A Few Christmas Memories

 

Zielke Family Christmas Dinner
Henry Zielke Home; 776 Second Ave, Aurora, IL

In the spirit of the season, I thought this would be a good time to share the few random memories Aunt Grace  has of Zielke Family Christmases. As is frequently heard of "old-fashioned" Christmases, the family celebration for Reinhold's and Martha's family was not a celebration filled with expensive purchases, but rather a time for family to come together and enjoy the holiday with family and food!

Decorating for Christmas always happened on Grandma's birthday, December 18th. The green, artificial tree was older than Aunt Grace who described it as "a spindly-lookin' thing" that provided PLENTY  of space for ornaments! The tree would stay up until January 6th.

Grandpa Zielke & Don (?)
Appears to be at Uncle Henry's house

Gifts for the holiday were generally special, but with a practical purpose. Gifts primarily consisted of clothes, an orange and a little candy. Grandma never did the Christmas shopping. "Berdie" (aka Aunt Bertha) did all the shopping and brought the gifts with her from Indiana. The children were told that Santa delivered to HER house,  although they were also warned that Santa would be watching them through the window to make sure they were behaving themselves. Aunt Grace remembers that one year, Berdie's friend made doll clothes for her baby doll with a trunk!  She said she was so disappointed though, because the clothes all looked homemade.

Grandma Zielke

Sometimes, Berdie had a hard time making it to Illinois from Indiana due to the lake effect snow coming around Lake Michigan. Great was the anticipation of the gifts that Berdie would be bringing with her, made even worse by the house rule that dinner was to be eaten BEFORE gifts could be opened and dinner wasn't served until George, Henry and Berdie all made it "home" for Christmas.

Christmas dinner was served with everyone gathered around the big family table that had 3-5 leaves added to make room for all. Aunt Dorothy had the table for years; it is now in cousin Jeanine Creviston's possession. While the family never had turkey, the meal still centered around poultry, featuring a goose and SEVEN ducks! Preparation for the meal began a week ahead as the goose and Muscovy ducks were killed and hung on the clothesline for up to a week before Christmas.

Muscovy Ducks come in several
varieties, make good pets AND 
"are considered very good eating
with lean, tender meat that tastes
more like veal than duck."

Aunt Grace recalls hearing friends talk about their big 20 lb turkeys for their Christmas dinners and wondering "what kind of pigs are we with a goose AND seven ducks?" Potatoes with gravy, corn and beans were all a traditional part of the main meal with apple and cherry pies for dessert, but two of Grandma's specialties were the crowning glory: 

• Apple dressing was made with lots of apples, cinnamon, sugar and very little bread. (I remember my dad telling my mother he wanted apple dressing for Christmas dinner and her telling him that if he wanted it, he could make it, probably because she knew she couldn't match Grandma's, but Dad made it!)
• Butterscotch Meringue Pie- sorry, no recipe available here!

A few cousins with Grandma about 1965
Grandma, the Pope girls, Norm, Beth & Carol

In later years, I only remember one year, but there was a cousin gift exchange. We were each assigned a cousin to buy for. I'm not sure which cousin had my name but I remember the stuffed toy angora-type cat I got! She was so pretty and soft! I had her for years! If it was you, thank you! I loved her!

Christmas of the 1920s, 30s and 40s was a much simpler time, yet I'm certain no less magical for the Zielke kids than our own kids and grandkids today.  I'm also fairly certain the Zielke children were probably more grateful for their clothes, oranges and candy than most kids are for fancy electronics today. There is much to be said for leading a simpler life.

We've lost too many of our Zielke family in 2021; all from Uncle Henry's family: Marilyn, Norm, Ken & Don. We offer prayers of peace and comfort for our family members who feel their loss the greatest during this holiday season. It is also my prayer that we might all remember the simple blessings of the Christmas season; especially the true gift from our Heavenly Father; His son, Jesus Christ, who taught us how to live, suffered for our sins and gave His life that we might return to Heaven to live with him, reunited with our loved ones through all eternity.

May God bless each of you. Merry Christmas and the Happiest New Year!