Previously, I posted about Christmas present ideas but wanted to write a separate post regarding what you can likely expect future Christmas gatherings to look like. Today, when we think of Christmas celebrations we tend to expect a large event with all the trimmings. We already know that it will involve a large bushy Christmas tree loaded down with sparkling lights and glass bulbs. Underneath the tree, we see dozens of boxes in every shape, size and color for the little kiddos. There’s plenty of immaculately decorated tables and even stockings hung along a brilliant roaring fireplace. And the table is loaded down with a huge turkey, gravy and all the side dishes made from recipes that your mother and grandmother lovingly perfected. What a glorious sight for the children and adults alike.
During the Great Depression however, it was quite a different Christmas scene. If you wanted a tree, it was either cut down from your own back yard or the woods near your home. Rarely, if your parents had extra money you could slip down to the Christmas tree lot and find trees that were marked down incredibly low the day before Christmas that had more than a few needles missing. Once at home, eager children would get to stringing up popcorn, fashioning paper chains and paper cut outs hung with bits of string.
Christmas morning would find mother preparing a larger than normal breakfast if she had the finances to do so. Depending on a families income, you might find a selection of delicacies like plain oatmeal with a bit of canned fruit, fried salt pork or bacon, baked apples, freshly made biscuits or yeast breast with big pats of butter, fried eggs in lard, local honey and fresh milk.
Women would get to work crafting their best cakes that they would bring to church for morning service to share with other families with pots of tea and coffee. Whatever you could bring to add to the food table would bring a bit of cheer to struggling families. Lovely layered coconut cakes, bejeweled fruit cakes, fudge frosted chocolate cake and even zucchini breads dotted with pecan halves. The church was a place that many folks came to rely on during the Great Depression due to their frequent pot lucks that allowed hundreds of people to be fed with very little.
After church socializing on Christmas morning, family would return home where the children would be allowed to enjoy the little gifts in their stockings. The stockings weren’t like the jumbo glittery stockings of today, but your own sock or perhaps a sock you borrowed from an older sibling or parent. Inside you would find nuts, penny candy, an apple or orange, raisins, chocolate drops, or other small handmade toys.
While the younger children were enjoying their treats, mother and older children would be hard at work preparing the Christmas dinner meal. Usually it was ate around what we call lunch but depending on how large and how many guests would be attending, it could be around evening hours. If finances allowed, you could expect a large roasted turkey or clove dotted ham to decorate the dinner table. I should point out that in those days, fowl was sold in living form so you were responsible for preparing the turkey for cooking from start to finish. If one couldn’t afford turkey or ham, you would cull one of your hens for the Christmas meal. An array of side dishes such as canned fruit, potatoes, cooked cabbage, mushroom stuffing, canned vegetables from spring or summer harvest, and as always plenty of fluffy yeasty loafs of bread with churned butter. If you were a little more well off than other families, you might have a nice plum or rum raisin pudding.
At some point before bed, children would be allowed to open their modest little Christmas packages from their parents and relatives. If a child got anything for Christmas, it was a real blessing because finances were so incredibly tight that gifts just weren’t always a possibility. For those who are still alive today, they remember the most important part of Christmas being that they were able to have food in their bellies and special memories with their families. So, while you may feel despondent with everything going on, know that you will always find nuggets of hope and joy when you are surrounded by those you love.
* Check out my previous post with options for Christmas presents for your children or spouse this year.
Suburban & Rural Homesteading Today 