VINTAGE CHRISTMAS

SZENT-ESTE "HOLY EVENING" CHRISTMAS EVE

Szent-este or Holy Evening is the Hungarian term for Christmas Eve.  A couple weeks ago Saint Nicholas came to see the Children. Now this evening is about family and spirituality - Christianity. People gather to sing carols and open presents.  The presents for the children have been left by the Infant Jesus and angels. The Christmas meal will be eaten over a fancy tablecloth with straw under it, as the child Jesus was born on straw.

ERNO DOHNANYI : PASTORALE PIANO SOLO FOR CHRISTMAS

Ernő Dohnányi: Pastorale (Hungarian Christmas Song)
Thankyou!

CLEVELAND HUNGARIAN MUSEUM presents CHRISTMAS IN HUNGARY

Here's the link to the museum which has a lot of information on how Christmas is traditionally celebrated in Hungary:  Now it seems that Saint Nick visits the children on December 6th, and then ADVENT begins.  Then Christmas is celebrated again on the 25th.

One custom that seems to have been carried on in my family is that the Christmas tree IS NOT PUT UP UNTIL CHRISTMAS EVE... it's supposed to be a surprise.  Gifts were always small and personal, under the tree but usually for immediate family only.

THE COMMERCIALIZATION of CHRISTMAS really bothers me.  And in the years I worked retail Christmas was ruined for me by the time it came.  Now I think of the Christmas holiday as a time of materialism and excess, far from the true nature and meaning of the original holiday.

Update Dec 2023  LINK https://clevelandhungarianmuseum.org/

POPPY SEED ROLLS ; A MEMORY OF AN AMERICAN-HUNGARIAN CHRISTMAS

My mother - a stay at home mom - outdid herself around the Christmas holidays with traditional cookie recipes from Central and Eastern Europe.  I don't think we thought in terms of Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, Russian, Ruthenian, German... but it seems that traditional recipes were being carried on by the next generation.

I remember going to relatives homes where they had cookies and cakes that were different than the ones we made... it was ALL GOOD!

We never had chocolate chip cookies or shortbread, but we had lots of POPPYSEED rolls, cookies with walnuts, tarts with jams...

LUCA'S DAY FOLK CUSTOMS DECEMBER 13th...

FELIX has made a great effort to inform us about LUCA'S DAY FOLK CUSTOMS... December 13th is the Holiday in Hungary... so go ahead and click on the title above to read what he has to say!

DECEMBER SIXTH IS MIKULUS DAY (SAINT NICK VISITS THE CHILDREN WITH GIFTS)

On DECEMBER 6th in Hungary, children anticipate a visit from Saint Nick, put their boots out for him to fill with sweets - nuts and fruits, small toys, and maybe a "switch," indicating that perhaps they have not been so good and deserve to have their rear ends hit with this. 

To Americans who are sensitive to child abuse this can seem cruel in itself but I think many of us were hit by parents when we were children who had been hit by their parents as well. 

Saint Nick has been tipped off by the parents as to if their child has been "naughty or nice" and so some children get both the switch and the gifts.

SAINT NICK - ONLY THE BRAVEST CHILDREN SPEAK TO HIM

ONLY THE BRAVEST CHILDREN CAN GO UP TO SAINT NICK and speak to him. The rest await his visit as they do here in the United States, to be early with anticipation. He brings small gifts for them.

This illustration courtesy of Dover Publishing is interesting to me because in Saint Nick's pouch there looks to be a gold star of David, the symbol of Judaism.

ADVENT BEGINS IN HUNGARY

We always had advent wreaths in our home growing up. They were never very elaborate and this illustration is the closest to the one I remember, most importantly the colors of the candles, with the lighter, pinker one being lit last as Christmas drew nearer.  The candles were lit and it remained on our table when we had dinner, then hushed out after our meal. We did not begin our holiday decorating until Advent was over until my parents were older.

In recent years I've noticed ADVENT CALENDERS - with little windows and treats being sold in stores in my area, I believe imported from Germany.

ICE SKATING

I watched the Winter Olympics last year and Ice Skating is always one of my favorite sports to watch because long ago I spent a winter season learning how. I never was able to make myself spin without falling.  

There was one woman skating to represent Hungary: Do you know her name?

THANKSGIVING is the MOST AMERICAN of ALL HOLIDAYS

Turkey wasn't always the THANKSGIVING BIRD!  In old Virginia it was the GOOSE that they ate...

Thanksgiving is the most American of Holidays for one reason; it is inclusive of people from ALL RELIGIONS including those who are not religious at all.  

This is a good time to cherish what we have, while also remembering those who do not have as much as we do.

MY HOME HUNGARY : HAZÁM MAGYARORSZÁG

CROWN OF ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY

ALL SOULS DAY IS a H U G E HOLIDAY OF ANCESTOR WORSHIP IN HUNGARY

I do my ancestor worship through genealogy and history research.  It is through this research that I have learned so much about people I never knew or even heard about because my Hungarian-heritage parent had not either. 

At one point in my research I got the impression that a spirit was watching over my shoulder as I constructed family charts. It was very quiet and there was a .. presence. 

I also had a dream during a period of intense research of someone - the hands were ghostly mist - coming to me and showing me who they were; if I ever see a photograph of the woman that those ghostly hands held I will know.

DUMNEAZU's blog here is fascinating (with wonderful pictures!) and you can link to it and find out that there is NO HALLOWEEN IN HUNGARY but ALL SOULS DAY is H U G E !

FIND A GRAVE - BELA LUGOSI

FIND A GRAVE has been useful in my personal genealogy research.  It started out as a site used to find the burial places for celebrities (I'm linking to BELA LUGOSI's grave!) but you can use it to find regular deceased folks too!


Click on the title of this post to get to the link!

The official BELA LUGOSI web site!

BELA LUGOSI is probably the best known male Hungarian actor who made it to Hollywood. He starred as Dracula.... Count Dracula of legend...  who actually may have been based on a real person VLAD THE IMPALER.


Free Screen Saver at this site.... hmmm... would you like it to be Halloween all year long?

THERE IS NO HALLOWEEN IN HUNGARY

There is no Halloween in Hungary...  But of course most Americans do celebrate this holiday beginning in grade school where the cycle of Holidays is usually played out througout the year.  For some this is an opportunity to wear a mask and costume and play at some alter-ego for a while.  Usually this is playful and silly and there is no harm in it at all.

Personally, I like the pumpkins and gourds, the harvest festival aspect of the American Holiday.   I also like the spiritual aspect of it, the idea that at this time of year this world you can celebrate or communicate with your ancestors. 

What I can do without is all the fright and gore,  the Haunted Houses, the way this celebration has been perverted into something evil rather than reverent.  There is no good reason as I see it for EVIL to be associated with this holiday or time of the year, as if evil doesn't exist all the time.  I don't think the celebration of ancestors or trying to communicate with them (this is usually through psychicism) is evil either.  For most of us, going through the family album or old scrapbooks is good enough. 

HUNGARIAN STEREOTYPES : EXCESS WITHOUT REGARD FOR HEALTH

One of the stereotypes of HUNGARIANS is that they all EAT, SMOKE, and DRINK to excess! (This has something to do with a passionate nature!)

C 2010 Magyar-American BlogSpot

Just a note: It is August 2022 and though I believe this stereotype is still holding, from what I've been reading it would seem that even Hungarians are on a health-kick, reducing the lard, making smoking against policy in many places.  I sure hope this doesn't mean enjoying life less.

RED SLUDGE MAKES IT TO THE DANUBE in HUNGARY - BREAKING NEWS

"The concentration of TOXIC HEAVY METALS  where Hungary's massive red sludge spill entered the Danube has dropped to the level allowed in drinking water, authorities said Friday, easing fears that Europe's second longest river would be significantly polluted.


Monday's reservoir break at an ALUNIMA PLANT  dumped up to 700,000 cubic meters (184 million gallons) of sludge onto three villages, government officials said, not much less in a few hours than the 200 million gallons the blown-out BP oil well gushed into the Gulf of Mexico over several months."


PABLO GORONDI reports for Associated Press - click on the title to get to the full news article!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE "HUNGARIAN" or "HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN" or

"MAGYAR-AMERICAN" ?

HAHAHUNGARIAN is my new YOUTUBE STATION!

Fun on a Saturday afternoon, I've just set up a Youtube station to associate with this blog.  There are so very many wonderful videos being posted out of Hungary and by Hungarian-American's that sometimes it's difficult to choose.



I will be displaying the MUSIC station, a mix of the old and now.

A NOTE on July 31, 2016  I've been "Fixing" old videos so they will play with the new Google Blogger mandated https (secure) address.  At the same time I'm simplifying the labels I use to identify this blog, major subjects, and YouTube videos.  I'm glad to see that the majority of the videos that I have posted ARE upgrading to the new https without too much fuss.  Some, sadly are no longer available on YouTube!

SISTER SARA SALKAHAZI BEATIFICATION FOUR YEARS AGO

This was passed onto me. It's from a March 2010 church bulletin from St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood California.


SISTER SARA SALKAHAZI: A MODEL OF SACRIFICE


"Sara Salkahazi was born in Kosice (at that time a part of Hungary) on May 11, 1899, now her FEAST DAY.  In 1929, she entered the Society of Sisters of Social Service in Budapest.  There she vowed her entire life to the service of God with the motto "Alleluia!  Here I am!  Send me!  Her love of Christ was manifested in diverse areas of social service, in Catholic movements, and by authoring a variety of literary works.  She was a talented teacher, journalist, and community organizer.


"In 1943, she consciously offered her life for the Society, particularly for the weak and ill, in case the Sisters of the Church were persecuted.  On December 27, 1944 the Hungarian Nazis surrounded the Home of Working Women where Sara was in charge.  She was arrested along with a co-worker and a group of Jewish refugees she was hiding.  That same evening, all of them were stripped naked and shot, their bodies falling into the icy River Danube.  Before her execution, Sister Sara knelt down, facing her executioners and made a great sign of the cross.  God accepted the sacrifice of her life.


The Eucharistic Celebration of Sister Sara's Beautification was in Budapest
on September 17, 2006.

I'm also linking to an article/interview about her from Catholic Online, and Cardinal Peter Erdo.

Note Septmeber 2019.  Clicking on the title of this old post should take you to the link.

CENTROPA has a HUNGARIAN LINK :

You can upload and share old family pictures, watch 20 short films of history, send e-cards, and much more on this site which has a link to HUNGARY in HUNGARIAN or read these in English.

PEACE VIDEO FROM HUNGARYROMANIA FRIENDS

Is PEACE too much to ask?  HERE IS WHAT HUNGARYROMANA FRIENDS HAS TO SAY on their YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
"All open minded Romanians and Hungarians which have a need of closing between our nations are welcomed. Lets break down the walls built from lies, ignorance, and blind hate together! Lets meet in discusions or at cultural events to enriche each other.  This page's idea was found by three men who want peace between Romania and Hungary and their videos were made to sound it."



vezum9 (Romania)
bugroach (Hungary)
Grizzly000999 (Romania)


Collaborating with
DamnedNationalists (Slovakia)
Vlahia2008 (Romania)


Indubitabil88 (Romania)

BOOK EXCERPT : REZSO KASZTNER by LADISLAUS LOB

page 264


His world was "totally shattered..."For years, his activity in Budapest had been a source of pride to him", but now he needed "almost superhuman stores of strength, simply to get up in the morning, go out of the house and walk about the city streets as if nothing had happened."  Deeply hurt by the "badge of shame" that had been attached tio him, he remained "convinced that he was the victim of an unbearable injustice.  (Quoting another writer Weitz)


"Kasztner was not the only one to suffer.  His wife and daughter were also hounded by the rabble.  Their block of flats was daubed with graffiti saying "Kasztner is a murderer" and worse.  Their balcony was bombarded with rubbish.  Neighbours called Bogyo a "Nazi" and shopkeepers refused to serve her.  Szuzsi, form the gage of nine, was harassed, bullied and called a "murderess" at school and in the street.  The witch hunt was to continue for many years, and the lasting  emotional damaged caused to both women is easy to imagine...(The twi women are his wife and daughter.)"


.... "He was hounded by death threats, which the authorities took seriously enough to assign him two bodyguards, though ironically these were withdrawn shortly before he really needed them.  On the other hand, he receive many letters of support, particularly from member of the young pioneer groups who had worked with him in Budapest.  He was offered sanctuary in two kibbutzim, but refused to hide..."

It sounds like Zsa Zsa isn't going to make it. THE RAG SHEET PHOTOS MAKE ME MAD

Right now, as I read reports that Zsa Zsa has had another relapse, and it sounds like her time may be near, I feel angry that someone - maybe a member of the hospital staff - has provided one of the newspapery gossip magazines with a picture of her laying back - the camera aimed at her nose - showing what she looks like without cosmetics or hair done.  THIS IS INCONSIDERATE! Leave a person alone in the PRIVACY OF THEIR DEATH BED!

BOOK EXCERPT : REZSO KASZTNER by LADISLAUS LOB

REZSO KASZTNER
The Daring Rescue of Hungarian Jews" A Survivor's Account
by Ladislaus Lob  C 2008
Pimlico  is the Publisher

(The subject of this book Rezso Kasztner is a controversial figure of the Holocaust/ World War II. Some, including the author who provides his own testimony "I am alive today because of Rezso Kasztner", see him as a hero, someone who found a way to get some Hungarian Jews to Switzerland though this was through  financial deals with Nazis.  Others in Israel felt just the opposite, that he could have done more, and he was killed because of it.)

page 196-197

"...a miracle seemed to have happened.  From the Red Cross in Geneva we received some 60 cases containing food, medicines, vitamins, and in particular 1,300 boxes of a product called "Starkosan."  This was a chocolate powder with added vitamins and nutrients.  I have never forgotten the please of stuffing myself with it..."

FROM HIS DIARY:

"For the first time in five months a cultured flavour: chocolate!  Old people and children are truly becoming drunk on it; they are eating it with spoons, dry, on bread, with butter, with water, with jam, mixed with glucose, etc.  There has been a change in people.  Cheerful, calm faces, chattiness, an optimistic mood...."

ZSA ZSA HAS LAST RITES AND IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION - HER HUSBAND COLLAPSES

I'm paraphrasing here, all the news articles that have come out over the last couple days in Los Angeles.  She's reported to be 93 and has had two blood clots removed after hip replacement surgery and is said to barely able to speak.  We all have to go sometime, but of course we wish only for a peaceful time of it for Zsa Zsa.

GENETIC MARKERS IN THE HUNGARIAN POPULATION - THEN AND NOW

Linking to this blog that has a page on the latest in GENETICS for the Hungarians...

"On the basis of their findings the Szeged researchers came to the conclusion that the number of invaders was most likely very small because even in these very early graves only 36% of the people had markers indicating Asiatic origin. Fifty percent of them were of purely European origin, and their DNA composition indicated that their ancestors had lived in Europe for at least 40-50,000 years. By now this Asiatic element has almost disappeared: 84% of Hungarians are totally of European origin and only 16% carry Asiatic markers."

The archaeologists also tested the DNA of the horses they found in burials....

THE HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN COALITION - the oldest - and plenty of member links...

THE HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN COALITION is the oldest organization of its kind and there are plenty of members.  Link now to their web page !

HUNGARIAN HISTORY by KAROLY KOCSIS and ESZTER KOCSIS-HODOSI present HUNGARIAN MINORITIES IN THE CARPATHIAN BASIN

KAROLY KOCSIS and ESZTER KOCSIS-HODOSI present a very detailed history here divided into sections; Hungarian Minorities in the Carpathian Basin.


They ask that you respect their work and not reproduce it...


Click on the title to get to the link!

MUSINGS - HOW HUNGARIAN AM I?

For a long time I didn't have any relationship to Hungary or Hungarianess, other than knowing that in the town I was growing up in we were thought of as "low class."  This was based not on our character or personalities but because we were of Hungarian ancestry.

Since my ancestors came to the United States during the Industrial Revolution and assumed city work, I had no idea that they had been involved in agriculture and trade in the Old Country. 

I never heard Hungarian spoken or learned any Hungarian; Latin, French, German, and Spanish were the languages taught in my high school.  I also didn't grow up in an ethnic oriented church.

I had no idea that my Hungarian surname MEANT SOMETHING!  It  was difficult to spell and pronounce and a lot of people seemed to avoid attempting it.  To this day the family does not pronounce the name one way or close to the Hungarian pronounciation.

Not until about 10 years ago when I began to research my family history and genealogy, did I learn the meaning of my surname, and Google translater sound options helped me "hear it right."  Slowly I am beginning to understand how "Hungarian" I may be and through "nothing more" than a heritage !

THE GABOR SISTERS - a fan site that links to articles and photos

This fan site is cool!  THE GABOR FAMILY GOES TO HOLLYWOOD...


Now I'm wondering, as you probably are, how we know for sure what year they were born, since the sisters claimed to be younger than they were, and to blur birth dates so that they would keep getting younger...


One thing for sure, Zsa Zsa's 9th marriage is to a much younger man - the Prince!

PRINCE FREDERIC (ZSA ZSA's HUSBAND) IS RUNNING FOR GOVERNER OF CALIFORNIA

Prince Frederic Von Anhalt, Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband for many years, has this web-site that promises to include pictures from his life - and Zsa Zsa's.  The couple at this point are considered "eccentric," and I'm not sure how seriously he will run to replace the current Arnold Schwarsenegger...  Click click on that link!

ZSA ZSA GABOR RECOUPING FROM EMERGENCY HIP SURGERY

Breaking Yahoo news here.   Knew I'd have to talk about the Gabors at some point, Zsa Zsa in particular...  The Gabors were and are one of a kind, courtesans with terrific sense of humor, fashion sense, and sense of humor.
Zsa Zsa is the only Gabor sister still alive, and the only Gabor to have a child, a daughter...  Link now to the Yahoo news article and video about her... and oh,


THE HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN  MAGYAR-AMERICAN COMMUNITY WISHES ZSA ZSA a PAINFREE and COMPLETE HEALING!

HUNGARY EXCHANGE - A NEW FABULOUS HUNGARIAN GENEALOGY SITE - LOOKS INVITING TO ME!

VERY EXCITING! NICK GOMBASH (and some of his friends) are behind this one... oh I wish I had thought of it first! ... here you can find some books on line that you have probably gone nuts looking for.... such as Heraldry Books in Hungarian!

Really, truly, you must check out this link NOW!

https://www.hungaryexchange.com/ UPDATED LINK JUNE 2018

May 2022  Not Sure if the site still exists or what's happening https://www.ongenealogy.com/listings/hungary-exchange/

Here is Nick's blogspot http://nickmgombash.blogspot.com/

THE FOURTH OF JULY - MOST PATRIOTIC HOLIDAY IN THE UNITED STATES

I am proud to be an American, but like most 3rd or 4th generation Americans I still identify myself with the hyphen Hungarian-American.  This is no worse than saying someone is African-American or "Scotts-Irish," or "Sicilian."  I THINK WE WANT TO COMMUNICATE WHERE OUR PEOPLE CAME FROM to this nation of immigrants. 

How many generations does it take to feel oneself to be "American" when to be American is usually to be a mutt?  My "aunt" Hilda, here for fifty years and with excellent English but for the Accent used to say "and still a Greenhorn."

(I know of one person whose family seems to have remained "Irish" by only marrying other Irish for five generations!)

To communicate "I'm Hungarian," is to communicate that while there is pride in being an American, there is also no shame in being from this background!

ONE HUNGARIAN CATHOLIC PARISH REMAINS IN CLEVELAND...

Saint Margaret's and Saint Emeric's have closed in Cleveland.  Here's an article about Saint Elizabeth's of Hungary... from Cleveland.com


"The old Hungarian neighborhood is so far gone as to be almost erased. Until you come upon St. Elizabeth of Hungary and walk into a church as big and as beautiful as the day it was consecrated in 1922."

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO OUR PATRILINEAL ANCESTORS

If your Hungarian heritage comes from your father's side you may (still) be bearing a Hungarian surname.

SO MANY HUNGARIANS felt that they had to change their name... not only to be more American but also because ofHungarian pronounciation that made the name difficult to pronounce in English...


I think the most common variation in surnames I've seen are those that had a J that was turned into a Y... So the Maj became the May...


WAS YOUR SURNAME CHANGED?

WHAT ARE THE STEREOTYPES OF HUNGARIANS?

 

WHAT ARE THE STEREOTYPES of the HUNGARIAN?

WHAT ARE WE KNOWN FOR when someone doesn't want to get to know us better and resorts to the lazy act of stereotyping?

I know what I think about this. But what do YOU THINK?

(If you leave a comment, please leave an honest note about your ethnic heritage!)

PLUMS in Hungarian is SZILVA

Every once in a while, usually at either a gourmet store or a dollar store I find fruit preserves imported from Hungary... Plum, Peach, Apricot, or Cherry.

ROOSTER in Hungarian is KAKAS

A WONDERFUL PROGRESSION OF MAPS and COAT OF ARMS - HUNGARY

KOSSUTH COAT OF ARMS - JUST ONE OF MANY in this very interesting site from Hungarian Images and Historical Background © 1994 András Szeitz szeitz@unixg.ubc.ca

MAYGAR AMERICAN BLOGSPOT - FOUNDATION STATEMENT

This blog, MAGYAR AMERICAN, is about and for those who have Hungarian heritage and are interested what an ethnic heritage of Hungarian means. We know the stereotypes! The stereotypes are all that many of our co-Americans know; Goulash (spicy meat stew or soup), csardas (dance), depression and suicide (we are supposed to be "passionate"), wine and poetry, and the very funny Gabor sisters?

Kossuth Coat of Arms

Additionally many Hungarians have learned to be ashamed of their ethnicity here in America and have been subject to prejudicial attitudes and discrimination, especially those who came to work in the era of the Industrial Revolution and the Robber Barrons. As a result many Americans with heritage in Hungary have changed their difficult to pronounce names or fail to admit they have Hungarian blood. Here we explore stereotypes, have some fun with them, look back and look forward.

It is my hope that by exploring this blog, you can explore your heritage and find reason to understand it and be proud of it.