[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Christmas Customs of Volhynians

[Greg Mason]

For success in stringing popcorn:  Make sure the popcorn kernals are   
fresh and moist, thereby providing large popped pieces.  We always  
popped it in a fry pan with a lid instead of an electric corn  
popper.  You can control the results better with a pan.    Use only  
the largest of the popped ones for stringing (and eat the rest)  and  
use a thin needle and a narrow gauge string.  Its a tedious process,  
but after a couple of beers and a couple of hours, you'll have a  
respectable string for decorating the tree.

Greg Mason
On Dec 5, 2007, at 5:10 PM, ehaas3 wrote:

> I would guess that the garlands made from small strips of paper and  
> pasted
> together with homemade paste were one of the decorations.  We also had
> strung popcorn. . . how they did it I sure don't know as I have  
> tried and it
> breaks apart, but I remember it on our trees.
>
> Eleanor Haas
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <GVLESS at aol.com>
> To: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 1:54 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Christmas Customs of Volhynians
>
>
>> My husband's mother always had goose for Christmas and stuffed with a
>> delicious fruit and bread dressing that he recalls tasted so  
>> good.  His
>> sisters
>> tried for years after his parents died to try to resurrect the  
>> recipe  for
>> such a
>> dressing but could not bring up the right taste or texture to   
>> whatever
>> they
>> put together.  I would assume this was something my husband's   
>> mother's
>> remembers her parents doing when living in Heimtal, Volhynia.    
>> When we
>> visited the
>> area in 1993 we noted geese were always prominent in the  village  
>> as well
>> as
>> many kinds of fruit trees.  So will have to assume this  was  
>> important to
>> what
>> the family of long ago may have had at the holiday  time.  But do  
>> not know
>> for
>> sure of course since our ancestors no longer are  with us.  Does  
>> anyone
>> really know just what type of food was served in  those ancestral  
>> years?
>>
>> Did our Volhynian ancestors even had a decorated tree of any   
>> sort?  My
>> husband says it was his responsibility as a youth when living on   
>> a farm
>> in
>> Nebraska to scout the pasture area for just the right kind of  
>> tree  that
>> looked like
>> an evergreen so he could cut it down at holiday time and bring  it  
>> home
>> for
>> decorating with mostly homemade ornaments.  But what they were  I no
>> longer have
>> any idea.  Were some that reminded the family of their  former  
>> home in
>> Volhynia, or not?  Were any food items made in those years  taken  
>> from
>> their time
>> they lived in Russia Poland?  I guess I am looking  for insight to  
>> those
>> very
>> early years in the family history, not particularly  what they may  
>> have
>> eventually done when in America.  I am sure some of the   
>> traditions were
>> carry-overs
>> and some were developed as they absorbed their new  life here.  My  
>> husband
>> said
>> he remembered well when a small child singing  with his brothers and
>> sisters
>> Silent Night in German at the Christmas program in  their Lutheran  
>> church
>> in
>> Nebraska.  Because of his strong German  heritage I chose as a  
>> special
>> number
>> at his Memorial Service in 2003 Silent  Night being sung in  
>> German.  It
>> was a
>> special treat to hear once again that  song in the old language of  
>> our
>> forefathers.  Of course, no one there at  the time knew the  
>> language any
>> more but I
>> was determined to help the newer  generations have some idea of  
>> the German
>> language of long ago.
>>
>> My husband's mother always made as a special treat for us when we  
>> came to
>> visit whether at holiday time or not of her recipe of  
>> "coffeekuchen".  It
>> was
>> one thing she could still do even in her older years for us.  I have
>> German
>> background thru my Volga Deutsch grandparents as well as thru my
>> grandparents
>> that came over from Germany itself.  But they were gone before  I  
>> could
>> really
>> appreciate my heritage or know much about it.  So am anxious  to  
>> hear what
>> others are willing to share on this list serv what they recall  
>> from  their
>> family
>> traditions - and of course, if any show a direct connection to the
>> Volhynian
>> and Polish homelands.  Thank you for doing so as writing the  family
>> history
>> does need more than just statistical data.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Virginia Less
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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