Christmas inside time capsule house left untouched since 1920s

The owners of a house which has remained largely untouched since the 1920s will give the public the chance to experience Christmas as it would have been celebrated a century ago.
“Mr Straw’s House” – at number 7 Blyth Grove in Worksop, Nottinghamshire – has been virtually unchanged since the Straw family moved there in 1923.
Many of their belongings, including clothes and collectibles, are still in situ.
Now the National Trust is opening the house for the festive period for the first time to give people an insight into the typical celebrations of the era.
Collections and house officer Danielle Lander-Brown said: “You were lucky then, especially as a child, if you got a small toy or a tangerine or a satsuma.
“They would have still had a lovely Christmas. It was a time to bring all the family together. They would have been singing carols around the piano, so they would’ve had a great time.”
The history of Mr Straw’s house
In 1923 grocer William Straw moved with his wife, Florence, and two sons from the flat above their shop to the semi-detached property, number 7 Blyth Grove.
Mrs Straw chose wallpaper, curtains and an Egyptian-inspired carpet of the time to decorate the house alongside ornaments, elegant glassware and new French doors.
When Mr Straw died suddenly in 1932, as a show of respect, the family kept his personal belongings in place, including his coats and hats.
The 1932 calendar in the front room was never removed and his pipes and tobacco were left hanging by the fireplace in the dining room.
When Mrs Straw died in 1939, the couple’s sons William and Walter occupied the house and settled into a way of life that remained largely unchanged for the next 40 years.
Mrs Straw’s recipe collection is a relic of its time, including instructions for making apple pudding, apple jelly and apple chutney.
For more than 60 years, William and Walter threw little away and chose to eschew many modern comforts. Walter died in 1976. When William died 14 years later, he left the contents of the house to the National Trust, who then purchased the building to display the house as it had been left by the brothers.
The property is usually closed during the winter, but this year it will open on Thursdays and Fridays between 21 November and 20 December.
Over the Christmas period, the house will be filled with traditional handcrafted decorations, 1920s Christmas cards and a dining table set for a festive feast with its original crackers.
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