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Childrens' Christmas Parties

The ring on the string keeps moving! Party games, a finger buffet and a ventriloquist dummy entertain the children of the Lane and Scrutton families at Christmastime.

Home movie 1952 8 mins Silent

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Overview

The Lane-Scrutton families enjoy a get-together and a giggle at Christmas, with special parties put on for the grandchildren, friends and neighbours. An elaborate finger food buffet and party games such as 'oranges and lemons' and 'pass the parcel' keep the little ones entertained, whilst the 'big ones' entertain themselves with a ventriloquist dummy - a toy version of Peter Brough's famous puppet character Archie Andrews who at the time was a favourite on the wireless.

In an age before television, the hobby of home movie-making would fill in those vacant hours for brothers-in-law Sidney Lane and Cecil Scrutton. Throughout the years they captured a number of family events – away days, play days and parties – even employing a set of free-standing floodlights to ensure indoor scenes at their Norwich homes were adequately captured. They bought their 9.5mm cine camera in 1951, from Doughty's Shop on Regent Road in Great Yarmouth. A screening of the year's home movies would become an integral part of the family’s winter schedule, accompanied by a bought Charlie Chaplin film short for added entertainment.

Genres
Home movie
Released
1952
Country
United Kingdom
Location
Norwich
Language
English

Subjects

Christmas parties Family Buffets Children's games and play Brough, Peter (1916-1999) Teddy bears Ventriloquism