeing what it is. They seem almost too nice to open.
The last time we were sent a Christmas hamper was about five years ago - it was a gift from my late nephew Andrew and came from Fortnum and Mason in a super wicker basket.
When GB and I were children a hamper would arrive each year from our Dad’s brother, Frank, in Canada. (He was known as Big Frank to distinguish him from Dad’s sister’s son, Young Frank, who was only 6’ 2” tall!!!) Big Frank was in the Guards as a youngster
After leaving the Guards he joined the Liverpool police force and was PC66 or ‘clickety click’ to those on his beat.
Frank had emigrated to Canada in the 1930s after his first wife died and he became the Chief of Police, Stouffville, Ontario. So far as I know the only ’Mountie’ in the family though not the only policeman since Dad’s dad was also a Liverpool bobby.
The hamper from Frank and his second wife, Gladys, was especially welcome in the 1950s when food rationing here was only just ending and both luxury foods and the money with which to buy them were equally scarce in the Edwards household. The hamper not only contained all sorts of food goodies but also little gifts for Dad and Mum. I cannot recall if GB and I had gifts or not and the only specific one which comes to mind is a pair of cufflinks Dad got which I now have. I like cufflinks but nowadays not only do I rarely wear a shirt but, annoyingly, most modern shirts rarely have holes for cufflinks.
Almost all my long-sleeved shirts have double cuffs and take cufflinks 'though some only have single cuffs and have buttons and holes for cufflinks! The short-sleeved shirts (which, not surprisingly, are the one's I now wear most often) don't have provision for cuff-links!).
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