Read Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1:
The Beginning
Chapter 2:
My House
The Story of Lois Ann Meyer Bergeson
Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Aunt, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother …
By Lois Bergeson (Reprinted with Permission)
CHAPTER 3: HOLIDAYS
What do you remember about your childhood Christmases?
We had no relatives around so we were mostly just our family. The Christmas Sunday School program was a big thing. We all had to recite a line or two and sing carols. Sometimes I had to sing a solo. We received a brown paper bag with peanuts, ribbon candy and fruit to take home.
We would trim our little dining room with roping and tinsel. We hung icicles from the roping. We had an ornate organ which got trimmed, too. Our tree came in at the last minute so it was not dry. The tree had roping, icicles, ornaments and candles in holders like clothes pins. We got to light the candles for a little while.
Dad would stand with a wet towel on a stick in case a fire should start. It never did. Christmas Eve was the big night. Festivities could not start until Dad was in from chores and had put on a clean overall. We sat around the tree singing carols. Each child recited their piece from church. Mother read the Christmas story from Luke. A few more carols were sung and maybe “Up on the Housetop” and then it was time to open gifts. The big excitement came when we opened Grandma Carrie’s box. There most certainly would be a book for everyone. The evening was spent starting to read those new precious books.
One Christmas we had our neighbors there. With the added presents, there wasn’t room under the tree. The remaining gifts were piled on the kitchen table. I was very small so my nose just came up to the top of the table. It looked like a mountain. When all gifts were unwrapped, I wonderingly asked, “Is that all?” I got so shamed and teased about that query. I truly thought the amount of gifts was never ending!
Did you hang stockings?
We had no special stockings. We took the brown school stockings and hung them over the backs of chairs. We had no fireplace. It was always a puzzle to me how Santa could get in the house to fill the stockings. He certainly couldn’t squeeze into the stove pipes!
Did you bake cookies and make candy?
Mother made our favorite raisin filled cookies and she made fudge and the best divinity candy. My cookie and candy making came after I was married. I made so many varieties of cookies and learned to make many Norwegian delicacies from my mother-in-law.
Did Santa give you what you asked for?
We never asked. We knew we would get candy, nuts, and an apple. One year the boys got pocket knives. I can’t remember getting anything special. Long before Christmas we would pour over the Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog and look at all the toys, but we knew we wouldn’t get any of those fancy things. We were satisfied with very little.
Did you have snow to go sleigh riding?
There was always plenty of snow. Joy riding in a sleigh wasn’t thought of. Our rides were in a box sled pulled by our horses, Toots and Lady. On very cold days, dad would settle us in the box under a cow hide robe with heated flat irons wrapped in towels at our feet. This way we were transported to country school and maybe he would come and get us again if it hadn’t warmed up.
One time a snowstorm was brewing. Our teacher thought she would beat it by sending us home early. My younger brother, a friend, and I were barely up the road when the storm hit with fury. We could not see our hands in front of our faces. The boys waded through the snow to the fence line and used it as a guide. They would call to me on the road to tell me where they were. The south wind was so strong and damaging that I tried to walk backwards to avoid having the wind take my breath away. Suddenly, I heard a snort and something dark looming on the road. It was the horses. Dad had come to get us. Dad called my name and all three of us tumbled into the sled, so cold we were. Dad had expected to find us in a warm schoolhouse. He wasn’t happy with that teacher. Dad turned the sled around and we faced into the wind and bleak white on our way home. At the end of the mile was our friend’s uncle’s farm. He got off there to shelter until the storm was over. His home was another mile across country from our farm. We plodded along in sheer whiteout conditions. Finally, Dad admitted he did not know where we were. He tied the reins to the corner of the box and sat down with us, where it was more sheltered. The horsed waded and stumbled in the snow, but kept going. After what seemed like an eternity, the horses stopped. Dad stood up and saw something dark and large in front the team. It was our barn. Toots and Lady had brought us home.
The only time we were in that sled for fun was when I was a teenager. We were having a Christmas party for the young folks. Our pastor’s daughter was begging Dad to take us for a starlit sleigh ride. We were needing another board game and we knew Houglum’s had one. Dad said he would take us all in the sled to get the game. There were many of us, mostly guys, our pastor’s daughter, and me. We stood up in the box and went out into the starry night. We went about a mile and a half around Vange’s Bend to get there, get the game, and come home. We had the best time. We did wish we had sleigh bells on the horses like in the movies! I was so surprised that Dad took us on that ride. To him, horses were for working, not joy riding.
Did you go to your grandmother’s for Thanksgiving?
No, I just had one grandmother living and her home was in Redwood County. That was so far away. Mother had a wonderful meal for us. We couldn’t afford turkey and we didn’t raise them. Our meal was usually a large roasting chicken with dressing. We had mashed potatoes and gravy, escalloped corn, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. In later years when TV and football came, Mother complained that no one enjoyed dinner because they had to get back to the game. I think that was the beginning of breaking families apart. The real conversations were held when it was time to go home. The children were in their snowsuits, getting hotter and hotter, while the men hung on the doorknob, visiting.
Did you trick or treat at Halloween?
No, we didn’t know what that was. At Halloween we always had a carnival at our country school. It was preceded by a little program of skits. I was usually the witch. The front of the schoolroom was partitioned off with bedsheets to make a stage and to hide the giggling performers before show time. We had no electric lights so farmers around brought their gas barn lanterns and hung them around high on the walls. The carnival had a fish pond, fortune teller, and other games. The confetti was cut from old catalogs by the students. This was a treat we got to do if we finished our work quickly. We could go to the back of the room and cut the catalog pages into tiny bits. At the end of the evening was a drawing for a door prize. Once I was chosen to draw the name and I drew my own mother’s name. Mother was so embarrassed. It was an ugly purple bedspread. It graced my bed for years. Punishment???
Something like trick-or-treating but at Christmas was the Scandinavian tradition of Yule’ Boking. People would dress up to disguise themselves and the group would go from house to house to see if their identity was guessed. The tour stopped when they were asked in for Christmas treats. I went with a group once. It was the first time I had seen blue electric lights on a Christmas tree. I thought it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.
What did you do on the 4th of July?
That was firecracker time. We had little guns to put the roll of caps in and make the noise and gun powder smell. If we didn’t have a gun, we would make them pop by putting them on a hard surface and hitting with a stone. A few times we got sparklers. One year the 4th was on a weekend. We took off to Tulaby Lake with a large group of neighbors. We had a potluck picnic. It was the first time we were introduced to potato salad. I liked it, but my older brother clawed his tongue to get the taste off! There were a few big watermelons that suited us all better. Some people went swimming.
Where did you go on vacations?
On the farm there were not many chances to get away. Some years, we would take a few days and drive to southern Minnesota to visit relatives. Most of Mother and Dad’s family lived there. We kids would stay with Grandma Carrie while our parents went from one place to the next. I remember being at my Aunt’s place early in her marriage. My big sister and cousin from Montana were there, too. The girls made up a little program for the big folks to see. I was very little, but my part was to tell everything I knew about frogs. Well, I didn’t know much about frogs so, guess what, I made it up. Yes, I was a storyteller even then.
Once a year, which accounted for not having perfect attendance in Sunday School, we would motor to Glenwood to a park alongside Lake Minnewaska. There we had a Meyer reunion, complete with a potluck meal. I can remember our first glimpse of the lake from the hill coming into Glenwood. What a sight. It was like an ocean to us, who were used to small lakes nestled in trees in our part of the country.
It wasn’t my vacation, but Mothers. When I was in eighth grade, Mother and Grandma Carrie took the train to Seattle to visit my sister. They were gone a week. It was my job to cook for the guys. All went okay except one day they came in too early and my peas were not fully cooked. That is what Dad mentioned to Mom when she got home and asked how the meals were. I cried then. I thought they could mention the times it was okay. Mom had said before she left that I could make custard with any cracked eggs. We must have had lots of cracked eggs. I think I made custard every day.
After Ray and I were married, we had vacations at lakes every summer. Town folks were given time off. We also drove to points of interest and after retirement we traveled to all states except Delaware and Hawaii. We also explored most of Canada and touched on Mexico. Those were glorious days. Mike and Aimee treated us to memorable trips to the ocean shore and the San Juan Islands. Mark took me from Milwaukee down through Chicago and Indiana to see his children after Ray passed away. My sister and her husband took us many places when we were visiting them.
Did boys send you cards or candy for Valentine’s Day?
In country school we made Valentine boxes. On the day of the party we put little bought valentines in every box so we didn’t leave anyone out. We would be sure the verses on them fit the person we were giving it to. One time I got a really sweet one from a boy that I got teased about. I could tell that his big sister had written it for a joke and to make him embarrassed. I can’t remember any gifts for Valentine’s Day until I was married. Ray gave me lovely cards and often chocolates. The latter was so he could help me eat them!
What were your family traditions?
I don’t know if these were traditions or habits. Every year, Christmas was celebrated with the tree, trimming the house, our program around the tree, and of course our big feast with the menu much the same each year. That still continues today on the farm. There is a gathering of as many family members who can come. We use Mother’s china and I used to bring my parents’ silver until that got too hard to do. It gets to be a big ‘‘group hug” as we so love being together.
Easter was also a big holiday. We always had new clothes, hats and shoes. We wore these even if it was snowing and we had to shiver. I remember my parents singing in an Easter cantata. We little kids would sit in a pew in the back of the church while the choir practiced. We were so small our legs didn’t reach the floor. After an hour of sitting, our legs were very numb. We were not allowed to run around. We just sat there and remained very quiet. I smile and realize I am following that tradition in the singing part. I have sung in many cantatas and will again this year on Good Friday. The Easter bunny usually came at night. In the morning we had baskets filled with candy eggs and a chocolate bunny or two. If I reach way back in my memory, I recall little chicks made of yellow marshmallows. When my sons were small, I dyed eggs a few times.
Stay tuned next week for
Chapter 4: School.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
