Christmas in Hartlepool 100 years ago: Spanish wine, live theatre and Pools playing Darlo on Boxing Day

There was no TV, hardly any radios in town and a very different era of must-have presents.

Historian Graeme Harper takes us on a journey through a Hartlepool Christmas as it looked 100 years ago.

It was a cold, harsh winter in 1922.

Christmas shoppers back then would have made a beeline over to Lynn Street to buy their gifts – of much-needed winter warmers.

Shops such as Cross and Co, Robinson’s department store and Halson’s pawnbrokers advertised late bargains for last-minute shoppers, but it was traditional gifts such as slippers, socks, handkerchief sets and ties that flew off the shelves.

Grey, Peverall’s store (“where everyone is invited to walk around”) had a range of fur coats on offer from 119 shillings to £129 - a whopping £8,500 in today’s money.

Cheaper gifts included “travelling slippers in cases” for 6/11 from James Garner’s store in Lynn Street or a box of Lott’s bricks for 3/- from Cross and Co.

Wine at 1/11 a bottle

The most sought-after alcoholic drink at the time was Tarragona. It was a strong Spanish wine that was available at Oliver’s Stores in Tower Street for 4 shillings a quart.

For those on a budget, the same shop had a selection of British wines at 1/11 a bottle including orange and raspberry varieties. A bottle of scotch was 12/6.

Christmas in Hartlepool 100 years ago would have been a very different experience to today.

There was no television to entertain the masses - the BBC had started earlier in 1922 but its radio broadcasts were available to only a select few people who could afford an expensive “wireless set”.

Phillips electrical shop on Church Street had them on sale from £5 10s. That’s around £400 in today’s money.

But if you wanted a top-of-the-range two-valve set, it would cost you an eye-watering £25, or £1125 today.

Popular children’s gifts in 1922 included Meccano and Teddy Bears, which had just become a worldwide phenomenon and were only just appearing in British shops.

Panto at The Grand

In the years before television made its way into every living room, live events were popular attractions and theatres and cinemas were open on Christmas Day to full houses.

Pantomime has always been a festive favourite and in 1922 the hot ticket was Thos F Convery’s production of Red Riding Hood which opened at The Grand on Christmas Eve and featured “Tyneside’s favourite female impersonator” Bob Cromwell.

Convery had developed a solid reputation for his theatrical productions and had tasted success locally with previous shows such as On the Dole and Dairy Dimples.

For more adult audiences The Grand was host to a number of travelling repertory companies stopping off to appear in town the week before Christmas. The Hathaway-Baron Rep Company performed The Chinese Puzzle by Leon Lion, a stage version of a popular 1919 crime film.

It was followed by a production of The Walls of Jericho by playwright Alfred Sutro and starring the husband-and-wife duo Violet Vanbrugh and Arthur Bourchier.

Christmas week ended with a performance of “the great French play” Frou – Frou featuring the exotically named Adolphus Vane-Tempest.

The Northern had silent movies

Cinemas were still in its infancy and the first “talkies” didn’t arrive until 1929. But the town already had at least five cinemas all of which had screenings on Christmas Day.

The Picture House, which was situated in Stockton Street, was showing All Souls Eve starring Mary Miles Minter, described as “a most affecting picture”.

The Northern Picture Hall, in York Road, featured Tansy, a love triangle drama involving a young shepherdess, with Alma Taylor.

The Royal Eclectic had Douglas Fairbanks in The Three Musketeers and for those who preferred romance over adventure, the Palace Theatre in Mainsforth Terrace was showing ‘Lovetime’ .which starred former child star Shirley Mason.

Tickets for the most anticipated film of the new year were already on sale at Hoggett’s music shop in Lynn Street for a limited run at the Town Hall.

The star who survived a disaster

Theodora was an Italian production ‘depicting the life of a Byzantine empress’ and starred American actress Rita Jolivet, who in 1915 had been one of the survivors of the sinking of British liner the RMS Lusitania when it was attacked by a German U Boat off the coast of Ireland.

Theodora had been one the most expensive in cinematic history and boasted an overall cast of 25,000 people and 30,000 specially made costumes.

Meanwhile, The Empire in Lynn Street, had live theatre in the form of ‘Young Buffalo’ (‘the Cowboy Actor’) in A Mystery Man, a play that was described as “a spectacular romance of the west” and featured Hector “the almost human horse”.

Pools played on Christmas Day

On the sporting front, footballers didn’t get the day off on Christmas Day.

Pools fans endured a largely depressing festive period. In a packed schedule, they lost at Lincoln on December 23 and were walloped 4-0 by arch rivals Darlington on Christmas Day.

Things improved on Boxing Day when they beat Durham City 2-1 in front of a crowd of 3,878, the goals coming from Scottish striker Lowington Braidford and Tot Parkinson.

A trip to Nelson on December 30 ended with a 4-1 defeat but there was joy on New Year's Eve when Pools beat Darlo 1-0 at the Victoria Ground; Braidford netting the winner with 6,500 there to see it.

Our thanks to Graeme for his latest wonderful feature on Hartlepool’s past. If you want more, visit the Mail’s retro section for a feast of nostalgic contributions.