ILJOHNSO-L Archives

From: Bill <>
Subject: Little lEgypt Heritage, 26 December 2004, Vol3#40
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2004 12:52:55 -0500

Little Egypt Heritage Articles
Stories of Southern Illinois
© Bill Oliver

26 December 2004
Vol 3 Issue: #40
ISBN: pending

Osiyo, Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt,

Tis the season to reflect on the many blessings that come. Family is the
greatest of these. Barb and I are certainly blessed in that department.
More about that later in this writing.

The season, whether celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwaanza, or other
holiday festivals, is a season of giving to others. Christmas gifts
express the basic idea of love, and both giver and receiver do not
consider a gift merely as the fulfillment of an obligation or the
expression of a momentary affection.

One small Iowa town had an unusual present from a giving couple. The
December electric bill for 649 residents was paid by a couple. And,
their giving doesn’t stop there ... in the near future they plan on
building a library for their town. Plus, down the future road, they wish
to build a wind-turbine to cut everyone’s electric bill by an estimated
one third. That couple calls it “giving back”.

The custom of gift-giving is presently world-wide in scope but the
history and tales of our exchanging presents originally came from the
European and Asian Continents.

In the Roman Empire, gift-giving was popular on New Year's day. Roman
citizens exchanged gifts of sweet pasties, lamps, precious stones and
coins of gold and silver as tokens of their good wishes for a happy
year. The Roman custom is preserved in France to this day.

Germany customs involved packages of Christmas gifts called
Christ-Bundles. They contained candy, sugar plums, cakes, apples and
nuts. In addition to food, dolls and other toys were sometimes included.
Useful items: clothes, caps, mittens, stockings and shoes also found
their way into the Christ-Bundles. And always tucked among the packages
were objects related to learning: ABC tables, paper, pencils and books.
Lastly, attached to the bundle was the Christ-rod which was the severe
reminder to be good behavior for heavens sake.

In Holland, children kept money given them in a pig-shaped earthenware
box which was not opened until Christmas. Known as the Feast Pig, it
became our modern day piggy bank. When opened, the child was rewarded
with a collection of money gifts received over an entire year.

Do you remember those “Christmas Club” accounts banks promoted in years
gone by? You won’t find banks handling those kinds of accounts in this
day. Imagine putting a dime or a quarter or fifty cents away each week
during the year so that you have some “sure” money to spend on Christmas
presents. The stores didn’t put out their holiday merchandise until
after the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was finished.

The gifts today are produced on a basis of quantity and economy; the
products of the past were made not so much for the pleasure of the
moment as for the endurance of the years. The workmanship of the past
will endure while that of the present will very soon disintegrate and be
forgotten.

Gift giving in Mother Russia was based on a legendary old woman called
Babushka, (grandmother), who didn’t come down the chimney but rather
gained entrance to the homes through the front door. She left beautiful
enameled boxes and other wares which became family heirlooms and passed
down from generatioan to generation.

And finally, some two thousand years ago, the Magi brought gifts of
gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Christ Child...

In recent years there has been an increasing tendency to give something
at Christmas time which will be not only reminiscent of the giver but a
source of pleasure and utility to the recipient. Our out of town
children made sure that we received phone calls. And, our daughter
sponsored the Family dinner at her house this year to spare us from
noticing the vacant space at the table. As other examples, my
grandchildren know how much I appreciate things they make, as well as,
things to eat. Two of them gave me the ingredients to make my own soup.
Another gave to me cookies that she had baked. The other three
granddaughters brought to us a jar of canned peaches and a jar of peach
jelly that their mother had canned before she entered her new realm.

This is a rich and wondrous family season and Tiny Tim said it best.

e-la-di-e-das-di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da.
(May you walk in peace and harmony)

Wado,


Bill
-=-


PostScript:

= = = =
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html

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