By Dorothy McConachie, KERA 90.1 commentator
Dallas, TX – Christmas in Texas is much more than a Santa in a ten-gallon hat or luminaries lighting the walkway to a house. In addition to our cowboy and Mexican heritage, we have influences brought here by immigrants from all over the world. These traditions and customs from the "Old Country" included their Christmas celebrations.
Everywhere we look this time of the year we see beautifully-decorated Christmas trees. The first public Christmas tree in Texas was an oak tree decorated with candles by Germans in the coastal town of Port Lavaca in 1844. Hill Country Germans substituted cedar or juniper trees because they grew in the area.
The Germans, like other immigrant groups, decorated their trees with bits of colored paper, ribbons, decorated cookies and perhaps special delicacies as oranges and apples. The trees were illuminated with candles that made it glow in a way that seemed magical to the children who were not allowed to see it until Christmas Eve. The flames from the candles presented a fire hazard so a long stick with a wet cloth or sponge on it was always nearby to snuff out any sparks or errant flames. A bucket of water or sand was also handy - just in case.
The Irish were delighted to find mistletoe growing copiously in Texas trees. The Celtic Druids considered mistletoe sacred. Because it was thought to ward off evil spirits, it was hung over all the doors into a house. Young ladies entering a home always had to pass under the mistletoe. Since no evil spirits could enter, kissing under the mistletoe must then be acceptable. This was the nineteenth century, after all, and a gentleman needed an acceptable excuse to steal a kiss from a girl!
The early Poles arrived at their destination, which they named Panna Maria for the Virgin Mary, on Christmas Eve, 1854. At midnight, they gathered for the traditional Shepherd's Mass under the largest oak tree in sight. Today, many of the descendants of the original settlers as well as more recent immigrants from Poland wait until the first star appears to begin the traditional Christmas Eve supper. The meal begins when the patriarch of the family breaks a special wafer that represents, love, friendship and forgiveness.
In the Danish community of Danevang, Christmas is celebrated in much the same way it was a century ago when the first settlers arrived. On the Saturday before Christmas, the entire community gathers at the church meetinghouse for a traditional celebration. While singing carols everyone holds hands and dances around the giant tree in the middle of the hall. The last song to be sung is always "Nu har Ve Jul Igen," a traditional Danish tune that means, "Now Christmas is here again." The revelers stomp around the tree slowly the first time the song is sung and then as rapidly as possible the second time. Then everyone changes directions and does it again. After several choruses, children are laughing from tripping over their feet and falling down, and the adults are likewise laughing and bumping into each other.
The sparkling spider that you may see on a tree is not a remnant from Halloween. Instead, it is a lucky symbol from a Ukrainian folk tale about a spider that toiled the night of Christmas to decorate the tree of a family too poor to afford even the most meager of decorations.
All the different Christmas traditions also included an honored gift-giver who was called by a variety of names: Kris Kringle, the Christmas elf Nisse, La Befana or Santa Clause.
Today, Christmas in Texas includes bits of all the peoples who came here from elsewhere. And this is what makes a Texas Christmas so magical.
Dorothy McConachie is a former teacher and the author of "Our Texas Heritage."