A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 27

Well, we had a great Christmas, and it helps to pass the winter. People can do things like this if they want to. No use to let everything go because of hard times. Ina Dobson on Christmas 1932

 

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 26

Your box came the day after Christmas and so prolonged it for us. I gathered them all around and all enjoyed the beautifully wrapped gifts and the verses on them. The holly decorations were so lovely, too. Shirley and Henry immediately began to further embellish the house with them. They took down the big etching over the mantel and hung the large cluster you made there and used the silvered branches over the other two. What a lot of time you must have spent on them and how beautiful they are. We reserved some and the ball sprays for our Sunday dinner decorations. We made a lovely centerpiece of holly and the sprays and candles and dined in state with the best cloth, dishes, etc., all by candle light. So don’t feel bad that yours didn’t get here for Christmas as we had more opportunity to enjoy it. As I said it just prolonged our festivities, really. Ina Dobson to her son Vance, Christmas 1936
 
Thank goodness for candles, greenery, poinsettias and such which help extend the season as the symbols of Christmas fade away. KW

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 25

Advent Calendar, 1960s

Shirley Jean was allowed to slip down and get her sock before everyone else was up. We only stipulated that it should not be too early morning. I put a book in the top of it, so as to keep her quiet till we were up. After breakfast she was allowed to take off gifts and hand them around and was delighted. It was another “skimpy Christmas,” with everyone well-remembered. Ina Dobson on Christmas 1936

 

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 24

Shirley [daughter] came home Wednesday evening and from then on it seemed really like Christmas to me. Thursday forenoon [Christmas Eve] Shirley Jean went with Ernest to get the tree, and Dad [Ina’s husband Jack] set it up. Then she, Shirley, and Henry trimmed it. Shirley Jean was thrilled to be allowed to tie on gifts, etc. She hung up her stocking at the fireplace and Dad did too as he usually does when a grandchild is here. Ina Dobson, Christmas 1936

Christmas of 1936 was special for Ina and Jack Dobson. Daughter Ethel and her husband Ernest Robinson came with their only child, 10-year-old Shirley Jean, and daughter Shirley and her fiancé Henry were also there.

Our players in a different era (c 1952)

I’d like to tell you that Christmas Eve was (and is) a nice relaxed day for those who hosted a party. Nothing was (or is) further from the truth. Of course I wasn’t there at Ina’s, but I know that she was an organized person who eschewed clutter, which put her way ahead of some of us (me). However, she was not free of her duties as housewife because loved Christmas had come once again. She had to attend to her chores, the cooking, and other details of the day. I’m sure her daughters, fully trained in managing country life, were great help.

And my mother also needed help as she prepared for the Christmas celebration. She didn’t seem to realize she was taking on way more than she could do, but she tried year after year. Certainly my dad helped her, and I like to think I was good help as I grew up. I wrapped packages and cleaned the house while she spent a lot of time in the kitchen. And when I was no longer available to be her right-hand man, sister Harriet and Bill came early to vacuum, stash magazines, and coax the house to BHG status.

Well, all of this is in the past, and as much as I miss the party – and I do – I don’t miss the pressure to be perfect. “Don't knock yourself out cleaning and cooking,” wrote daughter Hallie in this morning’s email. “You must take some time to reflect and be grateful.” But who is she kidding? If she walked in the door right now, she’d have to clean the counters. KW

[The photo from left: Vance holding Kathy; Shirley Jean behind Vance, her husband Dale Johnson holding daughter Patty; Myrtle (Lynn), Ina, and Ethel. My mother took the picture.]

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 23

Aunt helped me out by dressing a fat young rooster and bringing it ready for the roaster. She also insisted on making pies since I had my hands full – mince and pumpkin. One of each would be plenty, I said, but no – here came two each and ginger cookies frosted. She’d tried a new recipe.

Ina Dobson, Christmas 1933

I walked in on the folks at 10:00 p.m. They were very surprised and pleased and I was glad to find everyone up. In fact Ruth was still baking and the kitchen was full of cookies, cake, and pies.

Vance, on arriving at his cousin’s house, Christmas 1942

I am not one to spend a lot of time in the kitchen baking lovely things. Perhaps I get that from my Grandma Ina. She barely speaks of Christmas baking, but baking for Christmas was a big deal with my mother. She loved candied fruit – yes, the cherries, the pineapple, and even the citron. Before Thanksgiving she would make her fruitcake – just enough batter to hold the fruit together. And she loved traditional cookies – shortbread and pressed spritz cookies, individually and meticulously decorated with candied red and green cherries. She stored these cookies in a roaster on our enclosed back porch where it was cool and included them on holiday trays prepared for neighbors and friends, served them on our dessert table during the holidays, and then enjoyed the leftovers (she made many cookies!) for a month or six weeks after Christmas. (I kid you not.) She thought her fruitcake and cookies were beautiful – and of course they were. I always thought, though, that they were labor-intensive and rich but rather flavorless.

 

I don’t make those traditional goodies, but I admit that I miss their presence during the holidays. I prefer to make cut-out cookies – sugar and gingerbread. When I was young, Mother also made cut-out cookies -- uniformly rolled and baked and again meticulously decorated. You should see mine – too thick, too thin, overbaked, underbaked, perhaps a bit tough, and when it comes to decorating, I use mostly white frosting, sprinkle them with colored sugar, and add some red hots. But I like them, they taste good, and my technique leaves time for other things. KW