As many of you know, I am fond of Victorian children’s literature, owning in hard cover such volumes as Little Women (1868 – Louisa May Alcott), the entire Little House series (1932 – Laura Ingalls Wilder) and the entire Anne of Green Gables series (1905 – Lucy Maud Montgomery). I first read all of these as a pre-teen, and have re-read every one many times since. They have places of honour on my bookshelf.
Little Women and Anne of Green Gables are fictional; The Little House series is a somewhat fanciful but mostly true account of the author’s pioneering childhood and her travels with her family across America by covered wagon, finally homesteading in the Dakota town of DeSmet, where they were among the first settlers.
Every one of these beloved books contains at least one chapter devoted to Christmas, describing in detail the Christmases enjoyed by the families in the stories. None of the families were burdened by worldly wealth, all lacked many of the material things that we today would consider essential to a happy, easy life, and yet their Christmases were filled with much love and joy. The word that comes to mind as a common thread throughout these stories is “simplicity.”
Consider the description of Christmas at the Cratchit’s, in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. (1843) This poverty stricken family of seven, possessed of very little in the way of worldly goods, sat down to a Christmas dinner barely sufficient for the whole family – a goose and stuffing, mashed potatoes, applesauce, and, the crowning glory, a pudding! A small pudding for a large family, they considered
it fit for a king, and it was roundly praised and complimented by everyone. When dinner was done and everything cleared away, the family gathered around the fire to simply enjoy being together. Dickens describes them this way: “They were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being waterproof; their clothes were scanty; and Peter might have known…the inside of a pawnbrokers. But they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time…”
The one thing that stands out as common to these different Christmas accounts is the simplicity of Christmas celebrations. There were no Christmas trees to be set up, no frantic searching for a parking place in a crowded shopping mall, no wracking of one’s brains for the perfect gift for Grandma, no Christmas cards to be mailed, no decorations or endless Musak carols to assault the senses in October and November.
When did we start to fall into this modern-day trap? Well, historian Stephen Nissenbaum asserts that the turning point occurred in about 1820 when Christmas revelry became an enormous social problem. Roving bands of wassailing carousers were alarming the upper classes, who retreated to their homes and began to turn Christmas into a family holiday. Buying presents for family members began to play an instrumental role in commercializing the economy. Merchants, who weren’t born yesterday, were quick to capitalize on this new trend by offering commodities specifically manufactured for the purpose of being given as Christmas presents. Our retail economy today is highly dependent on the two most lucrative times of the year for merchants – Christmas, and believe it or not, back to school time. A few years ago, more than two million Americans thought it would be a great idea to give each other land on the moon and Mars for Christmas (packages starting at $29.99!) A cynical friend of mine would call this misguided gift-giving “abysmal poverty of mind”. And yet this is how many Americans chose to celebrate the birth of one who wanted us to give everything we have to the poor. Obviously, somebody needs to get a grip!
Christmas is, first, a religious holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus, who according to historians was probably born in April or May but whose birthday celebration was held in December to coincide with the winter solstice holiday of Saturnalia and thus be more accepted by the Romans. Even those who do not recognize the religious significance of Christmas celebrate it secularly, with all the secular trappings – tree, presents, Santa, etc. – including many followers of religions other than Christian. Every civilization has its rituals – they are a part of what makes us human, what grounds us in our society. We may not be able to put an end to the commercialization of Christmas, but perhaps we can tone it down and reflect on a simpler time, when our wants and needs weren’t so great as to necessitate a mad dash to the retail counter during the week before Christmas.
A few years ago, the Twynam family attempted to inject some simplicity into our Christmas celebrations. Originating with our daughter-in-law, Christine, the idea was proposed that we dispense with gift-giving at Christmas and concentrate on family and our love for and happiness with one another. This proposal, to my surprise, was enthusiastically embraced by all of us, and Christmas gift giving for the most part became a thing of the past. We are all adults; there are no young children in our immediate family; Santa hasn’t visited us for years. All of us had found gift-exchanging extremely stressful, deciding what to get for people who have everything, who, if they decide they want something, promptly order it from Amazon. Today, Bob and I give cheques to our children, as our parents did for us, and I must admit I still do Christmas stockings for them, filled with toiletries, candy, and other small items. That’s it for giftgiving. Christmas Day at our house is highlighted by a traditional Christmas dinner with our family, and includes my sister Lynne, brother-in-law Joe, and one or both of their sons and partners; my sister Barbara; Bob’s brother Paul and sister-in-law Karen if they are home for Christmas; it may also include a friend of our sons, whom we have known from infancy and who has no family nearby. After dinner, for many years we have been joined in the evening by my sister Anne, brother-in-law Tony and several nieces and nephews, who as they have grown up and married are now accompanied by their spouses and children. On this special, happy day, we four sisters are together. Our two brothers both live out of town and we don’t see them on Christmas Day, but they are with us in spirit. It is a wonderful, joyous occasion for us all. We feel very blessed.
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