Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This silent black-and-white clip shows scenes of post-Second World War Christmas celebrations in 1945 at the Sprod home. The clip opens with scenes of men, probably brothers George and Dan Sprod, their brother-in-law Des Carter and uncle Stan Edwards, drinking beer, and then cuts to Kathleen Carter and Mary Edwards smoking as Isabel Sprod looks on. An intertitle, followed by a shot of four hats lined up on the porch to represent the different armed services, is used to humorously introduce four men, who then appear and put on the hats for the camera.

Educational value points

• This clip shows light-hearted and relaxed family scenes of the first Christmas after the end of the Second World War (1939–45), the first in four years that Australians had something to celebrate and the first in five years that the Sprod family had been together. John Sprod shot most of the film and he is said to have commented that the film represented fairly accurately the picture in most middle-class suburban homes in Adelaide at the time.

• More than most families, the Sprods did their 'bit’ for Australia – all four young men served in the armed forces, three on overseas service – and were luckier than many because all four survived when more than 27,000 others did not. The family’s pride is indicated by the carefully contrived hat scene representing the navy (RAN), army (AIF) and airforce (RAAF) and the men in uniform framed by the intertitle, 'four Reasons why Australia’s Flag is still flapping’.

• This particular clip from Christmas Crackers reveals nothing about the role of the family’s women on the home front, but like other Australian women the three seen here would probably have contributed to the domestic war effort, particularly to the 'All in!’ campaign introduced by the Curtin government, which urged everyone to help with the war effort. Many would have preserved food, saved to buy war bonds, grown vegetables and kept chickens.

• George (AIF) and John Sprod (RAAF) and Des Carter (AIF) were all discharged from the services in the weeks just prior to this footage being shot – December 1945 was a big month for demobilisations as the Australian military and civil authorities tried to have servicemen discharged and home by Christmas. At the time the movie was made, Dan Sprod, the youngest brother, was still serving in the navy and was not discharged until October 1946.

• The clip’s scenes of conspicuous consumption of cigarettes and beer reflect one of the immediate outcomes of demobilisation and contrast with the situation of the Australian civilian population for whom beer was rationed and cigarettes difficult to obtain. At discharge servicemen received any pay owing and were able to spend up in the service canteens. Men leaving the army were also given a substantial allocation of free cigarettes.

• The privations of war are evident in the physical appearance of some family members, particularly in the scene with the 'lemonade’ bottle. George Sprod, the oldest brother, had spent most of the War as a prisoner of the Japanese in Changi and on the Burma Railway and had been liberated only four months earlier. Athough he never served outside Australia, Dan Sprod was diagnosed in 1946 as suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.

• Although amateur in its production, this footage is a valuable historical source in that it provides an insight into personal events and occasions. The family’s sense of fun is revealed by the headgear worn, the use of the intertitles and the sense that they are 'hamming it up’ for the camera. The family’s middle-class status is shown by their ability to access home-movie equipment – it probably pre-dated the War – and acquire the very scarce film.