Category Archives: Christmas

Surprise Birthday Party – Dec. 29, 1991

Advent Calendar, Christmas,
 
ruff draft dec birthday
SURPRISE!
By Tulani Williams
 
On December 29, 1990, Jim Williams and Warren Evans were in for a surprise!  Nikki Evans (Warren’s daughter) and I (Tulani Williams, Jim’s Daughter) planned, with the help of our cousin Jann Shreve and her mother Jan, (Warren’s sister) a surprise birthday party.  We got permission to have it at Hugh and Louis’ house.  They are our great uncles.  Then we began to get ready for the party. First we went into town to buy a few last minute things.  On our way in we passed Warren on his way home. He saw us and stopped to ask where we were going.

 Jan who was driving, answered, “We’re on our way to the store to get some eggs and hamburger buns.”

Warren then said, “Well, could you get me some ‘Stay alive food’.  Some hamburger, fries or chips….you know?” He handed Jan some money and we were on our way.
 
Now we had to go out of our way to get Warrens “stay alive food”.  At Ben Franklin’s (a dime store), we got a few presents and Jann looked at the cards and picked out one that said, “I was going to get you an expensive watch for your birthday:…Then you open it and it said “But at your age time doesn’t matter”. She showed it to her mother and they bought it.
 

After going to the grocery store for Warren, we headed home.  Nikki, Jann and I started mixing up the cake.  When we put the cake into the oven Jann, Nikki and I sat down with Kriss (Jan’s brother) and James (my brother) and started playing Seaga.  We hadn’t got very far when the cake was done and we started the icing.  After we iced the cake, we were going to get Jan to drive us over to Louis’.  I went over to tell my mother (Kristin) and she suggested that we put the cake into a box and drag it over on the sled since the roads were iced over.  So we decided to pull it over on the sled. When we got to Hugh and Louis’ we started decorating the house with balloons, and crepe paper.  We even had a sign that said “HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM AND WARREN!” that James and Kriss had printed up on the computer.  When we finished decorating, people started to arrive.  We were all brainstorming on how to get Warren to come over.  Louis said that we should tell him that we were having a surprise party for Jim and then…the fire siren went off.  Jim is a volunteer fireman so that meant he had to go to the fire.  But lucky for us it was a false alarm.  Jim arrived a few moments later with Kristin, who knew about the party and brought him over.  We all hid and had the lights out and yelled “SURPRISE!” when he came in.

Gladys called Warren and told him that the washing machine was clogged up.  When Warren finally got there we were in a dimly lit house.  He came in talking about “With all these strong backs why… ” but then we yelled “SURPRISE!” and we sat down to have cake.
 
See Happy Birthday to All! and Happy Birthday Poppy! for last years birthday stories
 

Fruitcake – 2011

Advent Calendar, Christmas

I have been making fruitcake using the recipe in my mother’s “Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book” for decades. I like my homemade fruitcake but can’t say the same for the blah stuff from the grocery store. This year’s fruitcakes are still soaking up the brandy.  I will finish making them as soon as I get over this horrible cough I’ve come down with.  To see last year’s photo of me up to my elbows in candied fruit and nuts, go to Yay For Fruitcake!

Orange and lemon peels after being candied.
Orange and lemon peels after being candied.
Fruit and nuts aging with brandy.
Fruit and nuts aging with brandy.
 

Christmas Memories by Juanita Cleage Martin

Advent Calendar, Christmas,

juanitaonporch

Christmas and Early  Childhood
by Juanita Cleage Martin
From the book “Memories to Memoirs”

Our Christmas trees were cedar instead of pine.  A bunch of kids would go together a few days before Christmas looking for Christmas trees.  We would sometimes find them along the roadsides, but our special place was at Keith’s, across from Community Hospital before Community Hospital.   We always found a good shapely tree in that section.  I guess we didn’t realize we should ask someone.  Nobody bothered, as we never seen anyone to ask.  Our decoration was ropes of tinsel, and we often strung popcorn and cotton.

My favorite toy was a big doll.  In our day, dolls were stuffed with sawdust, and their heads and arms were made of plastic, not like plastic of today.   I remember I left it outside and the rain ruined it and  made puffed splotches like blisters.   I cried, as I dearly loved this doll.  My sister Bea was the doctor.  She gathered wild purple poke berries and covered the places.  I continued to carry and play with it until it finally tore to pieces.


*********************
Juanita Cleage Martin was the daughter of my grandfather, Albert Cleage’s brother, Charles Edward Cleage.  They lived in Athens Tennessee.  Juanita was born February 11, 1922. I don’t know how old she was when she got the doll for Christmas but This Cuddles doll was made from 1926 through 1928 to 1940 and sold through the Sears Catalog.  Maybe this was the doll she got for Christmas. The body was cloth while the face and limbs were “composition” which was made by mixing sawdust and glue and compressing them in a mold. Composition does not react well to water.  I remember a doll sort of like this that was left over from my mother and her sister’s childhood. I wonder what happened to them. 

1928-1940 Cuddles or Sally-kins, 14-27″ tall, composition head, arms, legs (some limbs are rubber), cloth kapok stuffed body, molded hair, tin flirty sleep eyes, with lashes, open mouth with upper & lower teeth, tongue, mama crier, wore an organdy dress, bonnet and rubber panties, (Little Sister has flannel diapers).  Made by Ideal.


 For more about Juanita and her family – Mattie and children and Memories to Memoir, Chapter Two.

 

Blog Caroling – We Three Kings

Christmas
This year I once again offer We Three Kings as my contribution to footnoteMaven’s Blog Caroling Event 2011. This year I chose a rap version done by dc talk in 1994. This carol was written by John Henry Hopkins in 1857 and first preformed in 1863 in New York City.  To hear last years Hang Drum version click HERE.


We Three Kings 
Lyrics from dc talk’s version

Frankincense to offer, have i 
And incense owned, a deity nigh 
Prayer and praising, all men raising 
You can hear it pealing through the river and sky 


(chorus) 
We three kings of orient are 
Bearing gifts we traveled so far 
Field and fountain, moor and mountain 
Following yonder star 


Born a king on bethlehem’s plain 
Gold I bring to crown him again 
King forever, ceasing never 
Over us all to reign 


Ooh, star of wonder 
Star of night 
Star with royal beauty bright 
Westward leading, still proceeding 
Guide us to thy perfect light 


Guide us to the light, father 
Guide us to the light [repeat 2x] 


(repeat verse 1) 


(repeat chorus) 


Now we step to a star in the sky 
Gloria, now the whole earth cries 
Allelu, allelu, the people cried 
And brought gifts as a sacrifice 
Three kings and a dream that they had 
We’re three brothers born of different dads 
But together we ride because of that child 
Until the day that we die 


(repeat chorus)

Celebrating Kwanzaa

Advent Calendar, Christmas, ,
"Kwanzaa Table"

The Kwanzaa Table

When I was elementary school age our neighborhood was majority Jewish for several years.  We never celebrated the Jewish holidays but we learned about them.  I remember singing the dreidel song in school and learning about the menorah.

 

We have celebrated Kwanzaa in various ways over the years.  Once again I bring you a reprint from Ruff Draft 1991.  We didn’t celebrate it when I was growing up since it didn’t begin until the late 1960’s.  Our children grew up celebrating either at home or in community celebrations.  At one point we didn’t celebrate Christmas, only Kwanzaa but after the kids started school we gradually added Christmas back into the celebrations.

Kwanzaa

By Ayanna Williams
 

Kwanzaa is an African American holiday started in the U.S.A. in the 1960s.

This year on the last day of Kwanzaa, which was New Years Day, we had a big to-do and invited Henry over.  We dressed up.  Tulani and I in sarongs.  That is material draped around your body and hung over your shoulder.  James and Cabral wore baggy pants and African print shirts.  Jilo and Ife, who were home on winter break, wore long skirts.  All the girls but Jilo, wore geles (head wraps).  Jilo didn’t want to cover her dreadlocks.

When Henry got there we were downstairs in our regular clothes so we ran upstairs and after much losing of skirts and falling off of wraps, we finally went down.  As we went Tulani played the drum, James used the shakare, Cabral strummed the ukelele and I had to use two blocks.  We chanted “Kwanzaa, First Fruits!” as we came. We giggled a little as we went through the kitchen.  Black eye peas, sweet potatoes and rice were simmering on the stove for us to eat directly after the ritual.  When we got to the living room, all the lights were off except one.  By that light we, in turn, read the seven principles in Swahili and their meanings in English.  The introduction was read by Daddy.  Nia/Purpose was read by Henry. Umoja/Unity was read by Tulani.  Kujichagulia/Self determination was read by Ayanna, Ujima/Collective Work and Responsibility by James.  Ujamaa/Cooperative economics by Ife, Kuumba/Creativity by Mommy for Cabral and Imani/Faith by Jilo.

Then we read the meanings explained in plain English that Jilo had written.  After we read the principles and lit all seven candles, Jilo read a story she had written about Kwanzaa with all of the principles included.  We then ushered everybody into the dining room while chanting the principles and their meanings.  Well, that was the plan, but nobody but us kids knew so the adults just sat there and watched us.  So we finally just got up and told them to come to the table.

After dinner Henry told tales about when he was a kid and about his uncles and cousins.  Some how the conversation went from reminiscing to the state of the world today. He and Jilo had quite a discussion that lasted for hours.  At the end Henry went home and we all went to bed.

Gladys remembers Christmas

Advent Calendar, Christmas,
"Cleage Tree"
Christmas tree at Gammie’s house.

Another Christmas memory from the Ruff Draft
December 1991 Issue,  compiled by AyannaWilliams

Gladys Evans remembers when she used to take her family over to her mother, “Gammie’s” house.  Her brother Louis was like Santa Claus.  He didn’t put on the suit, but with all the presents, his attire was not noticed.  There would be a roomful of presents.  No one was allowed in.  They would have to wait, to build the suspense, until Louis was ready. Then they would all open their presents.  They would be just the thing for that person, not a last minute thing picked up on the way home.  Gladys said she always wondered if they had left anything in the room.  As soon as possible, after the hub-bub, she would go check out the room.  There was never anything forgotten.

After Gammie died, Gladys said, her family (now grown with their own children) would have two or three Christmases,  one at their respective homes, one with Gladys and I do believe she said they would visit Louis and Hugh also.

"Jim and Warren Birthday Party"
Looks like Jilo and Louis are having the kind of discussion where you both talk at once.  Gladys is stepping over the dog.

I don’t remember these gift laden Christmas mornings because my mother, my sister and I went to my maternal grandmother’s house first.  By the time we got to Gammie’s house it would be evening and the excitement had died down.  I don’t remember anything I got for Christmas then, but I do remember one of Louis later Christmas gifts.  It was the Christmas of 1991.  My family and Louis, Gladys and Hugh were all living in Idlewild.  My cousin Jan and her family came up Christmas day from Windsor, Canada.  There were a dozen kids, seven or so adults and a friendly rotweiller gathered at Louis, Gladys and Hugh’s house.  There weren’t a lot of gifts.  Louis wasn’t able to go out and shop anymore.  He looked around the house and came up with presents. I don’t remember what he gave everybody but I do remember the puzzle he gave us.  We still have it 20 years later.  I keep it out on the coffee table with the other puzzles and the grandchildren often dump it out with the intention of putting it back together but few actually can do it without spending a lot of time figuring where the pieces go.  It always reminds me of Louis and I’m sure I mentioned more then once that it was a Christmas gift from him.

Missing Christmas Carols 1944

Advent Calendar, Christmas, Cleages, Grahams, Letters,
"Missing Home at Christmas Collage"

Christmas 1944 was my parents second Christmas together. My father, Albert B. Cleage Jr (Toddy) had taken a year off from the ministry to take classes in film making at UCLA.  He planned to use it later in the church.  My mother, Doris Graham, was working as a social worker and apparently taking a class too.  They were living in Los Angeles, Ca, missing Detroit and their families. In the montage we have in the top/center my mother, below her is my father.  The house my mother grew up in is the big photo of the house on Theodore, below is their Los Angeles apt.  The last photo is my mother’s parents Mershell (Poppy) and Fannie (Nannie) Graham.  This is a letter my mother wrote home Dec. 17, 1944.

 

December 17, 1944

Dear Folks,

 

Just a line to let you know we’re ok.  Hope you all are well

It’s almost midnight and we are both (as usual) trying to get some school work done that we left until the last minute.  Toddy has a paper due – and I have a book report.

Here it is – almost Christmas, but it doesn’t seem like it at all.  No snow – no cold weather – no nothing.  People out here don’t even sing Christmas carols on radio church services or anything.  We heard you all have lots of snow.  Well – guess I’d better go back to my book.  

Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year.

Love,
Toddy + Doris

Related Posts

Christmas Day 1944 – Part 1
Christmas Day 1944 – Part 2
Christmas Day 1944 – Part 3

Memory from Christmas 1967

Advent Calendar, Biography, Christmas, memories,
"Pearl and Kris Christmas 1968"
Christmas 1968. L to R My sister Pearl, me, Nanny in the window.

I can’t find a picture from Christmas 1967 but I think we looked pretty much the same.   I bought that pea jacket at the army surplus in Santa Barbara when I was there for a student conference, summer of 1967.  I cut my hair that summer too, right after the Detroit riot.  Not sure if Pearl had cut hers yet in 1967.  I have looked at this photo many times but this was the first time I noticed my grandmother looking out of the window at us.  We had moved to the flat with my grandparents that fall, so it’s a different house, but it’s Christmas time and I look the same.   I had just graduated from Wayne State University with a major in Drawing and Printmaking and a minor in English.   On January 2, I caught the Greyhound to San Fransisco.  But that’s not today’s memory.  Here is something I wrote in 1967.

Christmas 1967

It was Christmas and cold.  Snow blew wet, sticking to my coat and hair.  We went to the shortest corner, down Northfield, past three Junior High girls laughing and cars sliding slow on the ice.  The sky was gray behind bare branches.  Snow fell quiet, without any wind.  My sister and I talked some about…I can’t even remember.  We crossed to Pattengill Elementary, went down past the school and stopped outside the empty play field.


I got out my new movie camera and told her to walk away, down toward Colfax, and not to act silly.  She started and I turned on the camera,  feeling silly myself, taking pictures like a country bumpkin in the city.  She started lunging to one side, sort of a half skip with some serious drag to it.  I told her to be serious.  She did, then walked back.  I tried to keep the camera from moving.  It stuck and I turned it off  twice with a heavy click, jarring, blurring the picture.


We went inside the playground.  I shot some more of her walking up and away.  A little boy was sledging down a driveway into the street.  She said, come on take some behind the trash cans.  It’ll be good.  I shot some more.  Discovered while she was behind the garbage cans I was out of film.


Both of us bent over the camera and tried to shut it off, but we couldn’t.  My hands were cold.  Red, wet and cold.  I put on my gloves and we unscrewed the battery door with her suitcase key to shut it off.


We walked back toward the far corner.  I wrote BLACK POWER in the snow, and then PATRIA O MUERTE and VENCEREMOS.  Pearl asked what else can we write but I didn’t know.  We went on out of the playground and down Epworth talking about how bad somebody can be to you and you still love them.  We went on down Allendale.  There was a dog sleeping on a porch.  Pearl said, loud, keep on sleeping!  And he did.


It was getting dark and still snowing.  Cold, wet, quiet snow.  Grey like the inside of a shell and quiet like when your ears are stuffed up from a cold.  Some girls went by across the street, talking loud.  We turned back down Ironwood and went home.