Tag Archives: christmas

Santa Lucia Candle Crowns on Christmas

Nationality: United States of America
Age: 52
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Laguna Beach
Performance Date: April 20th, 2019
Primary Language: English

Main Piece
Put that down, that on Christmas eve, Santa Lucia, L-U-C-I-A: Girls would wear real candles in their hair on Church service on Christmas eve, in a crown. It was really annoying because the wax would melt into the hair, and you always thought your hair was going light on fire.
I’m not sure what exactly it stemmed from – I know it is an old Swedish tradition. I don’t just remember why – people didn’t ask, people didn’t care, but we did it. There is definitely a reason behind it, but we definitely forgot it.

Background
The informant had grown up in a religious home, and made note of the different traditions she saw over the course of her life. She took part in this tradition, and therefore can talk about her experience. This occurrence was during the 1970’s and 1980’s, and she is unsure if they are still continuing the tradition, although she believes that they are.

Context
The informant who provided this information is a 52-year-old Caucasian women, born and raised in Southern California. The information was collected while sitting outside her home in Palm Desert, California, on the 20th of April, 2019.

Analysis
This tradition is really interesting to me, due to the fact that I never personally experienced this tradition. Being raised in the same religious way as the informant, I would have expected to have seen this tradition, yet I have not. I do think that it seems like a dangerous tradition, and I am glad to not have taken part in it or seen it thus far. I believe that the tradition relates back to Saint Lucy and her martyrdom, using candles to light her way bringing food to hidden Christians in the 3rd century. I find it interesting however, that the informant does not know what the tradition actually represents, but they still continued practicing it. I think this may be due to the idea that the tradition is representing the religion in a way, and although even if not known the exact reason, the commemoration of the religion is enough for the informant.

For another version of this tradition, please see Florence Ekstrand’s 1998 Lucia, Child of Light (Welcome Press).

Christmas Eve Fondue

Nationality: American
Age: 50
Occupation: Teacher / Admissions Director
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 3/15/19
Primary Language: English

Piece:

Interviewer: “Can you explain the fondue Christmas Eve tradition?”

Informant: “Yep! So, fondue goes way back when to me being a kid… and we did this at Christmas Eve with the Hardy family, and we called it ‘hunkso’ – I’m sure you’ve heard that – ‘hunkso meat’ or a ‘hunkso party’ and… I don’t know, we started the fondue tradition in the 70s and it is something that has carried with us ever since, and now we do cheese and it’s a lot more elaborate.”

Background:

The informant has grown up with this tradition as a part of her family since childhood. The piece is important because it is representative of Christmas Eve and family camaraderie during the holiday season.

Context:

The informant (my mother) and I discussed the tradition at our home kitchen table, but the tradition itself that she is describing is performed only on Christmas Eve with extended family.

Thoughts:

Given that I am an active participant in this tradition, hearing about its origins was very interesting to me because I was able to witness how it has evolved over time. The family no longer calls it ‘hunkso’ for whatever reason (this was actually the first time I had ever heard it referred to by this name, despite what my mother said during the interview) and we have expanded the tradition to include cheese fondue, shrimp, and chicken in addition to the original beef. This is the perfect tradition for a holiday meal because the fondue format forces the meal to progress very slowly since each person can only cook one or two bites of food at a time, meaning the time in between bites is spent enjoying the company of extended family.

Scalille

Nationality: Italian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: New York
Performance Date: 3/31/2019
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian

Scalille is an Italian dessert that is usually made and served during Christmas time. Scalille in Calabrese dialect means little ladders or little stairs, and it is made of dough that is twisted a few times to create the shape of ladders. The ladder is meant to symbolize the ladder in which one may travel to heaven and be a servant to God. Because it connects heaven and earth, angels are able to travel down the ladders as well to do God’s work on earth.

The interlocutor mentioned this particular dish as a Christmas dessert that he has enjoyed throughout many holidays spent with his family, especially as he played a partially active role in the kitchen making the scalille. Both of his grandmothers have made scalille and have passed down the process to him. His knowledge of the biblical connotations of scalille originates in his Italian Catholic faith, as well as the lore surrounding the making of scalille. He regards this dessert as one of his favorite aspects of the holiday season, especially the process of making it with his family. An interesting aspect of the interlocutor’s relationship to this dessert is his strong identification with its divine implications, as he adopted a sort of reverent tone when relaying the biblical meaning behind scalille. This reverence was carried into his mentioning of making it with family members as well, which illustrates the importance of both religion and family through Italian holiday celebrations.

Italian culture largely involves the influence of religion into its identity, especially during times of religious celebration due to the fact that Christianity remains a particularly dominant religion in Italy. An interpretation of the religious connotation with this dessert can assert Italian desire to connect with heaven during a special time, as well as the desire to associate oneself as a servant of God. Scalille can connect two worlds together, providing consolation and peace during a special time of the year.

Fasting before Christmas– Russian Tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4/22/2019
Primary Language: English
Language: Russian

“There are many interesting events during the Christmastide. Traditionally Russians have kept a 40-day fast before Christmas. On Christmas Eve they’ve prepared a delicious meal known as ‘kutia.’ It’s a porridge made of wheat or barley and mixed with honey. Today, people use rice and dried fruits to cook this dish. On the night of Christmas it was habitual to visit the relatives and neighbors, to eat kutia and sing carols. Young girls would also arrange fortune-telling nights.”

The interlocutor has visited Russia multiple times, and due to her frequent visits, she has become close friends with a particular native Russian. The folklore that she has shared with me is derived from her native Russian friend. The interlocutor has not celebrated a holiday in Russia, but she has heard of the laborious preparation for holidays such as Christmas. Some particularly Christian families participate in the 40 day long fast, while other religious families fast for as little as three days. She also relayed her desire to celebrate Christmas in Russia because of the communal aspects of the holiday, and while she experiences similar communal practices in America, she wishes to eat the kutia and participate in the various Christmas time activities that are unique to Russia.

The fast before Christmas appears relate to the Nativity fast that most Christian and Orthodox people participate in. This serves as preparation, mental, spiritual, and physical, for the birth of Christ, especially as one is meant to revere his birth. The varying amounts of time in which families fast illustrate that religion and adherence to it is not universal. The kutia mentioned also obtains religious significance through its ingredients. The wheat relates to bread, or the body of Christ, and the honey and fruit relate to fertility and the resurgence of life. It is by way of this dessert that religious Russians are able to celebrate their religion during a particularly holy time of the year.

Chinese Food on Christmas

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/16/19
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

Interviewer: Does your family engage in any Jewish culinary customs such as eating kosher?

SS: We aren’t kosher but like a lot of other Jewish Americans we actually eat Chinese food on Christmas which is an interesting tradition. 

Interviewer: Can you tell me more about this?

SS: I’ve been doing it since as long as I can remember. Every Christmas for dinner me and my family has a bunch of Chinese food and has a really good dinner usually with my immediate family, my cousins that live in Los Angeles, and my grandparents. 

Interviewer: When did you start doing this?

SS: It’s something that my family does every year and that we got from my dad and his side of the family. He did it with his family growing up and they passed it down to ours.

Interviewer: Who else that you know does this?

SS: I actually know quite a bit of Jewish people who do this. I have a bunch of family friends who do it and most of my relatives.

Interviewer: Do people outside your family do this in the same manner or is there any differences?

SS: Well actually most people I know have the meal Christmas morning. My family is a little different we like to do it for dinner

Interviewer: Do you know where this custom came from?

SS: I’m not all entirely sure. However, my dad has explained it a little bit. He basically said that it started decades ago when his parents were kids and that it is used as a way to feel connected to jewish culture on a day where we feel a bit outcast from the rest of society. It’s a way for us to engage in an activity on a day where most of the world is doing something completely different. 

Interviewer: How do you personally feel about this tradition your family has?

SS: I personally love it. I feel like if my family didn’t have this especially at a young age Christmas would have been a weird day for me. But instead, I have something to look forward to. It really brings us together and we always enjoy it a lot. It’s also nice to know that I’m doing something similar to friends and family in my Jewish community. 

Context:  I received this explaining of a Jewish folk tradition from an 18-year-old male Jewish from Los Angeles. He practices Judaism and been raised in a Jewish household his entire life. This interview was done in person at the USC Leavey Library. 

Analysis: This is folk tradition of Jewish people eating Chinese food on Christmas day is an interesting one. It is an example of a community creating a tradition in order to feel connected to their own identities and their communities in a creative manner.