Week 50 Traditions

“This week’s theme is “Traditions.” Many families have special traditions for this time of year. This week, write about a tradition that your family enjoys (or doesn’t enjoy!) and the ancestors that it brings to mind. Do you know who started that tradition? Who changed it over the years?” prompt from Amy Johnson Crow for Week 50 of %2 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

We had many traditions in my family when I was growing up. I don’t remember it being mentioned that they originated from any particular ancestor. The exception was oyster stew on Christmas Eve. My mom always made oyster stew on Christmas Eve for my dad. We ate what was in front of us when we were growing up but this was an exception. My dad was the only one who ate oyster stew. I think my mom didn’t like it so she didn’t make any of us eat it. I do remember trying it once and I wasn’t impressed, I have never liked shellfish.

My understanding was this tradition originated with my dad’s German ancestors. His parents were Cook/Koch and Siepmann. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned oyster stew was not a German tradition but Irish. Both of my dad’s grandmothers were Irish, Kinney and White. Here I was nearly sixty years old and didn’t know where this tradition began. The Irish Catholics were prohibited from eating meat the night before a religious holiday. Traditionally they used a different fish when they came to America it wasn’t available, but oysters were. Because they had a shell they could keep longer in the cold weather of winter and thus they made their way to the midwestern dinner table by the mid 1800’s. They were hauled long distances on wagons in the winter months. You can find out more here , and there is even a recipe if you want to try it for yourself.

Since this was the only tradition I could remember that was handed down from my ancestors I decided to try to find out what my ancestors may have experienced. We used to make May Day baskets and put little treats in them and leave them on the doorsteps of our friends and neighbors when I was little. I discovered this tradition probably had Irish origins as well. Beltane, the Gaelic May Day festival happened 30 April – 1 May marked the beginning of summer. It was celebrated with bonfires and decorating the home with flowers. We had a lot of fun making our little May baskets from construction paper and sneaking up to each others houses to leave them on the doorstep, ring the doorbell, and quickly run and hide before they saw us. It was all supposed to be anonymous so couldn’t be done today but was a fun tradition at the time.

The tradition of an Advent calendar may have originated in Germany. I don’t remember a calendar when I was young but I do remember making a paper chain and adding another link for each day leading up to Christmas. I made an advent calendar for my own family the first year my husband and I were married. A couple of years ago my daughter asked for one of her own, so I made her a new one.

We would gather together on Christmas Eve, turn off all lights except the ones on the Christmas tree and sing carols. This was one of my favorite traditions as well as driving around town to see all the houses that were decorated for the season. My sister recorded us singing carols one year and I cherish being able to hear my parents voices once again. Singing carols like this may have been a German tradition as well.

I didn’t find much about Scottish traditions but New Years Eve and singing Auld Lang Syne may be attributed to this country. The text is a poem written by Robert Burns in 1888 which was based on a Scottish folk song. Hogmanay is an important part of the Scottish calendar. The main custom of Hogmanay is celebrating with friends and family as the clock strikes midnight for the New Year.

My third great grandparents Thomas Slater and Mary Mark were from England. Not sure if we have any traditions from them but I do have a platter that is supposed to be from them. I found that roast dinner (classically known as Sunday roast) was an English tradition. My mom would make a Sunday roast dinner and my older brothers and sisters often came home for this generous meal. “The day starts by popping the meat in the oven, adding the veggies and then coming to attend mass.” This is exactly what my mom would do. Just before we left for Mass she would put the roast in the oven so it was almost ready by the time we came home. It smelled so good when we walked in the door after church.

Watching the Horse Racing was also a typical British tradition. My parents would travel to Omaha every year to watch the horse races. It was their anniversary trip each year and gave them a chance to get away on their own. It is the second largest spectator sport in England.

My husband can’t really remember any traditions in particular in his family. He is half German and half Icelandic. I already mentioned some German traditions above. We have adopted the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod or Icelandic book flood. On Christmas Eve everyone recieves a book and some chocolate. They snuggle up with their family before the fire and read their books. I like this tradition. Here are some more that I found. The three day food fest ending in Ash Wednesday sounds like fun. “Icelanders celebrate Bolludagur (Bun Day), Sprengidagur (Shrove Tuesday), and Öskudagur (Ash Wednesday).” It really is non stop eating for three days from the description. The last tradition in this article is about the ability to talk about the weather nonstop. This may be more of a cold weather tradition than just an Icelandic tradition. Minnesotans have this tradition too.

I was often surprised by my own kids if I tried to make a change in what we did, protests would begin. Things I didn’t know they considered tradition were important to them. Sometimes it’s just the little things that can make a big difference. Do you have traditions that you know were handed down from your ancestors?