Enjoy this brief first-hand account of a stress-free Christmas family get together from 1935. It sounds like a lovely time.
We observe the old custom of having our whole family together for Christmas dinner. Last year there were nearly forty of us. Each family brought a basket lunch with service for its own members. No dirty dishes to mar the women folks’ good time. Planning a big dinner is no longer an excuse for putting off the entertaining of our loved ones.
After dinner, dishes had scarcely been packed into their rightful baskets before we raced for the Christmas tree. No expensive exchange of gifts this. But what fun! A price limit of five cents had been the previous decision.
We all stood in a circle, down to the tiniest tot, only three. Each one had a package to pass as the whistle blew. All packages to the left for three minutes; back to the right; left again. Such reluctance to pass on the biggest bundles. A rush to get rid of others. When the order came to hold your package and open it, a scramble. A variety of gifts: tea towels, handkerchiefs, soap, hairpins, toys, candy.
Evening came, and time to go home, tired and happy. Scarcely had the door closed on the last guest until we were planning for next year’s family gathering at Christmas.
~Nebraska
Click here for another letter about an old-time Christmas.
