The Advent Calendar

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

When I was a little girl growing up, I always looked forward to the first day in December not only because Christmas was that much closer, but because I would receive an Advent calendar with chocolates in it from my grandmother. I always loved opening the tiny doors to reveal holiday themed chocolates. This year I received a special Tea Lovers Advent Calendar and it not only brought back memories of my childhood, but also made me wonder when did this fun holiday countdown 'clock' appear. After some digging I discovered the Advent calendar had some very meager beginnings.

Until about the 16th century children received their holiday gifts on St. Nicholas' Day (December 6). Martin Luther rejected the worship of saints and altered the tradition. Since then, gift exchanges occur on Christmas. To shorten the longer wait time for children, Protestants developed several customs, including the Advent calendar.

Poor families typically marked 24 chalk lines on the door and their children in turn would erase one each day. Others put straw in a manger daily to build up the bed of Jesus in time for his birth. Other variations included candles with 24 tick marks or paper chains, from which one link was torn off each day. In wealthy homes the children received gingerbread daily. Catholics also enjoyed the advent calendar, and the tradition spread across Germany.

In 1902, a Protestant book store in Hamburg printed the first Advent calendar in the form of a clock. Two years later a German newspaper included a Christmas countdown calendar in one of its editions. Then, in 1908, a Munich publisher sold colorful photos to cut out and paste onto 24 slots on cardboard.



The first modern Advent calendars with little doors made their debut in 1920. Behind every door was a picture or Bible verse. During WWII advent calendars took a turn in Germany, instead of showing religious themes, they centered on German folktales and legends to remove the religious element of the holiday.

From the 1950s onward, the Advent calendar became an affordable mass-produced item. Behind the doors, little photos with winter scenes or religious motifs could be found. Some calendars contained chocolates or other sweets.

Believe it or not but, Dwight Eisenhower is often credited for the popularity of the Advent calendar tradition catching on in the U.S. During his presidency, he was photographed opening an Advent calendar with his grandchildren. The photograph ran in several national newspapers and in turn spurned sales and solidifying it as a popular holiday tradition.



Today Advent calendars aren't just for children as I discovered when I received my tea version. Notably in the UK, Aldi stores sell a wine Advent calendar containing a different type of wine daily (the tiny bottles) and apparently another friend of mine spotted a make-up version giving various luxury samples of cosmetics to beauty lovers during the holiday season.

***Hopefully, it's all right to post this here as it's sort of food related given most modern variations revolve around food and drink!***

 

[JOHN42768]

Great post. Thanks

 

[donna]

I have several Advent Calendars. One is the one my Aunt made. Been putting it up since my son was a baby. He is now grown with four kids of his own.

Anna great thread.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Missed this when you posted it, so sorry! We all jumped into ' Christmas ' so early. Advent seems to have been elbowed out of the Christmas line-up by the equally religious Shopping Season. There was a reason Christmas trees were put up on Christmas Eve, in the past. You just did not overlap - the church calendar said it was Advent. What was a Christmas tree doing in the middle of Advent?

Love the week to week lighting in church. Mom always has her Advent wreath albeit is a lot more circumspect with the candles of late years- and it does share space with her tree.

 

[donna]

Another favorite thread. Do miss Anna Elizabeth's posts. Hope she comes back to the forum.

 

[donna]

Time to get my Colanders out. They are a tradition in my family.

 

[Georgia]

Advent calendars were a huge part of my childhood. Our 1970's version Momma made with tuna or cat food cans with both top and bottom removed. She fashioned them into a tree shape with a trunk and sprayed painted the whole thing green. the top of the tree had a silver star cookie cutter and the little gifts were wrapped in red and white polka dot paper and were placed in the cans. The whole structure was hung on the laundry room door right off the kitchen.
Every morning,I would get to open my advent gift while I ate my bowl of grits before school. The gifts might've been two quarters, a special eraser, maybe a ceramic animal....

I did advent gifts for my young nieces and my older Aunt for several years. My Aunt knew how much time it took to find wrap and send them to her so she said while it was fun, she didn't want me to have that added task to do. My sister in law sent word through my Mother in law that she didn't like the addition of items to their home. I'd wrap up barrettes or Christmas pencils or other such items for my nieces. So, I stopped.

 

[Gary Morgan]

Advent calendars were a huge part of my childhood. Our 1970's version Momma made with tuna or cat food cans with both top and bottom removed. She fashioned them into a tree shape with a trunk and sprayed painted the whole thing green. the top of the tree had a silver star cookie cutter and the little gifts were wrapped in red and white polka dot paper and were placed in the cans.

I love that idea and may try it. Now if my children would just get around to giving me grandchildren to open the "doors," I'll be all set!

I had an aunt who taught overseas and she used to send my twin brother and me advent calendars from Germany. So much glitter! Those were the best!

 

[Georgia]

I love that idea and may try it. Now if my children would just get around to giving me grandchildren to open the "doors," I'll be all set!

I had an aunt who taught overseas and she used to send my twin brother and me advent calendars from Germany. So much glitter! Those were the best!

I'm sure you can figure out the configuration of cans to make it work out, but I'd love to see your finished one once you make it. Momma used the same star cookie cutters as napkin rings on the table. She made quilted tree shaped placemats and the napkins and stars were placed at the top of the tree.

For our fancy Christmas meals, Momma had purchased beautiful hand embroidered linen placemats and napkins which were stitched by those at the Women's Mental Health Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia.
They are natural/white background and have a tightly stitched blanket stitch on the outside edge to completely hide the cut edge and there is a lamp post with a lit candle in it with holly garland wrapped around the lamp and post. This is on the left hand side of the placemat. The napkins have the same right blanket/over stitch in the edge and a corner has holly and berries. She'd sprinkle them down with water, ball them up and then with high heat, press them out for use. Her linen closet had painted dowels for hanging tablecloths and other pieces such as these napkins and placemats.

Then, at each place setting, she had collected up clear glass doorknobs. Most likely they had been in auction box lots. She'd tie a tiny Christmas plaid or green bow around the narrowest part of the bulb, turn them upside down and using Hanukkah candles, carefully drip way into the hole in each and secure a red Hanukkah candle. These went by each place setting and were lit as we sat down to eat. Most of the time, they'd last through the dessert- which for the holidays usually was a presentation cut glass lunch bowl of ambrosia, cut fruit which had been allowed to create its own brandy and smallish balls of vanilla ice cream which Momma would roll in coconut and serve these "snowballs" in red glass sherbet glasses which had a clear foot and stem.
The candles would burn to the end and if the conversation had been easy and enjoyed, the candles would have burned to nothing and Momma would replace the Hanukkah candles in the glass door knobs before the next holiday meal.

 

[Quaama]

My children are already eagerly waiting for their advent calendars to emerge (each one has a box with numbered drawers). I have already stocked up on lollies and chocolates to put in the drawers.
They are lucky children: the advent calendars in my childhood had no treats in them, you opened the doors to reveal a picture with a religious theme (we still enjoyed opening them though). Two weeks ago they requested rum balls and 'white Christmas' and this year I'll probably let my daughter help make them but closer to Christmas.

I remember my youngest, when 5 years old, ate all his dinner (rissoles and vegetables which he didn't like and usually wasted most of it). I said they could all have ice-cream that night for their good effort. My youngest asked if he could have rum balls instead. I said 'Sorry, I only make them at Christmas time'. He explained he had seen me putting giant rum balls in the fridge earlier. Sadly for him, what I had put in the fridge were the rissoles, dusted in white flour.

 

[Georgia]

My children are already eagerly waiting for their advent calendars to emerge (each one has a box with numbered drawers). I have already stocked up on lollies and chocolates to put in the drawers.
They are lucky children: the advent calendars in my childhood had no treats in them, you opened the doors to reveal a picture with a religious theme (we still enjoyed opening them though). Two weeks ago they requested rum balls and 'white Christmas' and this year I'll probably let my daughter help make them but closer to Christmas.

I remember my youngest, when 5 years old, ate all his dinner (rissoles and vegetables which he didn't like and usually wasted most of it). I said they could all have ice-cream that night for their good effort. My youngest asked if he could have rum balls instead. I said 'Sorry, I only make them at Christmas time'. He explained he had seen me putting giant rum balls in the fridge earlier. Sadly for him, what I had put in the fridge were the rissoles, dusted in white flour.

Aw. Sounds like your rum balls are so good that you could get rooms tidied, laundry folded and grass mowed with the promise of them. I was similarly bought off but my choices were pralines and divinity.

You may need to share the rum ball recipe here- I think we could all use some motivation.

 

[Quaama]

Aw. Sounds like your rum balls are so good that you could get rooms tidied, laundry folded and grass mowed with the promise of them. I was similarly bought off but my choices were pralines and divinity.

You may need to share the rum ball recipe here- I think we could all use some motivation.

Regrettably recipes from me would not translate well; all metric here and although you could get similar ingredients they would not be the same.

 

[Mrs. V]

We had a paper advent calendar. But we did enjoy revealing the inner image/scripture. I have a tree that I bought from Avon, which is a music box/tree and every day you add an ornament to the tree. It went to college with my son, and it is his now when he moves out. Got a whole collection of those items that will move with him.