Happy Christmas
When searching the Brent Museum and Archives database the results when you type in Christmas are…
- Museum collection 126 results
- Images and Photograph collection 149 results
- Archives 27 results
So what are some of these objects connected with the 25th December?
Many local history museums hold one of these brass tins which were given at Christmas in 1914 to all serving army and navy men through Her Royal Highness The Princess Mary’s Christmas Fund. This one is from the Brent Museum and Archives collection and has the identification number 1981.14. These tins were filled with all sorts of things and we are very lucky that this one in our collection still has some of its contents. Our tin includes a tiny Christmas card and a partly opened packet of cigarettes. There is a very interesting piece on the Imperial War Museum website about the Fund which explains how it came about, was organised and the different gifts provide for different groups. The tin in the Brent Museum and Archives collection is planned to be in our new museum which opens next summer.
A fascinating object that appears in the museum collection search is this slightly battered collecting box/tin which has the reference number T659. It is marked with the text ‘Willesden Good Cheer Fund Christmas 1922’. Christmas is considered a time for giving and we can see with the Princess Mary tin that many people give to charities around this time of year. We hope in the new year to consult the newspapers for Christmas 1922 to find out more details about this Good Cheer Fund.
Image 9732 in the collection shows the Ascot Gas Water Heaters Ltd, Christmas Dinner in 1939. Lots of work places have a Christmas dinner or parties and this one looks like quite a spread. This one of course is the first Christmas after the announcement of Britain entering the Second World War just under 4 months previously. This Christmas celebration was held at 225 North Circular Road. Other factories on the North Circular at Neasden included the cosmetic firms Amami Silvikrin (opened in 1945) and J. Grossmith & Son. In 1937 Willesden was described as the largest manufacturing borough in Britain.
We hope this little glimpse into the Christmas related items in the collections has been of interest and we hope perhaps some people might be encouraged to explore the collections for themselves to discover a bit more about the history of the festive period in Brent.
brentmuseumandarchives
Colin C.
Emir Ghariani
Thank you for your Christmas Greetings. Hopefully 2015 will prove to be a “Happy New Year”, when you moved from cramped conditions in the basement at George Furness House and reopen the Museum and Archives in the new building across the road.
The photo of the 1939 Ascot works Christmas Party is a reminder of how much industry in the area has changed. This festive season will see thousands of shoppers visiting the IKEA store which now occupies the site.