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.