Christmasses past in Castlebar
SEEING as it's Christmas, I decided to reminisce on Christmasses past in the county town, writes Tom Gillespie.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, when Santa Claus came to our house at Marian Row, we were thankful for simple gifts. In the weeks leading up to December 25, there were several what would be described today as 'pop-up’ toy shops - retail premised who for 49 weeks of the year sold bicycles, newspapers, books and stationary. But for the few weeks leading up to Christmas, sections of some of these shops were bedecked with a fascinating array of colourful toys.
Top of the list were both the Wynnes’ premises on Main Street - Gussie beside the AIB and Richard next to the Humbert Inn archway. Here, the upstairs rooms were packed full with all kinds and makes of seasonal toys. Younger children had to be accompanied by a parent in order to be let ascend the stairway to toy heaven.
In the case of Gussie Wynne’s, it was a very narrow stairway to the first floor while in Richard’s it was a more assessable route, and yet only so many were allowed in at the one time. Certainly, with today’s health and safety regulations, Christmas in Wynne’s would have been cancelled.
Willie ‘Bussard’ Munnelly had a bicycle shop where Kilkelly Travel is now situated at Market Square. Next door, which later became Val Donegan’s fish and vegetable shop, Willie opened a seasonal toy shop. Being on the ground floor, it was more assessable to passers-by and attracted large crowds.
As youngsters, we would visit these three shops nearly daily. Once they got to know who you were in Wynne’s, staff would allowed us visit the toy shop unaccompanied. This presented a terrible dilemma for us as daily we changed our minds as to what we wanted Santa to bring on Christmas Eve. The choice was simply toys - no iPads, Gameboys, PlayStations or the like.
We got one main present and this was supplemented by a Christmas stocking - not the shop-made type but one put together by our parents. For weeks we kept a lookout for my father’s largest pair of fishing socks. Once secured, they were packed with rolled-up newspapers to make them stretch so they could accommodate more.
On Christmas Eve we carefully hung the stockings near the fireplace in our sitting room.
A selection box (of sweets and chocolate bars) was usually one of the many fillers. Fruit was not so readily available then so oranges and apples were always included. Dinky cars, marbles, colouring books, a catapult, and caps (if the main present was a cowboy or cowgirl outfit with six-guns) were also regulars in the stocking. For those not familiar with caps, a cap gun, pistol or rifle was a toy gun that created a loud sound simulating a gunshot and a puff of smoke when a small percussing cap was exploded.
The Dandy, Topper and Beano comic annuals were always welcome every year.
The earliest Christmas Day I can recall was when we resided in Spencer Street, before moving to Marian Row, when I was five. It must have been when I was four that I got a big red tin truck. Today it would be considered highly dangerous.
During my Santa years I got many delightful presents - some expected, while others came as a surprise. But my all-time greatest were the many Meccano sets (as pictured here) which I got over several years, one complementing the other, provided you did not lose too many pieces during the previous year. Meccano is a model construction system created in Liverpool by Frank Hornby. The ideas for Meccano were first conceived by Hornby in 1898 and he developed and patented the construction kit as Mechanics Made Easy in 1901. The name was later changed to Meccano and were manufactured by the British company, Meccano Ltd., between 1908 and 1980. It is now manufactured in France and China by Meccano S.N. of France, part of the Canadian Spin Master toy company.
Meccano consisted of reusable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears, and high quality plastic parts that were connected together using nuts, bolts and set screws. It enabled the building of working models and mechanical devices.
Although Meccano has always been seen as an engaging education toy, today the brand focuses on promoting engineering and robotics through fun play to support STEM learning.
But back then it gave hours of pleasure - in a TV-free zone - as you constructed all types of models. It was important to get a container with a lid to hold the nuts, bolts and set screws as they were easily lost. The construction work got your brain thinking as to what would and would not work as you screwed the parts together. It was a most delightful present.