I've
reminisced fondly about the Christmases we had when I was a lad – in
the 60's – as well as the present day Christmases that my kids enjoy. I
recently wondered what Christmas in Somerville was like for my dad – he
was born in 1920 and if he was still here I would sit him down and
interview him for this story.. Thankfully I still have his sisters (my
aunts) around to tell me of the Christmases back then.

We were
having lunch at one of our favorite restaurants last week and we
started talking about Christmas. It began with the complaint that kids
today get so many gifts as opposed to when we were kids. My cousin
Carol, who is right behind me in age (but doesn't look it), agreed that
we got less gifts back then, but always felt that we got more than
enough. Christmas was a very big deal back then. Auntie Olga chimed in
and told us about what she used to get for Christmas when she was a
little girl. In 1934, Olga was 10 years old. Italy had won soccer's
World Cup, and a new federal prison called Alcatraz had just opened.
There were 3 sisters in 1934 – Gemma, Gilda and Olga. Marie came along
a few years later. My father, Fred, was the oldest and Uncle Joe was
the youngest – until my Godmother (Marie) arrived. Auntie Olga
remembered sitting in front of the Atwater Kent radio and staring at it
the way we now watch TV. At Christmas time my Grandfather would play
the piano and sing carols in Italian. I still remember his version of
Jingle Bells that he joyfully sang to us grandkids.

Olga
recalls the sound of her mother (my Grandma) making noodles from
scratch in the kitchen. You could hear her working the dough with the
rolling pin. It made a bang as it hit the wall, because the table was
up against the wall. Scooping some sauce up with a meatball was a true
treat.

On Christmas Eve the girls would hang their long brown
stockings on their headboards. In the morning they would be filled with
an orange, some nuts and perhaps an apple. The best Christmas was the
one that all three sisters got brand new dolls and baby carriages.
Auntie Olga's eyes lit up as she was describing how special those
carriages were. The boys got brand new sleds one year, and that was
pretty extravagant for those days. They also received the dreaded "gift
of clothes." Back then they probably appreciated clothes, even if it
didn't have Reebok or Phat Farm stamped on them.

A trip to
Davis Square with 50 cents each in 1934 would find the kids at
Woolworths. All the sisters went together and their mother would warn
them to "keep their hands in their pockets" and to not take anything
without paying. That was before Mr. Wise ran the store and kept his eye
on everything. I wonder what kind of Christmas decorations Woolworths
sold in 1934? Maybe those plastic candles we put in our windows were
real candles? Maybe not.

Imagine if we gave our kids a
stocking stuffed with an orange, an apple and some nuts? They would
look at us as if we were nuts! To hear Auntie Olga tell about how happy
that houseful of kids was really made me smile. They didn't have a lot,
but they made do with just enough.

The best part of talking to
my Auntie Olga about her brothers and sisters and her parents was the
love that was on her face as she was reminiscing. She said more than
once that her parents always treated all the kids equally, and it was a
very happy house.

Having my aunts so close makes not having my
dad around all that much easier, especially at this time of year.
Thinking of him as a 14 year old boy on Christmas Eve is priceless.

Christmas
in 1934 was very special for the Del Ponte family, so we will carry on
the tradition of putting family first – now and always. Thank you
Auntie Olga for sharing your special memories with me.

Someday I hope someone will tell my grandkids about the wonderful Christmas of 2008.