Postby TriP » December 28th, 2015, 12:06 am
Local Christmas ~ 1950's
My Christmas memories of a childhood in Trinidad
To me , as a child growing up in Trinidad in the 1950s , Christmas was very special and highly anticipated
During the post war years in T&T , just about everyone in our neighborhoods were poor - I still remember ration cards from that time - but somehow our parents managed to make the holidays enjoyable and memorable
I remember in the early days how much work my parents did to create a festive atmosphere over the holidays
Back then , heavy old fashioned wooden furniture was quite popular in the Caribbean.
Actually , the furniture was of good quality tropical hardwood and we had a living room set called a " Morris suite" that we annually stripped , varnished and polished so that the furniture shone on Christmas morning
My mother would sew new curtains, drapes etc. ,wooden floors would be scrubbed and stained, so that the home was sparkling on Christmas day.
She would also cook an assortment of cakes , sweetbreads , a cassava pone and the traditional smoked shoulder ham.
And of course , there would be favorite drinks like ginger beer , sorrel , and “puncha-creama”
This was also the time of year when we had such delicacies as apples , grapes , nuts candies etc., that were not available during the rest of the year in those days, at least not to us poor folk.
Remember we're talking post World War II, folks, in the early 1950s.
The best part of Christmas to a child however is receiving gifts , and as poor as we were my parents didn't disappoint.
Young children are not very practical beings.
Growing up in the tropics , I somehow bought into the entire Santa Clause ( or Father Christmas as we also called him ) story - the sleigh , the reindeer, the descent down the chimney , everything.
It didn't dawn on me that being in the tropics , we had no snow or chimneys. Like I said , little kids are not very practical.
Buy every year, Santa showed up and left gifts, and I usually got one or two items.
In those days , guns and automotive toys were most popular for boys , while girls usually received feminine toys like dolls , tea sets , doll clothing etc.
And "Father Christmas " would leave our toys in our beds , not under the Christmas tree , so you'd roll over in the morning and a toy or toys would be in your bed.
It was a beautiful fantasy , until I faked sleep one Christmas eve , and caught my mother red handed placing the toys in my bed ! I was so disappointed.
When my kids were growing , on Christmas morning they would descend into the living room , to be greeted by a mountain of "stuff" left by Santa Clause under the tree.
And even with all that booty , at times the kids were disappointed because they hadn't gotten exactly what they wanted.
I often wondered if they ever felt as much joy as I did back in the day , waking up to my one gift in my bed on Christmas morning.
