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Uncle Holly at Lewis's

maggieuk

maggieuk

The Fairybrain of Brum
Hi Everyone
Does ANYONE remember Uncle Holly at Lewis's ..He was always the first person you saw after climbing all those stairs to see Father Christmas..I remember him as a very tall man dressed in green with a top hat..he used to scare the life out of me..I have spoken to a lot of people my age and no-one seems to remember him
 
Hello MaggieUK,

If you put Uncle Holly into search at the top of the page you will find information about Uncle Holly, there are quite a few of us who remember him, you are not alone in remembering him.
Regards Rita
 
Oh Frothy That is really wonderful THANKS no i never had one i was too scared of him lol
 
Father Christmas and Uncle Holly are, for me at least, the stuff of nightmares....

...my aunt took me to Father Christmas somewhere in Brum when I was very young (may have been the British Home Stores) and I have never forgotten it, even after nearly 60 years. Horrible!

Big Gee
 
Hi Big Gee
My nightmare was Jimmy Greenteeth lol.. Mom used to say he would come and get me if I was naughty and for years Peter Lorrie Was Jimmy to me ..That was horrible
 
I was terrified of Father Christmas, Graham. I went once and nothing in the world would have got me there again. On Christmas Eve I put my head under the bed clothes and was so relieved when I woke and it was Christmas Day. Loved the pressys though.

In our house we were threatened with Oddimidod, Maggie, whoever he was. How did we survive it all?
 
Hiya Di
Never heard of Oddimidod but your right how we grew up even halfway sane eludes me..great times though
 
I wonder if they became enlightened later as my memories are from about 50 years ago and less. I was never frightened of Uncle Holly or Father Christmas and I remember the helpers who were always so nice. This would have been in Lewis's.
 
Great badge Frothy, I can remember having one but, as with lots of things, they were never kept. I used to tease my Mom that she should never have thrown away my Coronation coach and horses. It was quite a big one, about 12" long probably. My wife's got a much smaller one bought on ebay to replace hers which was chucked out by her Mom!
 
The gentleman who used to dress as Uncle Holly lived somewhere near
the old Arden Oak pub on Coventry Road.

He was always very smartly dressed even in his civvies and i remember
seeing him wearing a bowler hat on some occasions.

I used to deliver his newspaper for a year or two and he always tipped
very well at Christmas time i recall, nice man...
 
davidfowler said:
Great badge Frothy, I can remember having one but, as with lots of things, they were never kept. I used to tease my Mom that she should never have thrown away my Coronation coach and horses. It was quite a big one, about 12" long probably. My wife's got a much smaller one bought on ebay to replace hers which was chucked out by her Mom!
Click to expand...
i,m gutted for you David so i,ve sent you a horse all for yourself.
i also remember the uncle holly/ farther Christmas ritual,all the way up them stairs because we did,nt like the old rickety lift,s.
they were great time though apple orange airfix kit these kids today only! joking would we have it any other way.
best wishes to all Derek.
 
Hi Frothy I still have one of those badges.
I posted a pic' once before, on a thread where someone posted a pic' sitting on Santa's knee.
I never went to see Father Christmas (we couldn't afford it), but my friend went every year and gave me her badge one year, as she had heaps of them.

Chris/ pom :angel:
 
maggieuk said:
Hi Everyone
Does ANYONE remember Uncle Holly at Lewis's ..He was always the first person you saw after climbing all those stairs to see Father Christmas..I remember him as a very tall man dressed in green with a top hat..he used to scare the life out of me..I have spoken to a lot of people my age and no-one seems to remember him
Click to expand...
Yes Uncle Holly remember him well we used to get an uncle holly badge too wore it with pride as a kid, good times Happy memories of the Christmas season and all it held as a young child growing up .
 
I saw Uncle Holly when I went to see father Christmas at Lewis's in the 50's , my mother took the option of me having my photo took with Santa , there I was stood by Santa with my little topcoat on and a balaclava one of those that covered the shoulders . When I looked at it in later life , I thought to myself are you sure you're not a runaway from the Robin Hood days only their head coverings were made of chain mail .
 
I remember uncle Holly at the entrance to Father Christmas‘s grotto, happy days indeed. Do you remember the pets corner on the roof garden at lewis’s and you could get a knickerbocker glory there too
 
maggieuk said:
Hi Everyone
Does ANYONE remember Uncle Holly at Lewis's ..He was always the first person you saw after climbing all those stairs to see Father Christmas..I remember him as a very tall man dressed in green with a top hat..he used to scare the life out of me..I have spoken to a lot of people my age and no-one seems to remember him
Click to expand...
I too remember Uncle Holly, he was Santa’s grotto organizer, dressed in Victorian long coat and top-hat all in green, his job was to keep the waiting kids in order before they sat on Father Christmas’s knee. If I recall correctly he also gave out round, tin stamped badges of himself that could be pinned to your coat. I wonder what happened to him… because I’m sure that green coat wasn’t thick enough for North Pole where Santa lived.
 
GMP said:
I too remember Uncle Holly, he was Santa’s grotto organizer, dressed in Victorian long coat and top-hat all in green, his job was to keep the waiting kids in order before they sat on Father Christmas’s knee. If I recall correctly he also gave out round, tin stamped badges of himself that could be pinned to your coat. I wonder what happened to him… because I’m sure that green coat wasn’t thick enough for North Pole where Santa lived.
Click to expand...
I don't remember Uncle Holly at the top of the stairs,but I do remember the large model of him high up in the Minories, possibly late 50's early 60's
 
GMP said:
I too remember Uncle Holly, he was Santa’s grotto organizer, dressed in Victorian long coat and top-hat all in green, his job was to keep the waiting kids in order before they sat on Father Christmas’s knee. If I recall correctly he also gave out round, tin stamped badges of himself that could be pinned to your coat. I wonder what happened to him… because I’m sure that green coat wasn’t thick enough for North Pole where Santa lived.
Click to expand...
How Christmas should be . Birmingham had quite a choice of Big Stores and a variety of Christmas Displays to choose from. Great times will never change my mind.
 
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