Remembering the Christmases of Our Past

Most of us agree that Christmas is a magical time of the year.  It is a time to embrace the true meaning of the holiday in terms of our faith as well as connect with family and friends.  It is a time to think about helping others and how we can lend a hand to lift them up.  It is the time to think about the events of the past year, and with today’s insight, on how we might have done things differently.  It is also the perfect time to reminisce and reflect on the wondrous Christmases of our past. 

Those of us who have celebrated more Christmases than we care to admit have seen changes evolve over time as to how the holiday is celebrated.  When we were young, everything from gift-giving, to decorating, to special Christmas foods was simpler, and more focused around our faith and our families.  Stockings were filled with fruit and nuts and not expensive tablets and cell phones. 

Yesteryear’s Christmas celebrations usually had fewer gifts, even for the children, but as families did not buy many toys throughout the year, Christmas morning was as exciting to a child in the early to mid-20^th century as a tree chockfull of presents is for a child in 2019.  Many of the gifts we did receive were homemade.  How many of us from that era remember receiving a hand-knitted mitten, scarf and hat set from an elderly aunt or grandmother?  Also our Christmas outfits, especially girls’ dresses and skirts were often sewn by our mothers or other relatives. 

Many gifts were sentimental and/or homemade and included food items such as jams, jellies, chutneys, breads, and even wines.  Giving the gift of a homemade fruit cake was another American holiday tradition that stemmed from the British dessert called Christmas cake or plum cake.

In addition, a lot of our decorations were homemade or were cuttings of pine branches, holly and mistletoe fashioned into wreaths and garlands.  Children opened advent calendars to count down the days before Christmas, nativity scenes were set-up with baby Jesus to be lovingly place in the manager late Christmas Eve, and advent wreaths and candles were lit during the period leading up to Christmas. 

Without cell phones, the Internet, and the many other distractions of modern life, people played games, sang Christmas carols, and if the weather cooperated went sledding or skating.  To recapture some of the holiday magic of old, perhaps we should all consider simplifying our own family celebration.