Christmasses past.

A didlum was a kind of savings scheme. Acertain number joined and agreed to pay weekly over an agreed number of weeks. Then lots were drawn with a week number. On your lucky week you received the full amount of everyone's weekly contribution. Someone trustworthy collected and paid out. I suspect the name didlum was from the many risks of being diddled!

It sounds more like a lottery!

The didlum was known as a menage ( pronounced minoj) in these parts.
A common insult about a disorganised person was, “ Couldnae run a menage”.

Our didlums were run differently. One person collected and banked the money from different people every week. Interest was added to the account at the end of November so the first week of December every member got the amount they had saved. The didlum organiser kept the interest as a reward for doing all the organising.

Well, I'd never heard of them!

Although I have heard of 'couldn't organise a booze-up in a brewery' (polite version)
or 'a feast of pigeons in a cornfield'

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Were the chocolate smokers set any of these?

Yes, Artyfarty - they both look familiar but I remember especially the coconut tobacco. Weird!

I remember those and also the liquorice ones and the candy sticks with red ends in cigarette boxes which only came out at Christmas.

I remember sweet cigarettes that you describe Willow, but not the pipe. I remember gobstoppers which changed colour in your mouth, fizzy stuff you dipped liquorice into, Trevor chews, space ship things which dissolved in your mouth releasing fizz.

There were white sweet cigarettes with a red tip, liquorice pipes and tobacco made from shredded coconut. No chocolate at all as I remember

There are some lovely memories of Christmas here and Luckygirls post sums up mine around the same time, except we were just the four of us, we had no extended family around.

I too remember the white sweetie cigarettes with the red end. It seems mad now to look back and think how, as children, we were almost encouraged to smoke! We also had the chocolate smokers set at Christmas and I definitely remember the shreddied coconut tobacco! I also seem to remember that my older brother was given a chocolate tool set at Christmas; chocolate spanner, hammer and wrench. Does anyone else remember these?

I'm really enjoying reading everyone's memories of Christmas and haven't finished reading them yet. Willow your memories are very similar to mine but I have teenage doll envy! I wasn't allowed one (because they had bosoms!?) Did yours have a plastic bra?

Oh and the sweet cigarettes with the red tips. We used to burn the ends to make them more realistic. I never went on to smoke the real ones. Lovely, simple memories.

Yes, I remember my brothers getting the smoking set or the tool set and I got the hairdressing set!

I remember both kinds of sweetie cigarettes, but the packets of tobacco was my favourite!