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History of the holidays - History of the holidays |
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Written by Dan England
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Friday, 21 December 2007 |
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Page 1 of 3
Mark and Karen Florio’s Christmas tradition starts early in the spring and doesn’t stop until December.
Just a month or two after Mark and Karen remove the massive outdoor Christmas display from their home on 13th Street and 23rd Avenue in Greeley, they start to work on the next wooden displays for their yard. They take paper outlines, carve them and paint them all by hand. Last year they added more than 20, and they’ve added more than 80 figurines, many the size of a fifth-grader, since they moved in the house four years ago.
“We work all summer, but we enjoy it,” Mark said. “It’s kind of therapeutic. This is our contribution to the community.”
Holiday lights, especially if you’re the Florios, seem to be a thriving holiday tradition, one enhanced in the last few years by different styles of lights, outdoor decorations and even those that synchronize to music. But just as some traditions appear to be thriving, others are dying out.
Steve Mize, for instance, loves eggnog. He remembers his grandmother making it for family gatherings and begging for a taste as a kid. So as the manager of Jerry’s Market, 513 14th Ave. in Greeley, and the son of Jerry, the longtime owner who retired many years ago, he can’t bear not to sell it around the holidays.
“But the only people who buy it are the employees,” he said and laughed. “The sales of it are shrinking, and I don’t understand why. I love it. But of course, I love fruitcakes, too, so I guess I’m a pretty traditional guy.”
His market, which serves primarily Latinos, still loves its traditional Christmas dinner, although he expects to sell Menudo and tamales and not as much turkey (ham, however, is still popular). He knows why some traditions just don’t do well: When people get married, they don’t necessarily want their spouses’ favorite things.
“Oyster dressing has died in our family,” Mize said. “My wife hates it.”
Traditions may die with marriages, especially those with diverse couples, said Donna Liess, family and consumer science agent for the Weld County Extension Services.
“You have a lot more diversity than you did back then,” Liess said. “That blends everyone together, and maybe they celebrate a little bit of both, but they won’t just do one or the other.”
Sometimes it’s not such a bad thing to lose some traditions, Liess said.
“In my family, we don’t celebrate the holidays as they did two generations ago,” she said. “I mean, they’re not the healthiest foods, or it’s something people don’t know, like herring.”
In new families, or broken families, sometimes old holiday traditions can even be damaging, Liess said.
“That’s a constant reminder that that missing person isn’t there,” she said, “so many experts suggest creating new holiday traditions.”
A tradition that once was old may be new again, as more customers seem to be shifting to getting a real tree, said Janet Cardew, manager of McCoy’s Christmas Tree lot across from the Greeley Mall.
“They miss that real tree smell,” Cardew said.
If you’re looking to steal a kiss, you’ll have to find another excuse (spiking the eggnog, maybe?). Mistletoe is way out of style.
“We don’t have much of a demand for that anymore,” said Ken Olsen, co-owner of the Eaton Grove Nursery in Eaton.
But that might be another tradition that needed to go. Mistletoe is a parasite that drains the life out of trees and other plants, and it has poisonous berries.
“The berries are probably why it lost its oomph,” Olsen said.
Poinsettias are still popular, Olsen said, although the traditional, red holiday plant probably peaked 10-15 years ago.
“Part of the problem was the poor quality of plants that hit the market,” Olsen said. “The ones we have for sale come right out of the greenhouse and last until March or April. The grocery stores and box stores don’t have the proper facilities to hold them really well, and even by Christmas they might get dumped because they’ve lost their vigor. That disappointed a lot of people.”
Most holiday traditions don’t extend beyond Christmas, although The Florios are a big fan of a recent but important tradition to retailers: the after-Christmas sale.
“We’re already getting ready for next year’s display,” Mark Florio said. “We’ve got a list of what we need, and we’re pretty sure at least the lights will be half-price.”
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