State

December 22, 193-1 THE STATE page Three Christmas in Ante-Bellum Bays I IIA 1 > just returned home from n shopping tour. It wan the third successive day that I had spent sev¬ eral hours in various stores, hunting gifts for relatives and friends. 1 was com¬ pletely fagged out ami made the remark that Christmas was largely n worry and a uuisnueo. ‘‘If Christmas is a nui¬ sance, it’s because you your¬ self make it so." was the comment of my silver-haired grandmother who was sit¬ ting before a glowing coal lire and who had greeted me upon my entrance with her customary sweet, and peace¬ ful smile. For a few minutes noth¬ ing was said. 1 was busy " ' unwrapping my bundles and she sat in her comfort¬ able rocking chair gazing at the smoldering e in bers. Then she spoke again: **I wish you could have known the Christmas joys which came into our lives during ante-bellum days. In my childhood most of our people lived on plantations and we welcomed any oc¬ casion that called for a celebration. Thoughts of Christmas began to quick¬ en when crops were all gathered and the last cotton boll had been stripped of its whiteness.” She paused for a moment, evidently busy with her thoughts, and then re¬ sumed : Started Cooking Early “Soon after Thanksgiving, fruit cukes wore baked, carefully wrapped in oil paper and put away to ripen with an apple in each box for added llnvor. Jars of mince meat, jellies, pre¬ serves and pickles were flanked by jugs of home-iuade wines. Gardens held winter vegetables and smoke houses literally overflowed with hams cured by hickory smoke and time. In those days people believed in preparedness and there was no last-minute frenzied rush to the stores as scorns to he the case today. "I can almost hear again the ring of steel as axes were swung aloft and sunk into huge hickory trees from An ancestral home of North Carolina. There were many of the above type on plantations in all sections of the state. A few of them still remain, but most of them have faded into the past us have the Christmas joys of ante-bellum days. tty Ida ttriygs Henderson which was cut a massive hack log. This log was kept in running water for three weeks, then taken out on Christ¬ mas Eve to be carried on the shoulders of four husky men and placed on the largo andirons in the hall of the big house. Eat pi no was placed in readi¬ ness for the mulch on Christmas morn¬ ing. And as long ns one tiny spark of coal smoldered in the wide fireplace, the negroes ‘look СЬгыпик How it was Done “Far back of the big house was the two-room kitchen. There the food was cooked around a wide and deep fire¬ place which was equipped with strong andirons, hanging cranes, and three- legged trivets that supported pots over glowing coals. Л brick oven was built into the wall of the enormous chimney with an opening large enough to con¬ tain a suckling pig. Hours prior to the time for u*? of tho oven, fires of oak and hickory were kept burning until the bricks were heated through and through, the cooking Mng done by stored heat. No famous chef of today ever surpassed food flavors brought out by old Southern mammies in those ovens or in tho open fireplaces. “I’d like fo soo again that same con¬ tagious joyous spirit which used to be felt iu every nook and cran¬ ny of the large plantation. Maids swept and polished until floors, furniture, glass and silver gleamed brightly. Upstairs the beds were spread with lavender-scent¬ ed linen, and fires were laid iu each open fireplace — for if was cohl in our big house in those days and there al¬ ways were plenty of guests at Christmas time. Dances Every Night "Every evening after «up¬ per during Christmas week, furniture was shoved to the walls iu the large dining room, candles iu brackets were lighted to add to the brightness of tho lire which ■ leaped iu the huge fireplace, and negro fiddlers wore placed in one corner. It seems almost as though it were yesterday — the head fiddler would draw a speculative bow over the strings of his instrument and then start out calling the figures for the square dance, which alternated with the waltz, sehottiche uml polka. And then, almost at midnight, the but¬ ler uml his helpers would puss around trays laden with cakes and drinks. "In thoso days we took our timo about celebrating. There was never any rush about any details of the Christmas season ; and, because of that fact, 1 believe we got the utmost in pleasure out of Christmas. Observed "Watch Night” "And how the old darkies used to enjoy it! On Christinas Eve all of t ho older folks from the negro quarters gathered in a cabin for ‘Watch Night' meeting, it was an established fact that all animals knew it was the birth- night of ‘blcvscd иг Massa Jesus.’ Cou- sequcntly, all cows at midnight got down on their knees and prayed to the Little Child who was born in a manger. Tears were shed and horny, toil-worn hands clapped with vigor us these chil¬ dren of nature joined songs iu 'praise ob do Lciwd’ and humbly listened to the solemn preacher rend in halting fash¬ ion the story of the first Christmas. At ( Continued on page twenty-one )