I was eating a delicious after work sandwich made out of fried egg and cheese, and when I bit into it, there was an unfortunate explosion of yolk which I quickly cleaned up with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer paper towels. Usually I steer clear of any Christmas related symbolism, but the last time I went shopping I wasn’t paying attention to the pattern and Rudolph insinuated his way into my house. There were of course no Buddhist or Jewish patterned paper towels, alas. This prompted some reflections on the ubiquity of Christmas and my own offkilter holiday celebrations. So, I present to you a (not so) very special post, TangognaT’s holiday memories:
- When I was little, we used to have a Christmas tree, and my Dad’s model train would run around its base. Now, he wasn’t Christian, but he was in favor of getting holiday presents, so we’d celebrate the tree and present aspects of the holiday and celebrate Hanukkah. All the other kids in my class at school were very jealous.
- I always seemed to learn the story of Chanukkah over and over again in Sunday School every year. In fact, most of my religious education was centered around learning about holidays. Not very compelling. I do like the candles, and I’m very fond of the song “Maoz Tsur” (Rock of Ages), perhaps because of all the vengeance that was being called down on the tyrants who repressed the Jewish people. All the talk of raging foes and broken swords was quite entertaining. I did think that it was sort of cheesy the way Hannukah (not a very significant holiday) somehow became more important just because of its proximity to Christmas. I mean, people wish you a happy Channukah, but no one comments on Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashana because those holidays aren’t on the radar of mainstream American culture.
- When my Dad was married to my ex-stepmother we had to watch holiday movies like White Christmas every year. Then, when he was no longer married to my ex-stepmother we started having holiday entertainment that was the opposite extreme. So I saw the Seven Samurai, the Seventh Seal, and most of Orson Welles’ movies on Christmas. Also, many Clint Eastwood westerns!
- My mom decided to preserve the tradition of Jewish kids getting some candy and a few sheckels on Hannukah by instituting a “penny grab” on the last night — she’s get mostly shiny pennies from the bank, mix in a few quarters, dimes, and nickles, and my sister and I could keep all the money we could clutch in one fist. That was fun. Dreidel was sometimes fun too. Here’s how you play Dreidel. I didn’t realize that the game was rigged!
- Instead of Santa Claus, my sister and I got presents from a woman named Estrellita Braganza who would deliver us presents in the middle of the night by traveling up from the southern hemisphere by donkey. Sometimes we would also get presents from her sister Esmerelda. I always thought Estrellita looked something like Carmen Miranda.
- I missed having latkes this year. Next year I have to learn how to make them! Chocolate Hannukah Gelt always taste a little odd, sort of overly sweet and chalky. I had no idea that Martha Stewart was offering up a pattern for an embossed Hanukkah Gelt bag. That woman is meshugana, no?
- Christmas with my Dad transitioned into a mock celebration of the holiday of Saturnalia, which seemed to involve listening to my Dad sing “Saturnalia Carols”, decking the Saturnalia orchid plant, and occasional pear tarts.
- When I was in Japan and one of my friends told me that his family always went to KFC on Christmas, I thought he was joking, but it is quite the modern Japanese tradition.
This concludes my holiday memories!!! Hooray for fried food, holiday movies, crazy craft projects, and ancient gambling games!
7:30 am on December 15th, 2004 1
My cousin works in a Jewish funeral home… so he works the Jewish holidays, and they give him the Christian holidays off. It’s a happy arrangement. We usually end up celebrating them both. We like holidays.
Christmas is always a little creepy at my house anyway… conversations never revolve around, “What happened at the library?” but “What happened at the funeral home?”
11:22 am on December 15th, 2004 2
I bet that makes for some fun conversations
6:40 pm on December 15th, 2004 3
I didn’t realize that in earlier years the penny grab included other change as well. In the incarnation I knew, there were only pennies and we got to put our hands in from youngest to oldest.
10:47 pm on December 15th, 2004 4
I’m not sure when the random bits of other coins came in, my memories might have blended together.
5:37 pm on December 16th, 2004 5
“Explosive Yolk” would make a good band name, I think! hah!
11:48 pm on December 16th, 2004 6
I think that Mom stopped putting the other coins in when we started doing the penny grab for the Havurah (sp?), and there were a dozen kids grabbing instead of three.
4:29 am on December 17th, 2004 7
Yes, Esmeralda and her twin sister Estrellita Braganza do bear a striking resemblance to Carmen Miranda. This despite their noble, nay royal pedigree. See
http://www.chivalricorders.org/royalty/gotha/portugal.htm
for a photo of a younger cousin.
PS I haven’t seen “Miracle on 37th Street” in a very long time. Whenever, it will be too soon.
5:20 am on December 17th, 2004 8
Ha! The royal house of Braganza! I had no idea
Obviously my failed memory of the Hanukkah penny grab is a sign of my memory failing because of my advanced age.
11:47 am on December 17th, 2004 9
No worry. Memory is overrated, e.g. memory of Miracle on 37th Street. Some memories are best never had to be forgotten. I think a memory of Christmas With the Kranks is likely one such.
1:11 pm on December 17th, 2004 10
Ely is correct about the change (ha!) in the coin grab. But Tangognat is also not remembering that she was the inspiration for this family tradition. When we lived on White Street, a branch bank opened three blocks north of where we lived. I noticed that the signs for the grand opening said there would be activities for kids, so we walked up there one day. There, they had a penny grab with a bowl full of shiny pennies. Tiny Tangognat, with no coaching, was able to grab a huge number (I think more than 80 cents) of pennies in one hand. So, I remembered this the next time Hanukkah came around, as a way to provide an inexpensive present for one night. It is also in keeping with the tradition of a small amount of money as a present for Hanukkah. Then, I adapted it for the havurah when we had all of the kids over for a party — there was a present for everyone without having to go crazy. I heard later from one of the other parents that the penny grab was the thing the kids remembered most about our Hanukkah parties.
7:56 pm on December 17th, 2004 11
I’m so proud of myself for exhibiting such great manual dexterity at such a young age when money was involved!
3:17 am on December 18th, 2004 12
The factual historic background for Estrellita and Esmeralda Braganza’s establishment of a counter-Xmas and a southern hemisphere counterweight to Santa Claus’s arctic holiday cartel can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_I_of_Brazil
In this regard it should be remembered that Brazil is, in many ways pleasantly surreal. (Perhaps I should move or at least vacation there?) For instance those who have recommended it point out that although Brazil is a very, very religious country, the sense of sin merely serves to enhance the pleasance of surrealism for those of more moderate tastes.