Christmas Day

But here a small boy says: “It snowed last year, too. I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea.” “But that was not the same snow,” I say. “Our snow was not only shaken from white wash buckets down the sky, it [...]

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Epiphany

6 January — Epiphany, Three Kings, Twelfth Night, Little Christmas, Christmas itself for Orthodox Christians, and the end of the Jule Month for us. The first of our decorations were up for Saint Nicholas Day, 31 days ago, and for us the holiday began. It was during this time each year that our ancestors strove [...]

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Julekage

Julekage, or Julekaka, or Julekake — spell it however you like, but if you say it please remember that J is Y, G is hard, and the word has four syllables. In my family it always sounded like you-leh-kah-keh. This Norwegian Christmas bread (literally “Jule cake”) was a holiday standard when I was growing up, [...]

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Christmas Tree

Each year, once it’s in the stand and properly aligned in the room, we build it out from the center. First come the lights. Three strings of tiny white lights. I like to place these closer to the trunk than to the ends of the branches, as if inside the tree, so the lights twinkle [...]

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Peace, Joy, and Love Now and in the New Year We Wish You A Happy Holiday

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Julenissen

My grandmother brought Julenissen from Norway. I think she bought him during her visit there in 1937 and probably gave him to my mother, with two other nisser, as a Christmas present that year. Every Christmas when I was growing up these three nisser figures appeared on the top of our piano, sometimes standing nearly [...]

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Christmas Shopping in the ’50s

When I was a child the Christmas season always included a trip to Chicago, specifically to the Loop and to the grand old stores along State Street and Wabash Avenue. There were many stores, many exciting sounds, many overwhelming sights, but Marshall Field’s was always a particular highlight. With snow falling about us, slush under [...]

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