Christmas in The Thirties by Lill Caplins

There were five girls in our family, Lithuanian heritage was strong. The coming of the Christ Child was a time of great expectation. During the five weeks of advent, we made sacrifices of candies and goodies to prepare for this event. Each child tried to outdo the other in being a saint. Mom cleaned the house from stem to stern. All windows sparkled clean, with special curtains and drapes only for Christmas. Each sister had her specific task to do, no shirking allowed.
Preparation of the food for the feast was another endless job. Lithuanian sausage with ground pork and ham was stuffed. Our old country cookie the ‘Kristie” was rolled ,cut twisted ,fried, dusted with four x sugar and packed into cans for the holiday. The grown ups looked forward to the Holiday drink”Vryitos”. It had a real kick to it, somewhat like a potent” hot toddy”.
In our house, no such thing as a Christmas list existed. My father made a child’s table and chairs set, with a china cupboard for dishes as Santa’s gift. With great anticipation we looked forward to walking into the living room Christmas morning, seeing the tree with lights aglow and the little kitchen group waiting for us. We played at having tea parties for hours on end. Little Hershey silver buds were placed in tiny aluminum dishes on the radiators, our heat, in the room. These would melt flat. Then they were placed outside on the windowsill to freeze. How delicious this was at our tea party!
In the spring, when our interest in the dining set and dolls waned, they were put away until the next Christmas. With new curtains and paint job, these were recycled for the current season, with great enthusiasm. Our dolls too, suddenly disappeared and returned with a complete set of new clothes. Mom was quite a seamstress and did skillful work. In addition, each received a big stocking. In the toe was a big tangerine and some nuts and hard candy. This also was relished along with new socks, comb, hairbrush and other necessities. It was fun emptying out to see the contents.
Today ‘s children see the tree weeks before Christmas. In our day, it was a big secret. Dad purchased the tree and put it up in the living room when we were fast asleep. The tree was never seen until the magic moment early in the morning. What a moment to see the tree all spectacular!
It took the breath away.
This was also a time of visiting relatives. During the two weeks of the holidays, visits were made and hugs and kisses distributed, sometimes even money. When old Aunts were not looking the hand wiped the face quickly where generously endowed affection landed.. If silver touched the palm it eased the pain.
In those days holidays was the giving of self . Do we mourn its passing?
Lill Caplins 04