Not sure about dancing and midnight mass. The main family celebration is nearly always Christmas day, and since it was in Dickens' time as well, I think it's reasonable to assume the same for centuries in between. Community events are more likely to happen a bit earlier. With children around this will involve silly games such as musical chairs or pass-the-parcel.
Food I can help on - I just happen to have, on my cookery book shelves, two books on WWII & rationing. The Ministry of Food realised how important keeping a more-or-less traditional Christmas was to morale, and issued fact sheets with advice on how to manage on tight rations. They even issued extra sweet rations some years (not sure if this includes 1942 or not
The pudding was relatively easy, as it can be made with lots of grated carrot & breadcrumbs (the recipe I use does this - makes it rather less heavy, as the really traditional recipes can be a bit much after turkey). The book which talks most about Christmas adds that raisins were hard to get, and that the Ministry suggested using prunes instead. Another recipe doesn't use breadcrumbs or brandy, does use grated raw potato, and adds that it can only be made a couple of days in advance as it doesn't keep.
Christmas cake was much harder to manage. They encouraged the pooling of resources - the same book gives an example of a teacher who got every child in her class to contribute something (an egg, a little sugar) and managed a cake for an end-of-term party that way. Frosting was extremely difficult, as there was no icing sugar, but could be made with boiled sugar and egg white or powdered milk. "Almond" paste was made out of plain cake crumbs, margerine and almond extract.
The MoF were very keen on making party food that looked good, and other suggestions include open sandwiches topped with colourful raw vegetables & a little sardine, and "gingerbread men" made out of pastry.
Decorations and party hats could made out of odd scraps such as off-cuts of wallpaper.
Once the Americans were over (thank you!) they were frequently invited round to join local families, particularly for important occasions such as Christmas. Much culture clash ensued, and American servicemen were subsequently issued with a leaflet of instructions, including orders to refuse second helpings (apparently some GIs were eating a family's entire week's meat ration at one go, and not realising), and not to criticise the coffee ("okay, so the British can't make coffee. You can't make tea").
If you're able to find a copy of "Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain, 1942" I think you'll find it very helpful. It's certainly been published over here.
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Food I can help on - I just happen to have, on my cookery book shelves, two books on WWII & rationing. The Ministry of Food realised how important keeping a more-or-less traditional Christmas was to morale, and issued fact sheets with advice on how to manage on tight rations. They even issued extra sweet rations some years (not sure if this includes 1942 or not
The pudding was relatively easy, as it can be made with lots of grated carrot & breadcrumbs (the recipe I use does this - makes it rather less heavy, as the really traditional recipes can be a bit much after turkey). The book which talks most about Christmas adds that raisins were hard to get, and that the Ministry suggested using prunes instead. Another recipe doesn't use breadcrumbs or brandy, does use grated raw potato, and adds that it can only be made a couple of days in advance as it doesn't keep.
Christmas cake was much harder to manage. They encouraged the pooling of resources - the same book gives an example of a teacher who got every child in her class to contribute something (an egg, a little sugar) and managed a cake for an end-of-term party that way. Frosting was extremely difficult, as there was no icing sugar, but could be made with boiled sugar and egg white or powdered milk. "Almond" paste was made out of plain cake crumbs, margerine and almond extract.
The MoF were very keen on making party food that looked good, and other suggestions include open sandwiches topped with colourful raw vegetables & a little sardine, and "gingerbread men" made out of pastry.
Decorations and party hats could made out of odd scraps such as off-cuts of wallpaper.
Once the Americans were over (thank you!) they were frequently invited round to join local families, particularly for important occasions such as Christmas. Much culture clash ensued, and American servicemen were subsequently issued with a leaflet of instructions, including orders to refuse second helpings (apparently some GIs were eating a family's entire week's meat ration at one go, and not realising), and not to criticise the coffee ("okay, so the British can't make coffee. You can't make tea").
If you're able to find a copy of "Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain, 1942" I think you'll find it very helpful. It's certainly been published over here.