Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Christmas Memories of the residents at the Villa Vista

12/10/2003

Christmas Memories of the residents at the Villa Vista by Jennie K. Hanson 12-10-2003

Today, I had the chance to go to the Villa Vista to visit with several of the residents and ask them about their childhood Christmas Memories.  Here are some of their answers.

Hulda Hill remembers that they always had a Christmas tree in the house, but after the 1918 fire things were really tough.  She told me that the Red Cross left a package by the road and she got a new doll and her brothers got a toy truck.  There were 10 children in her family so presents were not very plentiful.

Anna Maijala who was born in 1917 said that they didn’t have much of a Christmas.  What gifts they did get were home made things like mittens and home made dolls.  They never got any new store bought things for gifts.

John Louhela born in 1918 said that they always had a tree and he especially remembers the wax candles on the tree.  I asked him if the tree ever started on fire, and he said no, that they were never that careless.  They put up the tree the day before Christmas and usually had lots of company on Christmas.  He believed in Santa and expected to see him and he always did.

Martha Heiskari said that her Christmas memories are just what John had just said.

Anna Vorderbruggen had more to relate.  She said that Santa came the night before Christmas and if we were good, we would get good, but if we were bad, we’d get a willow switch in their baskets that were set out for Santa.
She said she never got a switch, but was threatened with one if she didn’t behave.
Santa would come to school every year and he would be dressed in a long Black coat with a big chain for a belt.   When the kids saw him they would be so scared that they would run and hide in the corner.  Santa was also called Kris Kringle.
Her family would hitch up the horse and 2-seater buggy and ride the one-mile trip to Midnight Mass and then when they would get home the presents could be opened.  They had lots of fun and stayed up very late on Christmas Eve.

Wally Strand was born in 1909 and they seldom did much for Christmas except for a tree and wax candles.  They had a very small house.  His only sister died of a ruptured appendix when she was just 11 years old, so he was left an only child.

Toivo Walli was born on December 21, 1913 and he said he was born too close to Christmas so that hurt him when it came to gifts.  He would only get one gift at Christmas and it counted for his Birthday, too.   They would mostly get homemade socks and mittens for gifts.

Oliver Wydra had 3 kids in his family and they would spend Christmas singing and having fun times.

Olivia Elliot was born on Feb. 8, 1910.  They had 9 kids in the family, but they got lots of presents.  They got storybooks, Mother Goose books, pencils and pencil boxes, clothes and once she even got a homemade rocking chair.  One year her brother gave her the only doll she ever owned.

Sonja Egerdahl – I asked her how old she was and she asked me if she had to reveal her age.  I told her no, she could do what ever she wanted so I never found out her age.  She informed me that her folks never did overdo Christmas like most people do nowadays.  They also had a tree with wax candles, we had to watch it though.  I asked her if her dad made any wooden gifts for her and she said her dad wasn’t handy so the toys weren’t homemade.  They used to crack walnuts with a hammer and one time her sister dropped the hammer on her toe and it turned all black and blue.  Her dad drilled a hole in her toenail to relieve the pressure and I told her that that was more information than I cared to know.

There are many more residents at the Villa Vista, but I wasn’t able to talk to them all.  I sure did enjoy the visit with those I did get to talk to.
Stop by to visit them if you want to learn more about Christmas in the past.