Family, friends, food, goodwill, gifts and games: some or all of these are what most of us enjoy at Christmas, which we generally do with a solid roof over our heads. This was not necessarily the case for many of our forebears, whose accommodation of choice – or necessity – for the Christmas holidays was a tent.
Campground Tales and Christmas Cheer
While the modern holidaymaker has access to beachside flats, houses or even motels, early vacationers in Redcliffe were limited to a few hotels, boarding houses and guesthouses, the affordability and/or unavailability of which put them out of the reach of many. Thus, the majority of summer holidaymakers came to Redcliffe bringing their accommodation with them.
The trip by boat or train would not have been easy for those early tent-dwellers, burdened as they would have been by camping paraphernalia. As car ownership increased in the first two decades of the 20th-century, though, transporting one’s temporary household became simpler and the number of campers increased commensurately. In December 1918, according to the Daily Mail, “the whole waterfront right down to Scarborough on the one side and Woody Point and Clontarf on the other” was thronged with tents.
While these tent villages were the scene of much jollification over the festive season, spirits were sometimes dampened by poor weather, and conditions for campers could be primitive. As late as the 1940s, there were complaints about the paucity of sanitary facilities and unhygienic conditions. In 1949, Mr McGregor, a regular visitor, told The Telegraph, “There is only one small building to service nearly 200 camps, and it is a menace to health.”
Other perils occasionally jeopardised the celebrations. One year, for instance, Mr H E Harte had his holiday disturbed by a cow walking through his tent on the recreation reserve. The cow damaged the tent and trampled Mr Harte’s Christmas supplies, among which were a Christmas cake, pineapples, a bottle of pickles, four eggs, tomatoes and cucumbers, bread, tea and a tin of milk. Mr Harte applied to the Redcliffe Shire Council for compensation. The council “decided not to entertain any liability.” Rampaging cows notwithstanding, this incident provides an interesting insight into the nature of early 20th-century campground festive fare.
With Christmas on the horizon, may your holidays and celebrations, whether in a tent or a palace or something in between, be peaceful and pleasurable and may your festive rituals be undisturbed by bovine interlopers.
Read more stories from our Redcliffe Guide print magazine here:
- Get Together for A Happy Hippie Xmas
- Local Organisation a Safe Haven for Animals
- Your Time, Are You Investing it or Spending it?
- Family Fun at Redcliffe: Budget-Friendly Ways to Enjoy the School Holidays
- Community Hub Gets Crafty
- Staying Grounded Amid Holiday Pressures
- Discover Stories From the Past on the Redcliffe Esplanade Walk
- Candles Capture Local Scenti-ments
- Making Waves With Waterbikes – The Latest In Beachside Family Fun
- A Word From Our Reps
- Reddy Roundup: Updates from the Community
