Category Archives: Thanksgiving

The Ragamuffin Thanksgiving

As someone who loves Hallowe’en and who remembers every single costume I ever wore as a boy, I am naturally fascinated by old photos of Hallowe’en costumes and stories of trick or treating. But years ago, when I was old enough to start getting curious about my family’s own stories, I inadvertently stumbled onto a bit of a mystery. I had asked my parents about Hallowe’en costumes and trick or treating when they were kids in Brooklyn, and they both said the same thing: that they didn’t really do much of that for Hallowe’en. Mom, however, piped in that she did remember dressing up and going door to door on Thanksgiving. “Anything for Thanksgiving?” was the phrase the costumed kids uttered when folks opened their doors. When I learned this from Mom, all those years ago, I think I just tucked the information away in my head under a category called That’s Weird, for I had never heard of such a thing, and it was definitely not the answer I was looking for when I had asked the question.

Be that as it may, this strange Hallowe’en-like Thanksgiving tradition, it turns out, was prevalent across the country in the early 1900s, but most especially in New York, where Mom and Dad grew up, and where the word Ragamuffin became associated with the Thanksgiving begging. There was even an annual Ragamuffin Parade. These things would eventually be frowned upon by leaders seeking a more genteel city––an early victim of gentrification. Nowadays, this old Thanksgiving custom is hardly known, faded with other relics of distant memory of that place once known as New Amsterdam.

Lately, I’ve come to learn more about this tradition, mainly through stories I’ve heard in recent years on NPR. The stories all back up my mom’s story, making her experience sound less bizarre. Rather than retell the story myself, I’m going to send you to one of those stories in the archives of the NPR website. Fittingly enough, it’s titled When Thanksgiving was Weird. The story is accompanied by some wonderful photographs. I probably wouldn’t even have thought about it this year were it not for the fact that my friend Jim Hammond, of Florida Day of the Dead fame, mentioned the Ragamuffin tradition recently on a social media post. So thank you, Jim, and thank you, Mom. And thank you to each of you who faithfully reads this blog. It means the world to me that you do. Happy Thanksgiving. May it be weird for you, in only the best way.

Image: Thanksgiving Maskers, circa 1910–1915. Photograph, Bain News Service / Library of Congress.

CHRISTMAS STOCK-UP SALE
Please do keep in mind our big Christmas Stock-Up Sale continues! $10 off your purchase of $75 at our catalog, plus free domestic shipping, makes a savings of $18.50. So many wonderful gifts to choose from, including Mom’s own handmade Millie’s Potholders, some new things from the Sabbathday Lake Shakers that smell incredible (plus their teas and herbs and rose water that taste wonderful), plus sparkly German Advent calendars and handmade British Advent candles, and a brand new shipment of Mexican painted tin ornaments arriving this week. And more, more, more. Your support of our mission on a transactional basis like this means you believe in what we do and in the work of all the artisans we support, too. That’s a powerful thing in these uncertain times.

COME SEE US!
Looks like we WILL be popping up in a safe way this Christmas season! Watch our Facebook and Instagram feeds (@conviviobookworks) for current news of days when we’ll be setting up shop at our favorite Christmas tree lot, Mr. Jingle’s Christmas Trees, in the heart of Downtown West Palm Beach at the corner of Quadrille and Lakeview, just across the tracks from Rosemary Square (formerly known as City Place). Proper address: 419 Lakeview Avenue, West Palm Beach 33401. Current plan is for Convivio Bookworks to be there for the first time this season the weekend of December 5 and 6 (and other days, as well), with a big selection of our Christmas and Advent artisan goods from Germany and Sweden and Mexico, our Shaker herbs and teas, Millie’s Famous Candy Wreaths (and her potholders, too), and more. It’s an open outdoor space so it is as safe as it gets these days, and face masks are required when shopping in our open tent, off to the side of the big tents at Mr. Jingle’s. Get your tree, too, while you’re there, from our pal Brandon Helfer. He knows his trees and will steer you in the right direction. We’ve been getting our Christmas trees from Brandon for years now. He’s a good guy.

 

Tagged

In This Spirit of Thankfulness

It’s Thanksgiving. We gather, break bread together and remember all we are thankful for. That’s the day at its core. It had a rough go at first, Thanksgiving did, and almost didn’t make it this far through history. It was President George Washington who, in 1789, in his very first presidential proclamation, declared a day of national thanksgiving. But interest waned, as it sometimes does, and Thanksgiving became a mostly forgotten holiday until President Abraham Lincoln felt compelled to revive the tradition. When he did, he proclaimed the last Thursday of November, 1863, as our national day of Thanksgiving. It was something we needed as a nation, back in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War. And still we need it, in the midst of whatever it is we are going through now. Many seem to think it is ok to be rude and belittling and not civil toward each other, an example set before them by the highest office in the land. This is not something with which I agree. This is not the way things are supposed to be.

With Thanksgiving, we get a day to reflect and to take pause. To think about what is important to us. It could be nothing more than the pumpkin pie on your plate, and that’s ok. But it could also be all the people who are gathered around you at the table, and all the people who lift you up, rather than weigh you down, and all the things in life that bring you joy and peace and solace. For me, it also includes all of you who read this Book of Days and all who take time to comment and engage with it, and all the people we meet at pop up markets and all the people we never meet, but tell us things that sometimes make me so emotional, like this comment that came from a reader who, just a couple of weeks ago, ordered one of our vintage German Chimney Sweep ornaments. I made the chimney sweep our cover star for today (photo above), and here’s what our reader had to say, a few days after his order arrived in Virginia:

We received our order today and couldn’t be happier!!! Thank you so much. Just so you know why this is such a nice purchase for us. Me and my wife were both military brats and grew up overseas in Germany. We met in Berlin Germany, my wife has been looking for this type of ornament for some Time now, this is very similar to a Christmas ornament that her parents had when she was growing up. The chimney sweep ornament was her father’s and he always hung it last. Well this year my father-in-law passed away and my wife wanted to get this in remembrance of him and the traditions her family grew up with. I can’t tell you how much having this ornament will mean to her for the rest of our lives. She thinks her father may have gotten the ornament in east berlin when she was a child. Either way we will love and cherish it forever.

Stuff like this chokes me up, because I get it, I understand those feelings exactly. And so I am thankful that we get to be part of this journey with you, sometimes in these very strange ways. From Seth and me, to all of you: Happy Thanksgiving.

COME SEE US!
We’re popping up at quite a few local South Florida venues in the next few weeks!

City of Lake Worth Tree Lighting
Saturday November 30 from 6 to 9 PM
at the Cultural Plaza in Downtown Lake Worth, right behind the City Hall Annex
414 Lake Avenue in Lake Worth
This is not, at the time of this writing, a confirmed venue for us, but there’s a very good chance (let’s say… 85% likely) that we will be there in a tent on the plaza with a pop up shop of our Christmas artisan goods from Sweden, Mexico, and Germany, as well as traditional sparkly German advent calendars and advent candles, and a few of my mom’s famous candy wreaths. (And yes, our town was recently re-christened “Lake Worth Beach” by a slim margin in the last election… but I’ve not yet been able to bring myself to utter a name that contains both “Lake” and “Beach.” But you know where to find the tree lighting and us, should we be there in our tent, this Saturday evening: Good old Downtown Lake Worth, right behind the beautiful City Hall Annex and across from the Library.)

Real Mail Fridays: Winter Card Writing Social
Friday December 6 from noon to 6 PM
at Jaffe Center for Book Arts in the Library at Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Road in Boca Raton
There’ll be a mini Makers Marketplace at this annual event so you can do a little shopping, but also bring your Christmas cards and Hanukkah cards and New Year cards and get the task of writing them started (or tackled) in a festive environment with other like minded souls. Great fun!

Christkindlmarkt
Saturday & Sunday December 7 & 8 (2 to 9 PM on Saturday; 1 to 8 PM on Sunday)
at the American German Club
5111 Lantana Road in suburban Lake Worth
Convivio Bookworks will be part of this old time German Christmas market at the American German Club, west of the town of Lantana. At our booth you’ll find traditional handmade German Christmas items, and we’ll throw in some other handmade items from our Swedish and Mexican collections, too, as well as Shaker herbs & teas, some letterpress goods, and my mom’s famous handmade candy wreaths.

Undiscovered: An Inclusive Arts Festival
Saturday December 14 from 10 AM to 4 PM (but we have to pack up by 3!)
at Palm Beach Habilitation Center
4522 South Congress Avenue in Lake Worth
We’re so excited to take part in this inaugural arts fair at the Hab Center, which does such wonderful work helping folks with disabilities become more independent through training and employment. There are art projects that EVERYONE can participate in, and there’s a pop up market; we’ll be there with lots of great artisan goods from our catalog.

Holiday Night Market
Saturday December 14 from 4 to 8 PM
at Social House
512 Lucerne Avenue in Downtown Lake Worth
It’s always a special night at Social House. We’ll be showing our Christmas artisan goods and Shaker teas (and my mom’s famous candy wreaths). One of our favorite markets at one of our favorite places!

Midwinter Makers Marketplace
Sunday December 15 from 10 AM to 4 PM
at Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Road in Boca Raton
It’s full swing yuletide and we’ll be showing our handmade artisan Christmas ornaments and decorations from Germany, Sweden, and Mexico and our full line of Shaker herbs & teas and more (like my mom’s famous candy wreaths). Plus there’s live music almost all day: Ella Herrera from 10 to 1 and Rio Peterson from 1 to 4. Look for the blue & white MAKERS MARKETPLACE signs on FAU campus roads.

Revelry Sip & Shop
Sunday December 15 from 1 to 6 PM
at Revelry Lake Worth
17 South J Street in Downtown Lake Worth
Find us in the courtyard with our handmade Christmas artisan goods and Shaker herbs and teas and more (including my mom’s famous candy wreaths again!). They’re serving mimosas!

 

I Know I Don’t Possess You (Holiday Blues)

For all we talk here about celebrating the ceremony of a day, I know that for a lot of you, for one reason or another, this time of year is not easy. The holidays are hectic, overstimulating, excessively commercialized, and we put so much pressure on ourselves to make them perfect. Not only that, this time of year can more easily dredge up feelings of loneliness and reminders of loss. I’ve been there; I understand. I was there for a bit just last week. It was a week of worry: my mom had been dealing with an infection (she’s better now), the cat seemed not quite right, either; she wasn’t eating as heartily and wasn’t following her usual routines (she’s better and more her usual self now, too), work was not someplace I cared to be, and on top of all this, it was coming on to Thanksgiving and I was feeling like there wasn’t the time to do all I wanted to do to prepare. And then, at the back of my mind and in the core of my heart, was the reminder that Dad wouldn’t be at the table. Our second Thanksgiving since his passing was not feeling much easier than our first.

But Thanksgiving dinner was nice. Just the four of us: my mom, my sister, and Seth and me. At the table, I remembered Dad (I always do; I sit in his seat now at the head of the table––even though we were just four people that’s where my plate was set) and I remembered Grandpa, whose birthday was very often on Thanksgiving.

After dinner, after pie and coffee and after cleaning up the kitchen, we four settled into the living room. Mom wanted to watch a Doris Day movie but she was soon nodding off in her chair, sleeping off her meal, so she was overruled. My sister wanted to watch a new DVD she had just bought: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. I know, I know: Mamma Mia!, the 2008 film version of the Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus musical featuring the music of ABBA, is not the most intellectually stimulating film. If you’ve not yet seen the sequel, well, I have news for you: it’s just as dreadful as the original. But that’s part of what we love about these films. They are pure joy and fun and no one enters into a film like this expecting a life-altering experience.

This is probably a good place to tell you that I was not very popular in high school. ABBA’s popularity back then was a bit like soccer’s: hugely popular throughout the world, but here in the States, not so much. And me, I was quite possibly the only Florida member of the ABBA International Fan Club. I had all their records, I knew all their songs, even the obscure ones. I wore ABBA t-shirts and the ABBA International Fan Club Magazine arrived in my mailbox from Europe four times a year. When I was old enough to drive, while other students at my school were blasting Pink Floyd and Blue Öyster Cult out of their car windows, I was the one playing songs like “Waterloo” and “The Name of the Game.” I was never beaten up at school, but I walked a fine line. Most of the kids at Deerfield Beach High School took the high road and just chose to ignore me.

These days, I feel slightly vindicated. There’s not been a lot of Blue Öyster Cult action in these post-high-school days but thanks to the Mamma Mia movies, almost everyone now recognizes “Dancing Queen” as soon as they hear that first roll of the piano keys, and they even know the words. And when a band like Arcade Fire, critical darlings of the independent music scene, release an album like their most recent one, “Everything Now“–– one that is infused with ABBA-inspired harmonies and keyboards––well… I can feel a bit smug about that for all the unpopularity I endured in high school.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving and back to the movie. And spoiler alert––in case you’ve not yet seen it: Being the kind of movie it is, dripping with joy and happiness, I was surprised that Meryl Streep’s character, Donna, was killed off somewhere between the original and the sequel. And––again, being the kind of movie that it is––I expected all through the film that she would come back, that her death was all a funny misunderstanding and she would show up at her hotel on Kalokairi again and all would be well. But she doesn’t; not quite. At any rate, here we all were on Thanksgiving night, my mom, my sister, and Seth, and then me, off to the side, in Dad’s chair, watching this movie, filled with all this music that I knew by heart and that I could remember my dad sometimes singing along to (he liked to do the oom-pah-pahs in “Super Trouper”)… well, it all came welling up eventually. The worry over Mom and the cat, the feelings of loss, all those emotions. By the baptism scene in the church, with the song “My Love, My Life,”––one of the few songs for which Andersson and Ulvaeus wrote new lyrics for the movie––well… I was a blubbering mess, though I did my best to contain it. I was not sobbing but I was pushing it close, and anyone could steel a glance away from the movie and at my chair to see that it was rocking back and forth, something I didn’t even realize I was doing with my foot until I stopped it, the rocking apparently my last ditch attempt at keeping it together.

And then I got mad at the movie. You do not watch a movie like Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again to wreck yourself and get all emotional. I got mad at the song and I got mad at Benny and Björn for killing off Donna (though I’ve since learnt it was Meryl Streep’s idea, and I can’t stay mad at Meryl). And I got mad at myself for letting another movie make me cry.

But sometimes, this is what the holidays do to us, no matter how strong we feel going in. They push us to the edge of the cliff and dangle us there. It may take a silly film or a visit to a dark church or a perhaps a quiet fireside moment, a walk in the brisk air. But you know what? No one expects you to be happy all the time, least of all me. I’ve said it before: an underlying tenet of this Book of Days is that there is always a seat at the table for Death. Loss is a natural part of our lives and it is part of what makes celebrating the ceremony of a day so special. If we had all the time in the world, would we feel the need to celebrate? And in marking our days in our revolutions around the sun, we create lives worth living, traditions worth teaching those who follow us. Some of the recipes we’ll be baking this Christmas go back to time immemorial. Grandma taught them to Mom, and now she teaches us each year, helping us improve our technique. Grandma learned the recipes from her mother, who probably learnt them from her mother, and so on. Some are distinct to their region of Italy, Apulia. And when we make and eat these things today, we remember all these people, this long line of ancestors.

That’s a big reason why it feels so strange when those who come before us up and leave. But also why we should continue what was given to us. We keep them present through simple acts. And when you get right down to it, those are the most loving acts, the ones that keep the channels open across space and time. It’s the same reason why, for many of us at least, it’s good to keep the tissues nearby at movies.

 

Chalk a lot of the emotional 1-2 punch to the power of music, too… perhaps appropriate enough since Thanksgiving this year fell on St. Cecilia’s Day, Cecilia being a patron saint of musicians. I remember in 1982, not long after Grandpa had died, driving Mom to our store and on the car’s cassette player, since it was my car, was ABBA. It was a song called “One of Us,” full of mandolins, just like the songs that Grandpa played. “Oh, Johnny,” said my mom a few minutes in, “this song is making me cry.”

Image: Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Universal Pictures, 2018.