customs3

In Czechoslovakia, December 24th, 25th, and 26th are the holidays of the winter season. December 25th and 26th are state holidays, known as First and Second Christmas. After the festive meal on the "Generous Eve", the decorated Christmas tree, usually a fir or a spruce, is lighted. Under it gifts from family and friends are assembled, ready for distribution. Since Christmas occurs a few days after the winter solstice when the night is longer than day, there is a popular saying in Czec that "The day the Lord is born we are a flea's step ahead". Hence, this turning point in the farmers' yearly routine has always represented a time of promise for the future. With more sunshine ahead, the time for planting crops to replenish the disappearing food supply was approaching. This accounts for a number of superstitions, old nations, and folk beliefs associated with this season, all of which were aimed at creating favorable conditions for the success of the forthcoming harvest and an abundant livelihood for the people. It was customary to take a part of every course of the Christmas dinner to the animals; to the cows so that they would give more milk; to the hens so that they would lay all the eggs needed; to the pigs so that they would fatten properly. Bones from the meat course of the Christmas dinner were buried under the fruit trees in the garden to assure a plentiful crop during the coming year. Another old practice required the farmer and his wife to go into the garden before Christmas dinner and shake the fruit trees, all the while expressing the hope that the trees would bear well. Incense was burned in the house and in the barn to keep evil spirits away. An ancient tradition in Bohemia, long forgotten now, was a masquerade party similar to the custom now observed during Shrovetide. On clear evenings, the girls went to gaze into deep wells or into the water (through broken ice) in ponds and rivers, looking for the image of their future husband. Sometimes they shook the fence or the lilac bush in the garden and then waited to hear the barking of a dog; from the direction where the bark was heard, their future husband was sure to come. When the dishes were removed from the table following Christmas dinner, time-honored beliefs provided amusement for young and old. One custom was to cut an apple in half to foretell the future from the picture presented by the core. If the core revealed the shape of a cross, it signified an unfortunate fate for the person who cut the apple, while the outline of a star meant a happy future. Other methods of divination involved pouring hot lead into water, or floating walnut shells with little candles on water in a washbasin, or throwing shoes over one's head. Of ancient lineage in Chezc, in Poland, and in parts of Germany is the practice of forcing cherry blossoms into bloom for Christmas. At the beginning of Advent, a branch from a healthy tree is cut and placed in water in the kitchen. The flowering branch serves not only as a foretaste of spring but also as a beautaiful decoration for Christmas. Even more important is the fact that, if the branch blossoms forth on Christmas Eve, good fortune is in store for the maiden who cut and cared for it; she is sure to find a good husband within the year.
Christmas foods include calta, a plaited white bread, baked to a golden crisp, and sometimes called "Christmas bread". A well-known street in Prague----Celetna----took its name from this "fast" food since it was on this street that many bakers had their shops. Carp has long been a favorite holiday dish, as well as cuba (a pudding made of peeled barley, boiled in milk, buttered and baked with mushrooms). Masica, or fruit stew (consisting of dried pears, apples, prunes, nuts, and raisins) is served with a slice of Christmas bread.

Christmas in Denmark

The Danes, too, make Christmas Eve their greatest festive event of the year and share the heritage common to all Scandinavia----chiming church bells, an elaborate dinner, the ceremony around the Christmas tree, and soul-stirring hymns and carols in their candle-lighted churches. The Danes refer to Santa Claus as the "Yule Man", but it is their beloved Nisse, the gnome of Christmas, who is the center of attention for both young and old. With warm pride they point to be contributions of Christmas lore made by such illustrious sons as Hans Christian Andersen, Jacob Riis, and Einar Holboll, a modest post office clerk, the originator of the Christmas seal. During the past half century, Denmark has given valuable keepsakes to the world in the form of beautiful blue-and-white Christmas paltes made of porcelain. Produced by two of the nation's leading manufactures, the plates carry motifs true the spirit of Danish Christmas. It is said that the popular demand for these plates grew out of a practice followed by the wealthy of giving plates of cookies and fruits as gifts to their servants. The plates on which the gifts were offered were frequently of much better quality than anything the servants owned, so they hung these tokens on the walls of their homes, thus starting a collector's trend. As a result, this Christmas hobby became world-wide and a new indusry was developed in Denmark. All nature is glorified at the Christmas season. Both birds and animals receive fitting attetnion in the way of food. Bits of suet and bread are hung on trees and the best of the sheaves of grain which were selected at harvest time are put out. These picturesque sheaves perched on spruce poles are placed in many locations around the farm or home grounds near the gate, on the corner of the barn, or even on the roof. When birds come to eat in great numbers, a year of hope with good crops is foretold. During this season, fish and game are undisturbed by traps, nets, and snares, and farm animals receive extra portions of food with the wish, "Eat well, keep well; this is Christmas Eve". As the family sits down to dinner on Christmas Eve, the Christmas fire, Julebaal, a relic of pre-Christian times, is lighted in the open where it can be viewed from indoors. The glow on the hearth, the gleaming candles, and the bright-eyed Danes who observe the season in all its joy and glory point up the importance of light, warmth, and friendship, which are the dispellers of gloom, evil, and trouble among men. In olden times, even the turning of wheels was frowned in the sky denotes the coming of another spring. The lighted candle in the window gives the universal message, "Welcome stranger", and means that food and shelter are offered to travelers who may be passing----all in the spirit of the Christ Child. Christmas Eve dinner starts with rice porridge sprinkled with cinnamon, and sontaining the magic almond that one of the family is sure to find in his serving. Roast goose stuffed with apples and prunes, served with red cabbage and small caramel-browned potatoes, is the favored holiday dish. So, too, is apple cake, made with layers of bread crumbs, applesauce, and jam topped with whipped cream. Marzipan and many kinds of cookies----including the Brunekager, flavored with molasses and spirce, peppernuts, and other favorites----are made in generous quantities to be served to everyone who comes to call duting the holidays. No good housewife fails to show her guests true hospitality lest one should "bear the Yule spirit from your house" since it would not return for a whole year.