Doctors and nurses show off decorated ward for Christmas, 1930s

Christmas in hospital

During the 1920-1930s Salisbury Infirmary staff got very creative with ward decorations at Christmas. Below are images of some of the most elaborate, ranging from the ‘good luck’ theme in 1928, to a ‘Dickensian’ Queensberry Ward in 1936. The strangest beds seem to be those in Bartlett Ward being turned into racehorses in 1937.

 

Staff serving lunch and carving the turkey on Christmas Day is a long-standing tradition in Salisbury Hospital. The photos below show Christmas Day, 1962 at Odstock – you can see the shape of the old Nissen Hut in the background. And in 1987 Father Christmas visited Salisbury District Hospital’s Children’s Unit, and arrived by an unusual mode of transport!

 

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