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Subject: A CREOLE CHRISTMAS IN LA
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 08:41:49 -0600 (CST)

Serving as a docent (volunteer guide/teacher) at a Louisiana colonial house
museum has given me an opportunity to learn of the customs observed by a
wealthy creole family in the colony during the period between 1800 and 1830.
Since their Christmas observance differed somewhat from what we have come to
regard as an American Christmas, it is interesting to note the differences
in the way some of our ancestors celebrated the holidays.
To begin with, Christmas in America was not celebrated with a great
deal of partying and gift-giving as we know it today, but was observed
quietly as a religious celebration. The season began for the French and
Spanish Catholics and for Episcopalians with the observance of the four
weeks of Advent, a time of preparation for the coming of the Christ child.
December 6th, St. Nicholas' Day, was observed in the church as the feast day
of the patron saint of little children, but St. nicholas was not then the
jolly Santa Claus in a red suit bearing toys and gifts. Christmas trees and
their bright ornaments were not to come until the days of Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert. Gifts for the children consisted of fruit and nuts placed in
their shoes by Père Noel or le petit Jésus.
Christmas began with the family attending Midnight Mass on Christmas
Eve, and then returning home to the Révillion, a late supper for family and
friends. This might be an elaborate meal at which would have been served
oysters, meats, breads, fruits, jellies, pastries, cakes, and other special
dishes served in a festive setting.
Remember that the French loved fine foods, and here in LA settlers
were far more fortunate than were those in certain other areas, having a
climate conducive to long growing seasons, an abundance of game, their own
domestic animals, fowl of both domestic and wild varieties, and a plentiful
supply of seafood, both fresh and saltwater. Luxury foods, for those few who
could afford them, were available through the port of New Orleans, and in
the case of the larger plantations, were delivered to the plantation dock by
the owner's boat which had picked them up in New Orleans. After 1820, the
steamboats made travel up-river more possible, and the paddlewheelers
stopped regularly at the plantations to deliver and pick up passengers and
goods. Since almost all land concessions fronted on the water, everyone had
access to the river or some navigable stream; and a good thing that was, as
there were no roads to speak of.
Therefore, the festive tables set for a Christmas buffet were
elegant, indeed. Only edible centerpieces were used,so these would have been
arrangements of fruit and some greenery. The silver candlesticks were placed
foursquare on the table and the whole setting was symmetrical. A frequent
presentation commanding a place of importance on the table was an
arrangement of crystal cake pedestals, stacked in graduated size to perhaps
three stages, and topped by a crystal compote. On each level of the stack
would be cordial glasses filled with assorted jellies in jewel colors and
the compote at the top might have held lemons, grapes, or kumquats.
Tall cake cones frosted white and studded with colored candies were placed
at the four corners of the table, and arranged over-all were salvers of
paté, cheeses, breads, and other elaborately decorated goodies. Painted tole
wine coasters held bottles of fine French wine, and other liqueurs were
served from the sideboard or by servants. Usually found on the sideboard
would have been the "yule log" cake, made and decorated to look like a log
and trimmed with greenery and red berries. Flanking it one would likely have
seen tole vases filled with pyramids of greenery, lemons, and kumquats.
Elsewhere in the house decorations would have been limited to the
placement of greenery and berries, with the addition of small rosemary
bushes in pots. Rosemary is for remembrance, but it was also believed that
rosemary in the house kept one beautiful. Magnolia leaves, myrtle, cedar,
and boxwood were employed in small bunches of greenery atop the armoires in
the house. In the windows would be placed touches of greenery and berries
along with a candle to light the way for the Christ Child. In the parlor
could be seen paired arrangements of fresh pineapples with greenery and
berries at the base and kumquats and grapes tucked into the green tops. The
crucifixes on tables in the bedrooms would be touched with greenery as would
the tops of mirrors and the beautiful wrap-around Norman French mantles over
the fireplaces. Greenery would flank the front entrance, filling two wooden
planters.
A crèche would be placed at some location in the house, with the
Infant missing until midnight on Christmas Eve, when He would be placed in
the manger. The Magi did not make an appearance in the scene until a few
days before Epiphany, the feast day of the three Kings. They were all
standing figures (most crèche scenes now include one as a kneeling figure),
and each day they were placed a bit closer to the stable, as if journeying
to see the newborn King.
In the family who occupied this particular house, it was the custom
to place a sheaf of rice in a large vase in the parlor, to bring good luck
and plentiful harvests in the coming year. This custom was one observed in
the part of France from which the master of the plantation had come.
From our files at the museum comes this list of fruits, greenery and
other natural elements suitable for decorating in that period, and the
meaning of most:

apples-salvation
apricots or peaches- virtue
cherries- delights of the Blessed or good works
grapes- Blood of Christ
grapefruit
figs- fertility
kumquats
lemons or limes- fidelity
olives- wealth
oranges- purity, chastity, generosity
plums or prunes- independence
pears- Incarnate Christ
pomegranates- the Church
pineapple- hospitality

almonds- divine approval or favor
gourds- resurrection
rice(grain)- humanity
chesnuts
walnuts
pinecones
magnolia cones
okra pods
tallowberries

pine (fir)- patience
magnolia
holly (ilex)- Christ's crown of thorns
wax myrtle- love
palmetto (palm)- victory
cedar- Christ
cypress- death
olive- peace, bounty
smilax (vine)- sanctuary
ivy- immortality
rosemary- remembrance
cherry laurel- triumph, eternity
yew (fir)- patience

While our celebration of Christmas may be a bit different from that of our
ancestors, may it be for all of us a time filled with the Peace of Christ,
the love of our families, and good health and safety throughout the New Year.

Elaine F.

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