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MAY ALL ENJOY CHRISTMAS AND THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITH GUSTO!

Dec 22, 2019 Consumer Concerns, News

CONSUMER CONCERNS

By PAT DIAL

Guyanese people, from the mid-nineteenth century, have been celebrating and enjoying Christmas in the same spirit as we do today and have always nostalgically looked backwards to the charms of by-gone Christmases with the hope of recapturing them.
Thus the festival became richer and richer with the passing of each year and they were able to co-opt many valuable customs from the various immigrant groups who were brought from Europe, Africa and Asia.
Such customs included, for instance, caramel cake derived from Portugal and chicken or mutton curry and roti which became part of the Christmas menu. The use of paddy pots in decoration was contributed by Indian indentures.
From about the 1890s to about the 1980s, the various customs which became uniquely attached to the Guyanese Christmas became fully integrated and the various immigrant groups were encompassed in it with important social consequences such as the unification of the various racial groups into a Guyanese patriotism and the occurrence of cultural exchanges among them.
This period was regarded as the high years of Christmas.
During these high years, weeks before Christmas, people set their black cakes and various wines such as jamoon wine, rice wine, ginger beer and sorrel which was brewed during Christmas week. The art of making fruit and sponge cakes was brought to perfection.
It was a time when homes were given a thorough cleaning and all furniture was renewed or revarnished or repolished. The shops were stocked with various Christmas goods including ingenious toys and gifts. The grocery stores were stocked with all kinds of exotic fruits, mostly from the temperate zone.
All business places, especially the shops and groceries, were decorated to transform them into a wonderland of fantasy. Street music – masquerades and later steel bands – began to have their rehearsals in preparation for Christmas week.
House parties and public dances also took place in Christmas week. The whole society was suffused with a nervous energy and a sense of pleasant expectation.
The religious face of Christmas was always prominent. Christmas music, especially carols, were heard everywhere and was regularly broadcast. The Christmas story enacting the birth of Lord Jesus and the Three Kings was performed in the schools and some churches.
The Churches held services during Christmas week and among the most memorable were the colourful midnight masses of the Catholic Church.
Some Hindus and Muslims participated in and enjoyed the religious aspects of Christmas since these were universal and conformed to their Faiths. Christmas cards, some of these painted with scenes of great beauty, were widely exchanged.
Such cards were sold by vendors in the markets and streets. These vendors would usually read out aloud the poetic Christmas messages they contained.
During these high years of Christmas, everyone was overwhelmed with relaxed happiness and there was a genuine feeling of goodwill towards all men. Then from about the 1980s, Christmas began a gradual decline.
This was attributed to a variety of causes: The Government of the day adopted a policy of “de-emphasizing Christmas”. Wheaten flour and other ingredients for cake-making became unobtainable, chicken and eggs became scarce, and the economy and employment contracted resulting in less money being in circulation. Citizens were driven to focus on the necessities of survival.
Above all, the country experienced a massive emigration which has continued to today resulting in more Guyanese residing abroad than now live in Guyana.
At the time of writing this offering, which is about two weeks from Christmas, it seems that Christmas 2019 would be low-keyed since we have not seen the liveliness and vibrancy which was so much part of the running-up to past Christmases.
Yet, there are indications that the spirit of Christmas is again energetically manifesting itself – shopping is beginning to pick up; the religious side of the festival is beginning to evidence more activity than a few weeks ago and its celebratory aspects will inevitably resurge making it as memorable a Christmas as ever there was.
We should gear ourselves to enjoy a very merry Christmas.

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