turnip greens and gag gifts

Mama Lou wanted Christmas at her house to be special for her grandchildren. Because of this some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around thematic Christmases at their farm in Summertown, Tennessee. These memories are aided by excerpts from Mama Lou’s family heritage book.

Somewhere along the way one of Mama Lou’s six children suggested that all the kids and grandkids come home and spend the night together. Although most of us grandkids lived close, being together at Christmas was always an extra-special time to gather, to huddle next to the wood-burning stove and tell stories after sing-a-longs.

We would line our sleeping bags in the den and living rooms, along the hallway and at the base of the beds. A house of thirty was not uncommon and made for an exciting morning with two bathroom facilities.

Around this time Mama Lou decided to begin researching different traditions of Christmas. She would begin the summer before and start planning the family festivities. Her children thought it was a great idea to learn about the world, so long as important family traditions, like eating turnip greens every night, would also be included. So began the conglomeration of the world and Summertown.

Like turnip greens, gift-giving was a tradition we celebrated every year. Along with serious presents, the family started giving “gag gifts”, too. A gag gift, often wrapped in newspaper, would be something that, when the recipient opened it, would often be ‘gagged’ and roll their eyes, laughing. The most favorite gag gift to receive would be the famous plastic pants. These ugly black vinyl pants with white trim are given every Christmas, and usually stolen to be re-given the next year. Other favorite gag gifts include plastic balloons, rocks, or misplaced things (I wondered where that had gone!).

The first thematic Christmas was a Mexican celebration. We decorated the tree with paper flowers, colorful paper chains, paper piñatas, and little white birds. The children enjoyed a large piñata filled with goodies. To eat we had several tasty casseroles, enchiladas, baked quail, salads, and turnip greens (we always have turnip greens!).

The next thematic Christmas activities focused on Pioneer America. Arrangements were made with some of the Mennonite neighbors in Ethridge to take the grandchildren on a ride in their buggy. This was the first year that the family dressed the part and decorated the house. A photographer came, and the grandchildren were educated about what life was like for the pioneers. The electric lights were turned out and we told stories by kerosene lamps and candles. We awoke the next morning to find fruit and nuts inside our old-time stockings. We ate our meal at a low table on the floor for the Japanese Christmas celebration. The girls wore long bathrobes with wide ribbons around their waist to represent kimonos and flowers in their hair. The boys wore large white t-shirts with black belts to symbolize karate specialists. The Japanese tradition for New Year’s is to observe everyone’s birthday, so we extended that tradition to our Christmas with a large cake covered with lots of candles. We decorated with fans, chimes, race paper lanterns, and pine (for long life), bamboo (for courage), and tangerines (for happiness). The fresh spruce tree made the house smell sweet.

The grandchildren went caroling in the neighborhood to start our English Christmas celebrations. Mama Lou made white square robes for the children to wear, and we delivered goodies to the people who we went to see. This was the first year that Santa Claus made a guest appearance.

Each family put together a fairy tale to perform for the entire family at the French Christmas. The children wore berets and ties and each family had created a carnival booth inside the house for the grandkids to play. The tree was shaped into three round graduating balls and trimmed with red apples and red and white flowers. At night, the grandchildren placed their shoes in front of the fireplace so Santa could fill them with goodies.

The year we celebrated a Native American Christmas the weather was mild and ideal for outdoor activities. After breakfast we went outside and decorated our 30’ tall cedar tree with paper chains and popcorn strings, gods-eyes made out of colorful yarn, and wreathes made out of sweet gum balls. Afterwards we smoked the peace pipe (a bubble-blowing pipe) and returned to the house to put on our costumes. Papa Lu was Chief Big Star and Mama Lou was Big Squaw, and they gave out Native names to all of the grandchildren. Each family gave a report on the different tribes who lived in different parts of the country.

We started the Dutch Christmas with a large bonfire and fireworks. The next morning we went outside for the parade. The girls wore white aprons and white Dutch caps; the boys wore plumes in their caps. Papa Lu was Sinter Klaus, and lectured the grandkids on good behavior. We acted out Hans Christian Anderson stories.

Homecoming Christmas was a chance to celebrate being together as a family. We celebrated each other; each family preformed skits for Papa Lu and Mama Lou. We had three trees, one for Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future, with toys under the tree for that generation. We made a large family quilt with double knit squares and names of the family embroidered on the blocks.

Other traditions we celebrated included German, Hanukkah, West African, Canadian High Tea, Hawaiian, On the Farm, Mother Goose, and a Blue Christmas (complete with Elvis). Each year we would bring together special family traditions with popular traditions from around the world, creating a unique set of memories that each of the grandchildren will always remember and cherish.

I am very thankful for my grandparents and the opportunities they gave this country girl to travel around the world in their backyard.