Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-12-24
but shall endeayor to recall an episode or
SO of sixty years ago.


ticipated in the erection of a Christmas
tree after the "county fashion" of that
perlOd-so far at least as that locality
was concerned. Christmas occurs during
the shortest days of the whole year, and
people in the country lived somewhat far
ther apart than they do now, hence visits
could not readily be made to see how the
people kept the day, therefore families
mainly kept it within themselves, and
when the day was gone, it was gone for
another year; for the morrow brought its
usual duties.
The tree on this occasion was a low &C.
dar bush which Eve boys" had ''spotted"
when we were out walnuting as early as
the beginning of the previous November.
The head of the family was of Irish de-
scent but had married into a family of
"Pennsylvania Dutch, and had accOmmo-
dated himself to their peculiar ways, and
when necessary spoke their peculiar lam
guage Only one of the elder boys, the
housemaid and myself, in addition to the
"Old Folks, participated in the preparation
of the tree. All the others were the vic
Tins of tue harmless little ruse which pa
rents saw fit to resort to once year, in
order TO furnish an agreeable surprise and
pleasure to their little ones, whose boxes,
hats, caps and stockings occupied different
hooks and corners to receive the gifts of
the q" Bells -Nickcl' to good little boys and
girls, and somehow all claimed to be good
on that occasion at least. But when the
Bells Nickel appeared in his proper person
| on Christmas eve, with his hideOus visage,
his bag of nuts, and his long whip, jingling
his bells withal, and speaking in dialect
| that seemed to have been brought from the
D.l, IL: ,<,k
quite so sure of their goodness, if they did
not fly in terror from his presence and hide
| themselves under the rcmOtcst corner of
| their beds. The name of Santa Claus, so
| far as | can remember, had then no cur
| rcncy in the rural districts of our county.
| 1t was the Bells Nickel that rewarded good
| children and punished bad ones, and it was
| he who filled the stocking legs, the hats,
| caps and boxes on Christmas night. These
gifts TO children, and indeed all gifts pass.
| ing between the young and the old were
scvcrally termed b"Christ- kindly" but as
| little was heard and known Of Kriss- Kin
gle as of Santa Claus.
Christmas-gifting, in proportian TO the
population, was just as common as it is
now, but it was not so extensive, nor so
expensive, nor yet SO artificial as nOw-at
least not in the country. People generally
gave what they made or produced with
their own hands, but whatever it was, it
was designated as Christ-kindly. None
Or at least very few-wOuld have thought
of purchasing gift to bestow upon an
other. Indeed, except a book of some kind,
or a piece Of jcwclry, there was very little
| specially provided for the Christmas trade,
and that was confined to the larger towns.
| In the country there was an annual butch
cring just before Christmas, and many gifts
were in the form of ''puddings and sau-
sages."
Our Christmas tree on this occasion may
have been four feet high (about the height
of boy of ten years old) and every avail.
able branch contained an article of some
kind, and its base was garnished by the
Christkindlics of the children, which con-
sisted of c' hcnshing," or mittcns, stock
ings, car warmers, shOcs-usually d. Mon
roes "-satchels, scissors and thimbles, for
the girls; cakes, nuts, raisins, apples,
pears, and such like articles, all of dOmes-
tic use. The tree was decorated with 6 in
ger bread cut in various grotesque forms,
remote approximations to men, women,
horses, dogs, deer, roosters, fishes, stars,
hearts, sheep. goats, cows-and even the
d" bad man diamonds, houses, rings, etc.
and these were cmbellished with mixture
of starch and sugar, which gave them a
frightful, if not a comic look. These with
apples, here and there bunch of raisins,
or a C." matzebaum, obtained from town
shop and brightly colored f 'roscttes, CON-
posed of scarlet, yellow and green flannel,
made up the tout ensemble of the decOra-
tions of the Christmas tree of the country,
and even this was by no means universal,
for then, rs perhaps now, there were
large religious communities that never
made any demonstration of this kind at all.
They may have baked special batch of
sweet cakes for their children, but moth
ing more except, perhaps, the usual relig-
| iOus service.
The custom, however, was more COM
mon in the towns, and there, too, being
more accessible to the stores, other deco
rations were improvised, such as glass
beads, oranges or lemons, mint-drops-
| like rows of rcd and white buttons on
slips of paper-tOys and candies, accord
ing to the pccuniary circumstances of the
host; but most of tho toys, even, were
homemade. Where pine, cedar or junipe.
could not be obtained, laurel was substi-
tutcd for the tree. Donning the 'woolsy-
lindsy" winter Sunday suit for the first
time was often put off to Christmas day,
and greatly added to the anticipated pleas.
ures of the occasion. But no matter how
| little the tree was. or how scanty its en-
bcllishmcnts, it did not in the least dimin-
ish the general happiness of the festival.
There, on a side table, too, stood the great
| mug of cider, with Its accompanying
| glasses, tlanked by dishes of apples and
cakes, with baskets of walnnts, hickory
nuts and chestnuts for all who came and
the busy "chops of the participants were
actively exercised from carly morn until
late at night.
Although Gus boys" by our participa-
tion in erecting and trimming" the
Christmas tree, were enabled to see "clear
through " the deception of the Bells Nick
el, and knew he was sham, yet when his
personator visited the house-which he u.s.
ually did early on Christmas cve-wc were
terribly afraid of him, and with some
reason too, for he could make himself pain
fully tangible if he chose.
The superstition that at twelve O'Clock
on Christmas night the cattle in their stalls
all kneel down and pray, Gus boys" had
concoctcd scheme to test, but when the
hour arrived We had not the moral or phy-
sical courage 10 dissipatc the charmed H.
lusion and, instead thereof, we hurried
off to bed
OF course, sixty years ago there was no
confectioneries, ice cream saloons or toy
shops as they exist at the present period.
nor any that made the remotest approxima.
ton to them-except, perhaps, in such
places as New York, Philadelphia or Balti-
moro Limited SfOckS of th;o croo;,, ~ |