Comments on: Christmas as usual

By: bad Jim

bad Jim — Sat, 25 Dec 2004 09:50:40 +0000

It’s entirely likely that the availability of arguably medieval cuisine in the Czech Republic is confined to a single restaurant somewhere on the outskirts of Prague. The connection between pudding and porridge was suggested by commenters at TNH. Likening either to blancmange was my lousy idea. Americans of Scandinavian descent used to make sausage (korv) as a holiday tradition, even mailing such a perishable commodity cross-country. It’s my understanding that such foods have long since ceased to be eaten in the old country. Sometimes the traditions of immigrants are time capsules, snapshots of another time rather than another place. At least my heritage doesn’t include lutefisk.

By: nic

nic — Sat, 25 Dec 2004 09:09:28 +0000

Men’s clothes have changed only in subtle details in the past century (take a look at a picture from 1900 and the men are wearing a slightly more formal version of what they would wear today. Maybe, if you consider only formal wear, but what they were wearing underneath is another story. Besides, even in formal wear, excusez moi, cut and fabric are what makes the difference. So, as a distant relative of Mr Giorgio Armani, ahem, I have to pedantically disagree with your bold claim about the lack of progress in men’s fashion :-) (no I’ve never even met him, and yes, it’s a pathetic claim to fame) Happy Christmas/Hanukkah/Festivus to everyone!

By: Deb

Deb — Sat, 25 Dec 2004 02:10:45 +0000

’Twas the night before Christmas And all through the blog. The threads all were silent Most blokes drank eggnog. Oh how they prattled and tried to look smart Talking ‘bout politics, science and art. Some liked to spar, others just spout Nonsense like homophily (what’s THAT about?). And I was one of them, though I’m not a bloke I like to joust and I like to joke. Some chaps grew angry because I was bold Cocky and arrogant and seemingly cold. I scorned the economists Mocked the Christians Of all the white boyz I loved to make fun. Am I really a woman Or just a dull troll? When I say to the fellows ”Bring it on. Let’s roll.” For the next two dozen hours I pledge not to fight. In honor of Hay Soos, I’ll sing “Silent Night.”

By: Maynard Handley

Maynard Handley — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 23:10:46 +0000

While Western men’s formal wear may not have change in a hundred years, what men ACTUALLY wear has changed substantially. More interesting is the question of whether this will change in the next 100 years. One can imagine the whole “comfort is all” trend reaching its ultimate conclusion with people going to the mall or flying in their pajamas and dressing gown (especially if some gangster rapper adopts this style). On the other hand, one can also imagine a sort of backlash, a way for men to differentiate themselves from the riff-raff by wearing jackets and ties out of the office. With global warming coming, my bet would be on (a) rather than (b).

By: Matt McGrattan

Matt McGrattan — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 20:35:50 +0000

..oh yeah, and the Czechs don’t go in for Santa Claus. Kids there get their presents from ‘jezicek’ i.e. Wee Jesus, or Little Jesus…

By: Matt McGrattan

Matt McGrattan — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 20:35:24 +0000

..oh yeah, and the Czechs don’t go in for Santa Claus. Kids there get their presents from ‘jezicek’ i.e. Wee Jesus, or Little Jesus…

By: Matt McGrattan

Matt McGrattan — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 20:28:54 +0000

The Czech traditional Christmas meal takes place on Christmas Eve and the main dish is carp—which will be prepared in a number of ways and there will be a fish soup made with carp roe. There’s also usually a big bowl of potato salad made with ham and apples (among other things). There’s no medieval mush. [Unless the Czech christmas meals I’ve had are totally atypical…] Carp are everywhere… you can see guys in the street all over Prague with big tanks full of live carp for sale.

By: dave heasman

dave heasman — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 15:55:28 +0000

Christmas Day has only been a holiday in Scotland since 1958.

By: des von bladet

des von bladet — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 11:22:02 +0000

I spent Twinkletree in Tallinn (Estonia) a couple of years ago, where they thoughtfully had laid in lots and lots of snö, and a vair vair large Twinkletree in the main square, of which a guide claimed that the custom had started in Tallinn improbably long ago. (I'm still, sadly, looking for a decent social history of the Twinkletree which neglects to believe that Luther invented it, which he clearly didn't, or that there is an unbroken continuity of practice from a pagan past, which there clearly isn't, or that "it is a German custom imported by prins Albert, you know like the piercing" is an adequate explanation, which it most certainly is not. Any suggestions, in any Yoorpean langwidge, gratefully accepted.) And my festive reading, which is the point, was Hobsbawm and Ranger (Eds) The Invention of Tradition, much of which would be laugh-out-loud funny at any time of year, but is exceptionally jolly at Twinkletree (although it doesn't cover the feast itself).

By: bad Jim

bad Jim — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 11:10:45 +0000

Then, on the other hand, there may be traditions which are merely old:

Were we to attend a 16th-century court banquet in France or England, the food would seem strange indeed to anyone accustomed to traditional Western cooking. Dishes might include blancmange – a thick puree of rice and chicken moistened with milk from ground almonds, then sprinkled with sugar and fried pork fat. Roast suckling pig might be accompanied by a cameline sauce, a side dish made of sour grape juice thickened with bread crumbs, ground raisins and crushed almonds, and spiced with cinnamon and cloves. Other offerings might consist of fava beans cooked in meat stock and sprinkled with chopped mint or quince paste, a sweetmeat of quinces and sugar or honey. And to wash it all down, we would probably drink hypocras, a mulled red wine seasoned with ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and sugar.

(Scientific American). The gist of the article is that the theory of what was good for you changed (for reasons now more risible than intelligible) between their cuisine and ours. Such medieval mush survives in our age as traditional fare in Czech villages (asserted w/o link) and perhaps at Christmas among Americans of Scandinavian descent in the form of rice pudding (see TNH). As for neckties, while it’s true that American currency depicts our founding fathers in neckcloths instead of four-in-hands, and their sumptuary uniformity (tricorns, queues) was jettisoned soon afterwards, male formal attire retains the superfluous buttons and elaborate collar of the prerevolutionary prototype. (A tie does keep your neck warm, and if you’ve bought a shirt with the right neck size, it won’t strangle you.) Merry Christmas, God Jul, Happy New Year and Merry Perihelion to all!

By: Graeme

Graeme — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 09:58:33 +0000

Good stuff. Yes, folklore traditions supposedly handed down from antiquity were in many instances invented by clergymen in the late 19th Century, and then given spurious authority thanks to mindless repetiton by others.

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 08:42:22 +0000

Merry Christmas!