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From: Lehmkuhl <>
Subject: RE: [ZA] Christmas Greetings
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 10:26:51 -0500


>Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 14:48:11 +0800
>
>Anne Lehmkuhl described the spicy odours in her house after a big Christmas
>bake. My mouth was watering! Her NZ leg of lamb is marinating ready for
>roasting. No turkey?
>Here in Australia, a leg of lamb is everyday fare and last time I roasted a
>chicken, it made me reminisce to my husband that for our childhood
>Christmases, chicken was such a treat. We only had it at Christmas and
>Easter!
>Judy..........Perth. W. Australia


Hi Judy
This year, it's only my husband, son and I for Christmas - so no turkey as
it is too much for only 3. Our families live in South Africa (except my
brother, who is working in London, England).
We also celebrate Thanksgiving Day in late October and have a big turkey
meal then.
So this year I decided to go with lamb, which is quite common for Christmas
in South Africa. Many folks there cook it on the barbie as it is so hot there!
As a child, we also had roast chickens for Christmas (I'm 40) and I only
had my first turkey in 1994! My family either made a traditional Sunday
roast or it was a cold buffet around the pool.
Since I've been in Canada from 1996, I've made the traditional turkey meal
- with South African influence.
We don't like the steamed pudding or fruit cake, but trifle is a must.

Here is an article I wrote:

Christmas in early Cape Town
What was Christmas like for our ancestors in bygone days? For starters,
there was no Christmas shopping rush! Before 1859 Christmas celebrations in
Cape Town were rather low-key.

The English ship Dragon was in Table Bay on Christmas Day in 1607 and its
sailors carved one of the earliest English post office stones. Jan VAN
RIEBEECK made no mention of Christmas celebrations in his diaries but he
did note that he gave each of his men a tankard of Spanish wine for the New
Year. His successor, WAGENAAR, noted that on 25 December 1662, Christmas
was properly celebrated by hearing God's word twice. The week before
Christmas in 1705 saw stormy weather and on Christmas Day there was a huge
rainstorm. In 1713, the south-easter blew at hurricane force on Christmas
Day, with the English ship Great London, anchored in Table Bay, signalling
for help. The Castle did not reply and so 19 sailors rowed to the shore to
get an anchor and cable. On their way back, they were blown out to sea and
never seen again. On Christmas Day in 1769, the first horses sent to India
from the Cape, left on board the ship Duke of Kingston, bound for Madras.
In 1849, a Mr. DONALDSON, owner of the Round House, offered his place for
Christmas celebrations with skittles, quoits and pigeon shooting.

The Cape Argus was the first newspaper to wish its readers a merry
Christmas on 24 December 1859. In the same issue, Sefton PARRY, owner of
the Cape Town Theatre, announced the first Christmas pantomime in South
Africa - "The babes in the woods". That year the weather was "blazing,
flaring, scorching, nose-blistering, red-hot". The week prior to Christmas
Day, the paper carried only two Christmas adverts, one suggesting French
flower vases as presents and another offering Westphalia hams for the
Christmas meal. A fattened pig cost 30 shillings, a suckling pig cost 9
shillings and a chicken was 1 shilling. A turkey was 4 shillings and 6
pence and 100 oranges could be bought for 7 shillings. Robert GRANGER had a
grocery store on Castle Street and had just received a shipment of white
rice from Calcutta. He also had Lancashire hams, Irish butter, Havana
cigars, whisky, and cheeses from England and Holland.

In December 1864, the main attraction in Cape Town was a ride in the new
Wynberg railway. The then world's largest ship, Great Eastern, was in Table
Bay on Christmas Day in 1869 and Cape Town residents were allowed to visit
the ship. Christmas in 1871 saw diamond diggers from Griqualand spending
their holidays in Cape Town. They gave their friends champagne parties and
treated everyone that crossed their paths. That year also saw Christmas
trees for sale in the shops. A Mr. LONG, shopkeeper, had the following
advertisement up: "Oh Pa! Oh Ma! Do go and pay Mr. Long a visit and buy me
some toys - they are so fine, so unique, and so instructive. Oh do dear Pa!
We will be such good children hereafter". Some things don't change with the
passing of time!
Copyright Anne Lehmkuhl 1999

__________/\/*******\/\______
Anne Lehmkuhl http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/


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