Missing My Christmas Oranges This Year

by Anita Mae Draper

Bowl of tissue-wrapped Christmas oranges

I’m missing my Christmas oranges this year. That’s not to say that we don’t have any oranges, they’re just not the same ones I relate to Christmas. Oranges and other subtropical citrus fruit aren’t grown in Canada due to our cold weather and must be shipped in and/or railed in depending on where it is grown. Historically in Canada, there was a lack of oranges in the autumn, and then a burst of excitement as oranges miraculously appeared in time for Christmas.

Easy to peel skin of a mandarin orange

The green tissue paper helped develop my anticipation for the fragrant gift inside. I loved the excitement of breaking open that first Christmas orange—the only orange I could easily peel due to the skin slipping off the flesh without effort—yet I knew that first juicy bite would have a sour snap to energize my sleepy taste buds. It was only after eating several segments that I appreciated the tangy sweetness which left me craving for more. 

Even during the tough times of my childhood, the one thing I could be sure of was finding a green tissue-wrapped orange in the toe of my stocking on Christmas morning. A bowl of oranges always held a spot on our holiday table along with other treats, such as chips and nuts. 

Christmas morning 1967, Port Arthur, Ontario

The fact that the oranges came all the way across the Pacific from exotic Japan added to their seasonal appeal. But this year, I'm really craving them because I can't find any of the Japanese ones, and not many of the Chinese variety, either. Yes, we have the larger types of navel oranges and others, but it seems we've seen less of the original Japanese oranges, and even the Chinese mandarins each December. Now, the small tangerines and clementines compete for space throughout the year, yet some of them have so many seeds, and skin so thick I almost wreck my thumbnail breaking through the surface to peel it. 

So I started wondering what happened. I was hoping my research would give a definite reason, such as a Pacific typhoon, the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami combination, or even a trading dispute. Instead, my search led me on a different quest—the history of what Canadians call the Christmas orange.

I knew that the Christmas orange was first brought to Canada about 1890 by Japanese workers who received them in parcels in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I was quite surprised then, to find that the first mention of them was not in a Canadian newspaper, but in a 1901 and 1916 American one.

In Canada, the oranges were shipped across the Pacific in 9 pound wooden crates and unloaded in Vancouver.

Christmas mandarin oranges being unloaded from the ship, S.S. American Mail. VPL Accession Number: 81110. Courtesy of Vancouver Public Library

I found a 1926 article in the Montreal Gazette reporting that 1,452,000 oranges filling eleven Canadian National rail cars were on their way from Vancouver, British Columbia on Canada's west coast. So approx 40 yrs after the first oranges came across, a special train was used to carry the shipment across the nation.

The Montreal Gazette - Dec 4, 1926

The Japanese orange trade was so successful that a 1931 Drummondville, Quebec newspaper, reporting on an article from the Canadian prairie province of Manitoba, said that over 2 million oranges crossed the citrus-starved Canadian landscape by Dec 7th of that year.

The Drummondville Spokesman - Dec 7, 1931

And then Canada joined WW 2 and Japan was our enemy. The trans-Pacific orange shipments stopped, and Canadian parents told their children that everything was fine. But Christmas wasn't the same. Even with the availability of tangerines shipped in from Florida, Canadians felt the loss of their beloved Christmas orange. 

When the war ended, countries worked to restore their economies and Canada renewed trade with Japan. But Canadians felt the loss of their fathers, uncles, brothers, and all those servicemen and women who'd given their lives for freedom... and resentment against the people of Japan was hard to put down. 

Japanese oranges were scarce during the 1947 Christmas season, but by 1948 they were back with a new name. In an attempt to take the onus off their origin, they were re-introduced simply as mandarin oranges.  

CP Rail Mandarin Orange Express train

The mandarin orange express trains had special markings, yet only one car carried this paint scheme in a shipment of almost 60 cars. We didn't care what they were called or where they were from, our special Christmas orange was back—more than 3 shiploads of them filling over 32 freight cars that year. And that was just the beginning of the resurgence of its popularity.

Which brings me back to my original question... what happened to our favourite Christmas orange since it's rare to see a crate of the boxes sitting in a grocery store these days.

Are oranges a traditional part of your Christmas? Did you receive one in your stocking?

This post was originally published on the Inkwell Inspirations blog on Dec 16, 2015.

As this is my final post for the wonderful Heroes, Heroines, and History Blog, I want to share my sincere appreciation for all the readers and contributors who made this such a great place to be a part of during the past seven years. 

Merry Christmas and may God bless you richly this holiday season and in the coming year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anita Mae Draper lives on the Canadian prairies where she uses her experience and love of history to enhance her stories of yesteryear's romance with realism and faith. Readers can enrich their story experience with visual references by checking Anita's Pinterest boards. All links available on her website at www.anitamaedraper.com

A Pancake by Any Other Name—with Giveaway By Donna Schlachter

As a child growing up in eastern Canada, the Tuesday before Lent was called “Pancake Day”. Traditionally, we ate pancakes for supper. The batter was prepared as usual, and when my mother spooned the mixture into the frying pan, she tucked an aluminum foil-wrapped coin into each pancake.

You can imagine our excitement as the children endeavored to eat as many pancakes as possible, because then we increased our chances of finding the cakes with a dime or maybe even a quarter inside. Most had a penny or nickel, but that didn’t deter us.

Each year, we’d ask why we ate pancakes for supper just one day a week, and my mother always told us because it was a tradition. She didn’t know the reason. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered the reason.

Dreamstime.com

 

Pancake Day hails from the observance of Lent and marks the beginning of the season. Held on the Tuesday before Lent, it’s also known as Shrove Tuesday. It was a day of confession and self-examination, which has become Mardi Gras in the United States. Because Lent was commonly a time of fasting from favorite foods, Pancake Day was begun as a way to rid the home of eggs, sugar, and fat (usually butter).

Dreamstime.com

Pancakes hold a longstanding place in history, first mentioned by Ancient Greeks around 600 BC. Around 1100 AD, Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday became a traditional way to adhere to the church’s admonition to self-deny. National Pancake Day originated in the USA in 1985, although depending on one’s country of origin, has been celebrated here much longer than that.

Regardless of which traditions you adhere to regarding Lent, Pancake Day is still a fun way to change up your menu and encourage your kids to eat.

Now, if we could just find a way to hide money inside vegetables.

Giveaway: Leave a comment, and I’ll draw randomly for a free print (US only) copy of “The Pony Express Romance Collection”. Share one of your family traditions, and leave your email address disguised from the bots as name AT email DOT extension (for example: Donna AT HiStoryThruTheAges DOT com)



 

 

 

 

 

Resources:

https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Pancake-Day/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shrove-Tuesday

https://holidays-today.com/holidays/national-pancake-day.html





About “The Pony Express Romance Collection”:

Join the race from Missouri, across the plains and mountains to California and back again as brave Pony Express riders and their supporters along the route work to get mail across country in just ten days. It is an outstanding task in the years 1860 to 1861, and only a few are up to the job. Faced with challenges of terrain, weather, hostile natives, sickness, and more, can these adventurous pioneers hold fast, and can they also find lasting love in the midst of daily trials?

About Donna:

Donna writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas, full-length novels, and non-fiction books. She is a member of ACFW, Writers on the Rock, SinC, Pikes Peak Writers, and CAN; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com

Tamales at Christmastime

By Nancy J. Farrier

One red chili/chicken and
one green chili/cheese tamale.

I’ve lived for most of my life in the Southwest, so when I think of Christmas traditions, tamales come to mind. I’ve loved watching the families who get together and spend the day making tamales. There is a lot of work involved as well as camaraderie and love. The result of their efforts is a delicious food. This year I thought I would share some history behind the tamale and why they are a Christmas tradition.

Tamales with corn husk
opened.

First, what are tamales? Tamales are a corn masa, made of ground corn, and spread on a corn husk or a type of leaf, usually filled and then wrapped and steamed. The filling is varied from meat fillings to chili and cheese to sweet tamales. They are incredibly good and very portable.

Tamales can be traced back to early history bc. Because they are so portable, they were often sent with travelers for their journey or hunters on an expedition. They could carry the tamale with them and the wrapping would keep the food safe.

What is in the tamale filling? Today, you find them with beef, pork or chicken, usually in a chili-based sauce. Or, there are cheese and green chili tamales. Or, the sweet tamales with raisins. There are quite a variety, but what about historically? 

What did the Aztecs and Mayans use to fill their tamales? Some of the fillings used were meats such as rabbit, fish, turkey, beans, fruits, and even eggs, which are all pretty normal to us. But, they also had fillings made of more unusual meats such as gopher, frog or flamingo. Frogs? Flamingos? 

Photo by Diana Ponce Navarrete
Wikimedia Commons

Making tamales can be very time consuming, thus the reason families get together and make dozens of tamales in one day. The filling needs prepared. The masa must be mixed to the right consistency. The corn husks or leaves need softened. 

Once everything is ready, the tamales are assembled by smoothing a layer of masa on the corn husk or leaf, adding a spoon full of filling, and then folding the tamale just so. Some are tied to keep them from opening, but sometimes the husk is large enough to fold and stay closed. The top of the tamale is left open and they are placed in a large

Cooking Tamales
Wikimedia Commons

kettle to steam, standing them on end so the open end is upright and the filling won’t fall out. Having helpers for the process is a wonderful idea, plus the time with family cements relationships and teaches the younger children the family recipe. This is tradition handed down over the years.

Why are tamales so popular at Christmas in the Southwest? There is the belief that the tamales made at Christmas contain an olive, the representation of the Christ child with the tamale representing Mary. It is symbolic of her carrying the Christ child and Him waiting to be born. This story has been handed down for centuries. 

Tamales ready to eat.

No matter the way they are made or the reason for making them, tamales are a wonderful tradition. They are eaten all year long, but at Christmas, the making of them becomes very special. 

Have you ever made tamales? Do you enjoy eating them? They are a wonderful food that is easy to fix once they’ve been made. My family has enjoyed them for years, and I’ve made them a few times. Mine have never measured up to some of the ones we’ve been given from families who have their own recipe handed down. Still, it’s wonderful to try something new.

Nancy J Farrier is an award-winning author who lives in Southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats, and spend time with her family. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.

History of Luminarias or Farolitos

With Nancy J. Farrier

Luminarias in Albuquerque
By Camerafiend, Wikimedia Commons

One of my favorite sights at Christmas are the illuminated paper bags that line walkways and sometimes the tops of houses. I wondered how this tradition began and thought you might be interested too.

Pinning down the actual start proved harder than I thought. There are many different ideas about luminarias, including what to call them. I’ve read many accounts and will share the most common with you, but I would love to hear your thoughts below if they differ from what I’ve learned.

By Trzypiece
Wikimedia Commons

Luminarias first began as bonfires lighting a path. The story is told that these fires were lit at so Mary and Joseph and the Christ child would find their way to a welcoming place. Some believe a type of luminaria lit the way in Bethlehem. People lit luminarias to show that Christ was welcome in their house.

One of the first mentions in North America of the lights comes from a journal of Spanish explorer, de Sosa, when he was in what would become New Mexico. He mentioned the lighting of fires along the trail to guide soldiers to the camp. He referred to the fires as luminarias, establishing that as a name for the guiding lights. 

Small campfires were used as luminarias until the 18^thcentury when Chinese lanterns were introduced to North America. The lanterns were not as convenient to use since they were fragile and costly. When paper bags were invented in 1872 and brought west on the Santa Fe trail, people discovered they could put sand in the bottom of the bag and insert a small candle in the sand. This option was much cheaper than the lanterns and became the popular tradition that continues today.

Farolitos, Old Mission Church
By Larry Lamsa, Wikimedia Commons

Over the years, in New Mexico, there has been great controversy over what to call the holiday lights.  The term luminaria means light. But in Northern New Mexico they prefer to call the lighted bags, farolitos, which means little lantern. The issue about which is correct is a long debate. In the end, they are both beautiful, and have such a similar meaning, that I don’t understand the conflict. 

Luminaria in Italy on August 1st.
By Fiore Silvestro Barbato, Wikimedia Commons

Luminarias are used in many communities across the United States and in other countries. Each community has their own emphasis on why they carry out the tradition. Not all are for Christmas either. Some are to light the way to church. Some light the way for the Christ child. Some light the way for Pa Pa Noel, or Santa Claus. 

No matter the reason the flickering lights inside the paper bags are beautiful along a walkway or road. They are a sign of caring and hope. I do love this tradition. 

What about you? Do you use luminarias or farolitos? Do you have a different understanding of the tradition? I would love to hear from you and learn more about this fascinating custom.

Nancy J Farrier is an award-winning author who lives in Southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats, and spend time with her family. Nancy is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Literary Agency. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.