Courtesy of Chad Madden
Although the holidays the modern era go hand-in-hand with gifted Apple products and photos taken on everything but film, tradition and history can still hold a place in the festivities.
Since the 19th century, when Christmas trees began to gain popularity, Christmas, in particular, has grown more and more commercialized, with many familiar and unfamiliar holiday happenings beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
One practice, which has been largely phased out in place of other stocking stuffers, was the gifting of oranges in stockings. During the Great Depression, many families still felt compelled to give gifts, even if more expensive items weren’t feasible. So they would instead give oranges, which were hard to come by in the winter, especially in colder climates.
These sweet treats are also linked to the legend of Saint Nicholas, who, it is said, gave three bags of gold to a man who did not have enough money to pay his daughters’ dowries. These balls of gold were tossed down the chimney and landed in the daughters’ stockings, later represented in the 19th century by oranges.
A holiday tradition that has come and gone more recently also happens to be fruity, but with a little more jiggle. Enter here the Jell-O salad.
The sweet, packaged Jell-O people know and love today rose to popularity at the beginning of the 20th century, but really began to find its place in the American home after World War II. Women who had previously been helping in war efforts returned to their kitchens, and Jell-O was seen as a way to pour the creativity and energy they had brought to the workforce into the home.
Often served alongside an elaborate Thanksgiving or Christmas meal, Jell-O salads served a multitude of purposes, from a vessel for leftovers to an expression of culinary creativity. Although dishes such as the famous ‘perfection salad’ – a recipe that morphed slightly from its conception 1905, eventually consisting of lime-flavored gelatin and shredded vegetables– and other treats that involved dumping pre-packaged and canned foods into a mold were popular for decades, the tradition has largely faded since the turn of the century.
Traditions regarding other, inedible holiday cornerstones have been everchanging as well. Aluminum trees were all the rage for several years until being killed by A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965. Because an aluminum tree wasn't enough, decorations such as tinsel and fake snow were made popular around the same time.
Tess Wells is an editorial assistant. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
