Things have really changed and the children hardly ever leave the houses anymore, spending hours at a time concentrating on computer generated games. Even learning aids are now high in technology and there is no great need for friends and relatives of similar age to make the day exciting.
“First thing, everybody had to play his part in order to get ready for Christmas. Everybody would form themselves into groups and go out to look long grass, which they would use to make their beds for the next year.
People would have already opened up the bed from the last year, thrown out the old dry grass and are looking forward for the new fresh grass to come. These were the beds back then and everybody also had to help in cleaning the houses and the yard space,” he said.
Arthur added that there was no grass but families had to pull bush and sweep away the heavy dust until they got to the solid surface. He added the houses would have been brushed for cobwebs and sometimes washed down from the water collected at the community standpipe.
“Remember people from all over the country could well show up for a visit and there would have been group after group of people coming to sing Christmas Carols almost everyday for weeks leading up to Christmas.
“Meanwhile, on the inside, the house was being decorated with what were called fly catchers. They were strung across the top of the room and the various room partitions had colour paper pasted on to them. The postman would have been making frequent trips to the home and the greeting cards he brought would also be used to decorate the various tables. They were also sometimes put to hand on twine running across the side of the rooms, almost like clothes lines.
He said he remembers going into the bushes to find a cherry tree, a portion of which he would cut and that would make the Christmas tree for that year. It would be decorated with ballons, which he said they used to call bludders as well as coloured ribbons and paper twisted into no particular shapes.
“When all the housework was done all effort would then be concentrated on the preparation of food. Some people made plain cakes, which they would bake in tin ovens set on the coalpot fire. Those who made the Christmas pudding would have soaked their mixed fruit and wine well before and it was only now left for the pudding to be put to boil. And while I am talking about boiling, that ham was already boiling as well.
“This was breakfast for many right through the Christmas and every once in a while there would be some pork and roast dumplings with bush tea or coco, the latter nicely spiced with Christmas bush or Bay leaves,” said Arthur.
According to Arthur they drank a lot, and not always the ginger beer and sorrel they had helped to prepare in expectation that dozens of wear carollers and other travellers would be stopping by.
“There was a lot of boozing going on but there never seemed to be any trouble like fights and people getting seriously injured and so on. Maybe it was the church influence because everybody spent good time in church celebrating Christmas,” Arthur said.
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