Today’s post is different from others I have done. Today I am looking for information, not giving it.
At our Christmas Hymn Sing last Sunday, Warren posed a question about the history and tradition of giving children fruit and/or bags of treats after the children’s Christmas program. Evidently that was not done at the church he grew up attending in St. Louis, and he was wondering if it was a long held tradition here in East Perry County. The response indicated that it definitely was.
This week, Warren came in to the museum and suggested the topic of this tradition, as well as children’s Christmas programs in general, to me. I endeavored to do some research the last couple of days but have come up quite short in any useful information.
Regarding the giving of fruit, in one place I found speculation that it was done because fruit was one of the more accessible and affordable gifts. In another place I found that “fruit has historically been a special and cherished gift, especially during the winter months. For many families, fresh fruit was a luxury that was not readily available year-round.” While I realize that both things can be true depending on your location and time in history, it doesn’t do much in the way of enlightening us to the development of the tradition.
So, let’s make this an interactive blog post. Does anyone know why the tradition arose to give fruit to children after their program? If you don’t know the answer to that, don’t worry, you still have a chance to participate! I would also love to hear reminiscences of your earliest and/or favorite Christmas programs.
I look forward to hearing from you! If you have an older parent or other relative that wouldn’t see this or be able to respond here, ask them and let us know what they have to share. By far, the most common phrase I hear at the museum is “It’s a small world!” Let’s make it even smaller by sharing our stories with each other.
Wishing you and yours a peace-filled Advent season and a very Merry Christmas!
My father (born 1931) said this was a tradition at Trinity – Altenburg for as long as he can remember. Included in the paper bag were nuts (peanuts, English walnuts, and Brazil nuts), an apple and orange, and small star-shaped milk chocolate and peanut clusters. As a child, I remember the sacks including all of the above with some candied orange slices thrown in.
I was too young to remember sacks of fruit, nuts and candy when we lived in Altenburg, but, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altamont IL, sacks of the same goodies were given away after the Christmas Eve children’s services. Recently I read an account of the same tradition happening in “the South” as described in an excellent short book with collections of days gone by entitled, “Appalachian Christmas Stories.” I doubt any German Lutherans influenced the authors and their memories so the goodie sack may have been more widespread than thought. I recommend the book, and especially liked the short stories by Jesse Stuart and Harry Caudill.
Can’t say when it began but have vivid memories of receiving that brown paper sack of nuts, candy and fruit throughout my 8 years of schooling’51-‘59 and much later being one of the school board members to hand it out.
That job was left to the school board to do.
Here’s from the Internet: “The origin of this tradition is not clear, but some historians trace it back to the 18th century, when German immigrants brought the custom of giving fruits and nuts to their children on Christmas Eve. They would wrap them in paper or cloth and hang them on the tree or place them under the pillow.” I know that in the 1950’s, we regularly received these bags of nuts, candy, and an orange, in a brown bag, passed out by the ushers, after the children’s Christmas program, at St. Peter Lutheran, in Huntington, Indiana, the home church of our Emanuel and Sidona Klaus Eggers Family while in Indiana. Both of my grandparents were raised in Salem Lutheran in Farrar. I bet the tradition was held there, as well.
At St. Paul’s in Wittenberg after the Christmas Eve service, we would receive a brown paper bag with a couple of oranges or tangerines. Also nuts and a a little bit of candy. The big treat was the fruit and task of cracking open the nuts in the shell. This was a common practice in the 1950’s. Not sure how long it lasted.