Christmas normally brings along a little sparkle but there’s an extra touch of poignancy this year.
This will be the first festive season following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, making it only the second year since 1952 that the nation won’t hear her broadcast on 25 December.
As her son, King Charles III, prepares for his first Christmas message, it will be made to a world very different from when his mother ascended to the throne. BBC Bitesize takes a look at what was making the headlines back in December 1952. How does it compare to our lives in 2022?
Here is the news…
The Times newspaper of Christmas Eve 1952 reported flooding in the Bordeaux area of France, which saw more than 100 homes evacuated. It came at around the same time that the French president, Vincent Auriol, accepted the resignation of his Prime Minister, Antoine Pinay, over issues surrounding the majority parties in the government.
In the United Kingdom, it was reported that November 1952 saw the greatest rise in wages since the same month in 1951. There was an uplift of £986,000 in the collective weekly full-time wages of just over 2.9m workers, down to rises for engineers, shipbuilders and railway workers coming into effect in November. Figures also showed that the number of passengers using North Atlantic shipping had been the highest in 20 years.
1952 and 2022 have another thing in common as years leading up to a coronation. St Edward’s Crown, the headpiece worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her 1953 crowning, has been taken from the Tower of London to be re-sized for King Charles ahead of his coronation on 6 May 2023.
Anything good on the telly?
BBC Television was the only channel in the UK during Christmas 1952 (ITV launched in 1955, BBC Two in 1964), broadcasting solely in black and white. The Radio Times listings for 25 December show the day’s programmes beginning at 11am with a Christmas Day service from the Church of St Dunstan and All Saints in London’s Stepney. There was a break until the Laurel and Hardy film Swiss Miss, then two shows for children, including the popular characters Andy Pandy and Bill and Ben - The Flowerpot Men.
Later, many well-known faces appeared on a celebration called Television’s Second Christmas Party. Petula Clark, one of the stars featured, is still performing today, and is due to appear on BBC Television this Christmas, celebrating the life and career of the composer Stephen Sondheim.
A musical comedy, 1066 and All That, was the final treat of the day before the news and weather brought programmes to a close. The Queen’s Christmas broadcast was heard only on the radio in 1952, it would not be shown on TV until 1957.
Today, viewers can access hundreds of channels in full colour and high-definition. There’s still news, weather and children’s programmes in today’s Christmas schedules, even 70 years on.
Top of the festive charts
The race to be Christmas Number One wasn’t really a thing in 1952.
That was because Queen Elizabeth II’s first Christmas as monarch more-or-less coincided with the launch of the official music chart by the New Musical Express (NME) newspaper. Also, the song that was number one when the rundown began in November was still there come Christmas Day.
That track was Here in My Heart, performed by Al Martino, which spent nine weeks at the top. It was the only number one single of 1952, but the popular singer Vera Lynn managed to have three different singles in the Top 10 before the year was out. One of those hits, Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart, had already spent nine weeks at number one in the USA earlier in the year.
Seventy years on and the Christmas number one is a much bigger deal. From 2018 to 2021, the summit of the festive chart has been dominated by the YouTube stars LadBaby. If they repeat the same trick in 2022, it will be an unprecedented fifth consecutive Christmas number one by the same act.
Record buyers in 1952 would perhaps see the charts today as something out of a science fiction film. People can call up a song on a phone carried in their pockets, rather than hoping the most popular discs hadn’t sold out at their local record store.
Turkey first, football later
One big difference in the sporting calendar of 1952 was football matches being played on Christmas Day itself. The first 25 December of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign saw Tottenham Hotspur wallop Middlesbrough 7-1 in the English First Division, a day which also notched up Burnley’s 2-0 victory over Liverpool, eventual league champions Arsenal beating Bolton 6-4 and a goalless draw between Blackpool and Manchester United. In Scotland’s Division A, there was a single fixture, where Third Lanark beat Partick Thistle 3-1.
Scotland hasn’t had any Christmas Day football fixtures since 1976, England since 1965. There is still the Steels of Sons cup final in Northern Ireland on 25 December each year - unless Christmas Day falls on a Sunday.
When King Charles III marks his first Christmas, there won’t be any football fixtures until Boxing Day, but it will also be notable for following the first ever winter World Cup. Both Wales and England qualified for the tournament, making it the first time since 1998 that two of the UK home nations participated in the event. For Wales, it was their first appearance since 1958. Scotland last qualified for the finals in 1998 and Northern Ireland in 1986.
This article was published in December 2022
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