By Pamela Roller

I'm writing this with my box of tissues close by, fighting a nasty head cold. In spite of my sneezing and sniffling, however, I'm really pumped about Christmas. It's my all-time favorite time of year. I get as excited as a little kid.

Was Christmas exciting 400 years ago? Imagine, no new laptops under the tree, no Kindles, iPods, books by fabulous authors, nor the latest in kitchen gadgets. No new car in the driveway with a huge red bow (not that I ever got one of those), no inflatable snowmen in the yard or netted lights around the bushes. Just what did people give as gifts four centuries ago? How did they celebrate? How did they decorate?

And can you imagine Christmas being banned? Let's go back to 17th century England to see what happened.

Through the early 1600s, December 25 was a holy day (holiday), celebrating the birth of Christ. Shops and offices were closed, and people attended special services at church. This day marked the first of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and over the next eleven days, people went to more church services, and businesses and shops were open for shorter hours. Sounds tame, right? Read on.

Families decorated their homes with ivy and holly and rosemary. Just inside the threshold of a house was hung a woven bough, in the middle of which was placed a small effigy of the Christ child or the holy family, and was blessed by the local priest. Those who visited the house during the Twelve Days of Christmas showed they brought only goodwill with them by a symbolic embrace under this holy bough (this became the hanging of mistletoe in Victorian times). In the spirit of "keeping up with the Joneses," families vied with each other to decorate their boughs more elaborately with gilded nuts, small apples, colorful ribbons and the like.

Where they lived and how much free time and money they could spend determined their degrees of celebrating. Visiting friends and family, eating and drinking, and exchanging presents was the norm. The richer folk gave "boxes" of money to servants, the poor, and various tradesmen. St. Nicholas was not one who gave children presents as he does today, but rather was considered a sort of Master of Ceremonies for community and private celebrations.

And folks got wild during the Twelve Days of Christmas.

People made special food and drink, back then filling up on plum pudding, minced pies, turkey, peacock, goose, swan and beef. Taverns sold huge quantities of their specially brewed Christmas ale. These days were a deliberately permissive period of singing and dancing, eating and drinking to gluttonous bliss, sitting around, playing games, gambling, getting drunk, and having a whole lot of sex. Twelfth night, the last night of the celebration, was marked by even more feasting and frivolous fun.

Alas, toward the mid 1600s, many people, in particular the more Godly, frowned upon this type of Christmas celebration. Too extravagant, they said, too disorderly. And far too immoral. Moreover, Christ’s mass, as they saw Christmas, was encouraged by the Catholic Church and had no biblical justification. Thus, they sought to ban the celebration of Christmas, which they saw as Popish and sinful. The new buzzword was "Christ-tide," where December 25 would be a day of fasting and spending most of the day in worship. Parliament, increasingly supporting Puritan Protestant Oliver Cromwell, ordered people to remember in humiliation those who had, in the past, turned the day into sinful gluttony, "giving liberty to carnal and sensual delights." From about 1647 to 1660—during Cromwell's rule—no one in Great Britain was allowed to celebrate Christmas. Shops were ordered to remain open on December 25, and it was against the law to eat mincemeat pie.

However, traditions are hard to kill, and many people continued to celebrate. Secret religious services marking the birth of Christ continued to be held on December 25. This led to a Christmas civil war, so to speak, in the late 1640s that consisted of sometimes violent confrontations to force shops and businesses to stay open and to prevent public celebrations.

The defeat of Cromwell and the restoration of Charles II led to declaring all legislation of banning the celebration of Christmas null and void. The religious and secular elements of the full Twelve Days of Christmas was restored.

Eat, drink and be merry. Happy holidays!

Pamela Roller is the author of On Silent Wings, a gothic historical romance set in Restoration England. Visit her website at http://www.pamelaroller.com/.
©Pamela Roller

by Pamela Roller

These soap crayons are easy to make and safe for children to use in the bathtub. What better way to have fun and get clean at the same time?




1 C soap flakes (such as Dri-Pak Soap Flakes)
¼ C hot water
food coloring

Place soap flakes in a bowl and add warm water, a teaspoon at a time, stirring constantly. The mixture will be extremely thick and hard to stir. Spoon some of the soap into each of several small bowls and color each separately, adding the color by drops until the soap has the consistency of a very thick paste. Gently press spoonfuls of the paste into your molds (i.e., plastic ice cube trays). Set the molds aside at room temperature to harden (may take up to two days). Makes 20 crayons.

Keep soap out of children's eyes.

Pamela Roller is the author of On Silent Wings, a gothic historical romance set in Restoration England. Visit her website at http://www.pamelaroller.com/.©Pamela Roller

By Pamela Roller

If you have a wood-burning fireplace, consider making scented waxed pine cones to use with your kindling to start your fires. When burned, the cones send a delightful scent throughout the room. Create for your personal use or give as a lovely gift.

Gather together:
--Pine cones—size doesn’t matter as long as they can be totally immersed in the melted wax. The usual size is three to five inches.
--Three or four bars of paraffin wax (available at craft stores) – see the notes at the end of this article about the use of paraffin wax.
--A double boiler (or an empty metal coffee can large enough to dip the pine cones in
--Wax candle coloring agent (available at craft stores)
--Essential oil of choice. Be sure you are buying a genuine essential oil or you won’t have much scent.
--Tongs
--Waxed paper

Directions:
1. Melt wax in the double boiler or empty metal coffee can placed in a pan of simmering water on LOW heat (the can is preferable because you can just throw it in the recycle bin when you’re done and the wax has cooled).
2. Add the wax candle coloring agent until you get the color you like.
3. Add one or more droppers of desired essential oil until the scent is to your liking.
4. Using tongs, dip each pine cone into the wax to coat. Lift the cone and allow it to drip off excess. Place upright on waxed paper and allow to dry. Drying completely will help the next coat stick to it.
5. Dip repeatedly, drying between coats, until you are satisfied with the thickness (usually three or four coats will suffice). Too many coats will make the pine cone lose its detail and it may end up looking like a waxed lump, so use your judgment on thickness.
6. When completely dry, place the cones in a basket by the hearth or give as a gift.

Notes and hints:
Wax must remain completely melted during the dipping process or it will cause a dull, lumpy finish on the cones.
Leftover wax may be reused—just cover the can with a lid or foil when cool.
Paraffin wax is flammable. Keep the heat low, check the simmering water often, and don’t allow wax to drip onto the burner. In case of fire, turn off the heat and then place a wet, wrung-out cloth over the wax container. DO NOT throw water on the burning wax.
When using the cones in the fireplace, place a screen in front of the fire.

Suggested colors and scents:
Red wax with cinnamon oil, clove, or cranberry
Green with oil of balsam
White with vanilla oil
Pink with rose oil


©Pamela Roller
http://www.pamelaroller.com/