That Time of Year – Traditions

Christmas Time when I was growing up was never my favorite time of the year. First of all that meant time off from school and I loved to be at school. I’m not sure whether I just loved school or if it was that I never really wanted to be at home.  Home was where there was always fighting. It seems I was always holding my breath waiting for something to “jump off”. Preparing for this story, I tried to focus on what I remember about Christmas Time that was positive. As a special treat my mother took us to Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas show and then in the Spring, the Easter show. She would put aside a few dollars during the year, when she could, until she had enough money to take us to the show and then out to lunch. We would get us all dressed up in our Sunday best – fancy dresses with crinoline slips, patent leather shoes (which I always loved but most of the time they hurt my feet), bows in hair, little purses and sometimes even white gloves.  We would have to leave very early in the morning because we would have to stand sometimes for hours on line just to get in.  The highlight of the trip for me was not the singing, dancing, and then the movie, (although I thoroughly enjoyed that), but afterwards we would go to Horn and Hardart where we could select anything we wanted to eat.(1)  This was a big deal because we NEVER ate out. Each time I had the very same thing – a cheese sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise, a glass of milk and a piece of the most delicious chocolate cake.  Horn and Hardart, an automat, operated by using coin-operated slots that took nickels.  Each stack of glass-door dispensers had a metal cylinder that could be rotated by the staff on the other side of the vending wall, hiding the contents while they refilled each dispenser in the stack with different things, i.e., salad, pudding, meat, sandwiches, vegetables.  Each dispenser had a slot for one or more nickels and a knob to rotate the nickels out of view into the internal cash box and to allow the glass door to be raised up and locked in a horizontal position. I was always so excited about putting the coins in the machine and to see it open for me to reach in and grab my gourmet meal.  It was always served on REAL plates and we had REAL silverware and glasses. I still remember the feel of the turning knob with its serrated edge and the smooth touch of the real plates. Although I always loved my mother’s yellow cake with chocolate icing, made from scratch, the chocolate cake with chocolate icing was to die for. My milk seemed extra cold and tasted so good as I drank it out of a “real” glass.  My day was complete. We would arrive home late in the afternoon, feet hurting but nevertheless, stomachs full and totally wiped out.

Once I had children I wanted to give them some special memory of Christmas Time. We always started out with getting a real Christmas tree. My old boss from Philadelphia would send me money for a tree every year even after I moved. The children would be so excited to get the tree and decorate it with all the “special ornaments we collected over the years. Some of them the children made, and they are just as precious or more so than the store-bought ones. My girlfriends in the neighborhood (there are three of them) and I would get together on Christmas eve.  We would alternate between houses. We had children all around the same age. There were five boys and three girls. Sometimes we would string popcorn and put it on the tree. If we were at my house, I would play the piano and have the children sing Christmas songs. I think they always hated that part. I do know that they looked forward to getting together with friends and eating and playing and at the end of the night, the children would exchange gifts. Christmas morning the children and I would sit around the Christmas tree, I would read the Christmas story from the Bible (usually Luke Chapter 2), we would pray and then open whatever gifts we were blessed to exchange that year.

Now that the children are older, we still follow the tradition of a real Christmas tree and reading the Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas morning.  Even though there are times when we are all in different states, we make a point to be together on Christmas. We’ve added one new tradition and that is the children make Christmas breakfast. Each has their particular contribution. We tend to focus on being together even if we aren’t doing anything in particular. I still manage to play the piano but there’s no singing (that’s probably a good thing). It’s always good to remember the reason for the season and whatever traditions you develop should somehow reflect that precious thought. From my house to yours, from my heart to yours I pray for peace and blessings not only at this designated time of year but for as long as you have life and breath.

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(1) Horn & Hardart opened their first Automat restaurant in the USA in Philadelphia on 6/12/1902.  The first New York Automat opened in Times Square 7/2/1912.