Ever stayed up late to catch a glimpse of Father Christmas and been bitterly disappointed? Being the paper-chain-making roast-potato-loving finalist that I am, this is how I felt when desperately scouring the Varsity archives for mentions of Bridgemas. With Varsity only referring to Cantabrigian Christmas festivities as ‘Bridgemas’ following a 2010 article on ‘Oxmas’ (rivalry alive and well?),Varsity has been surprisingly quiet on Christmas in Cambridge over the years. Nevertheless, the archives have still proven useful in the creation of my guide to tackling gift-buying successfully.

“What is almost as certain as the difficulty of gift-buying? Skint students”

What is almost as certain as the difficulty of gift-buying? Skint students. The ‘quandry of the season’ appears to be eternal: how can I give cheap yet heartwarming gifts? In 1963, Varsity bravely attempted to provide an answer to this perennial question. What was their top tip, I hear you cry? Buy your presents in the sales in January…

A tip perhaps too late for us now, so let us turn to the early 2000s for some more timely advice! In the pioneering age of Craigslist and Myspace, our forebearers were taking their first steps into the digital age, and grasped this tool to solve their wallet-woes. In order to buy the presents to impress for a price that’ll make you go ‘ooo’, Varsity in 2004 suggested including a misspelling when searching for an item on eBay – these items will be precisely what you want with the added bonus of lower bids on the online auction. Apply this logic to Depop and you’ll be as golden as the Bridgemas presents you can now afford!

“Gift-buying is hard, but building-scaling is festive procrastination taken to another height … literally”

But Varsity's Christmas reporting hasn't only been about gift buying: in 2008, Varsity described a Santa hat placed on top of the spire on the Gate of Humility at Caius, as well as a similar item gracing the Octagon of Clare Chapel. 14 years later, a similar incident was reported where a Christmas tree was tied to the front of Senate House. As an alternative festive activity, I might suggest for those that are struggling to think of what to buy your college wife (or running out of spellings following the fifth iteration of ‘ralf laurent bare gumper’ on Vinted as a little present for yourself), that you wrap up warm and stroll to Fen Ditton (ideally snow-covered), or people-watch with mulled wine at the wine merchants. Gift-buying is hard, but building-scaling is festive procrastination taken to another height … literally.

If you object to the consumerism of Bridgemas, you could be swayed by the Bridgemas spirit and spread some joy through giving in a different way. In 2004, Varsity reported on a number of students (including current Health Secretary – then lead guitarist – Wes Streeting) who spent their Bridgemas rerecording tracks from Slade and Wizzard’s ‘Christmas 1973’ for RAG and Jimmy’s Night Shelter.