What are you up to on Boxing Day? Well, 100 years ago, you might have been inclined to attend the Old Suttonians Christmas Party.

“There is no social function organised by the Association which enjoys greater popularity than the Annual Christmas Party. And year by year this event becomes more firmly established, so that one shudders to think what possible pleasure could be left to so many Old Suttonians if the festive season were deprived of its Old Suttonian Christmas Party at the Public Hall.”

The 230 people in attendance are said to have transformed the normally staid Public Hall with their festive cheer, perhaps most visibly with their fancy dress. Awards were given for the best efforts and the “the ladies and gentleman who undertook this duty arrived at a very popular decision”.

“The selected ladies were: Miss D White, first, tastefully arrayed as a carrot, and Miss P Wing, second, as a charming representation of a powder puff. The gentlemen’s prizes were awarded to G. N. Laughlin, in a striking Spanish costume, while a picturesque pirate received the second prize.”

If only we had photographic evidence!

The Christmas was said to prove a great attraction and there was a “stampede” to purchase raffle tickets. When the winner was ready out, a “howl of delight” came from the member of the orchestra who held the lucky ticket.

Might this be a tradition that ought to be reinstated? So in 2025, perhaps it’s time to dust off your carrot outfit and reconvene with fellow Suttonians on Boxing Day…