My Memories of Christmas 1949
I was six years old in 1949. We lived in Mineola, Long Island New York. The Christmas season festivities started at Thanksgiving, and ended after the new year.
My mother made our family’s traditional Christmas cake, which took weeks to prepare. It contained a lot of dried fruit marinated in spirits for a long time before baking. We made other special treats for the big family gathering on Christmas day. The radio played Christmas songs, and Perry Como sang “The Lord’s Prayer.” I remember singing along with him and solo when the radio was off. It was my favorite song.
A few days before Christmas, Dad brought home a big fresh-cut tree for decorating. The lights were carefully checked to make sure every bulb worked. Powdered soap made frothy in the electric mixer coated every branch to look like snow. Delicate glass balls, and silver tinsel completed the decoration. All the wrapped presents placed under the tree. Statues in a manger scene adorned the mantle over the fireplace. Excitement filled the air while we made ready for Christmas day.
With the dawn of the special day, my dad went down stairs to turn on the lights. I don’t have many memories of opening the presents, or the special breakfast and turkey diner my mother made.
It was the enormous crowd of family that came to visit that I remember vividly. At times it was so crowded, it was difficult to move around. My mother and sisters served homemade eggnog, Christmas cake and cookies while people exchanged small presents. It was during the family gathering that my mother asked me to stand on the stairs and sing “The Lord’s Prayer”. She smiled encouragingly and her eyes twinkled. I sang my first solo to those lovely eyes. What a surprise it was to me when the roar of applause overtook me. I was glad that they liked my singing, but I did it because she asked.
Later we all walked ten houses to visit at my Grandmother’s, where family visiting continued. The house was so full that my cousins and I sat on the floor out-of-the-way.
The tree and other decorations remained until after the new year, then the long cold winter began.
