Christmas now and in the past

I have had a very hectic few weeks with baking, shopping, wrapping, Christmas letters, cards and decorating. I don’t know about you but I did not get it all done. We have made Christmas much more complicated and commercialized than it ought to be. It is such a shame really. Everywhere you look you see Santa, Frosty and reindeer. 

Let’s take a step back and look at what Christmas was like 100 years ago. I am sure that it was so much simpler. Gifts were handmade, not bought. They might have been food, hand made shirt, a simple doll, or a peppermint stick. I remember my mother saying that they always got an orange and a peppermint stick in their Christmas stocking. She said that they only had oranges around the Holidays because they were just not available. I eat an orange almost every day. Sometimes she would get a new comb or a toothbrush. I change mine as often as I need to. So many items that we take for granted today, were gifts at Christmas time 100 years ago. A new pair of shoes or boots would be a likely gift 100 years ago. It would take many months of saving money so that the shoes could be bought in time to place under the Christmas tree. A new coat, scarf or mittens were also likely gifts.

Christmas was about singing songs like Silent Night and We Three Kings and Children’s Christmas Nativity programs at church. Christmas trees came from the woods in the back not a Christmas tree lot at Home Depot. A Turkey was shot in the field and prepared for dinner not bought at the Dominick store down the street and thawed in the sink. The best potatoes were saved from the garden in the fall and a few squash and mom opened that special jar of strawberry jam that she made this summer. Several generations of a families would gather together for a special meal remembering the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is the celebration of God’s Love for us. He loved us so much that he gave us the birth of his son, Jesus, on Christmas day.

Remember the simpler days and the real reason for this season.....Merry Christmas !