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Only 19 sleeps to Christmas (as I write this)...
It was a regular December memory that I recall from my childhood so it definitely qualifies for my little Christmas countdown...
These days it has been sanitised somewhat...
And for once I'm glad about that...
Because, in retrospect, it was one of the most mind-bogglingly nuts ideas...
And potentially horrendously dangerous too...
Have you guessed what it is yet?
It was an idea for a Christmas decoration...
So far so good...
With tinsel...
Lovely... I like a bit of tinsel...
Baubles...
Even better...
A way of counting down to Christmas...
Great...
But that's when it all started to go pear-shaped...
Made out of wire coat hangers...
Not the most robust items for a framework...
And at the ends of those coat hangers you affix...
Long candles...
Somehow...
And because those are candles you're going to be lighting them sooner or later...
Long candles + tinsel... Gulp!
I can't for the life of me remember how they suggested fixing the candles to the frame...
But from the precarious angles at which they seemed frequently to lean I would not be surprised if sticky tape didn't figure somewhere...
We knew it was sellotape...
They knew that we knew it was sellotape...
But never ever could a brand name be mentioned on the beeb back then...
Bizarre...
Anyway...
Wonky long candles + tinsel...
Could this Christmas decoration get any more dangerous?
Oh yes...
Let's let the presenter who was renowned for being a bit chaotic and ham-fisted be in charge of it...
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John Noakes...
And let's do all this on a children's programme... Blue Peter... and encourage nippers all around the UK to make this way to test how good the fire cover was in their parents' household insurance policy.
I give you the Blue Peter Advent Crown (I feel it deserves capital letters!)
But did anyone ever make the thing?
I know we didn't...
And none of our friends did...
Or if they did they didn't own up to it...
Did you?
PS they now use neon lights instead of candles apparently... thank goodness for that!
PPS this YouTube clip will take you back!
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