Sunday, December 11, 2011

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 11

Other Traditions

Did your famly or friends also celebrate other traditions during the holidays such as Hanukkah or Kwanzaa?
No. I friends were all Protestants like us, and the community celebrated Christmas only.

Did your immigrant ancestors have holiday traditions from their native country which they retained or perhaps abandoned?
Most of my family immigrated during the 1850's and 1860's, therefore if they brought over any traditions for Christmas, they have long since been abandoned. [We do still honor the German Ne Year traditional feast - pork to move forward in the year; sauerkraut to add flavor to our lives; and black-eye peas so that we will see clearly in the New Year; and something sweet that we may retain a sweet savor in our lives.] My Bean ancestors arrived before 1800, and also lost any traditions they may have carried over, adopting the mountain ways of western Virginia and West Virginia.

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