They’re getting closer and closer, the winter holidays*. The jury is out on whether or not that Mr. Dimmick Who Thinks He Knows So Much will, like Christina Crawford, “get the cards out on time, OK?” But there is still time to consider a few things “to make the season bright.” Etiquetteer turns for inspiration today to Dame Curtsy’s Book of Novel Entertainments for Every Day of the Year.
First, let’s consider gifts of money. Etiquetteer is not alone in wanting gifts to feel more like gifts and less like transactions. That is one of the drawbacks of the ubiquitous gift card. Dame Curtsy gave a surprise when she wrote “There are occasions when it is best to give money instead of articles.” But she quickly justified Etiquetteer’s position by adding “Even then there may be a pleasant mystery about receiving it.” Origami is one way (several possible folds may be found here at the Daily Dabble), and Dame Curtsy describes a man folding greenbacks into the folds of a paper fan to give to his mother. She also recommends a scavenger hunt for young children to find silver dollars hidden throughout the house. (That could be challenging.) Of course there is nothing wrong with the plain white envelope (either handed directly to the recipient or hidden on the Christmas tree); Etiquetteer likes those best when they include a handwritten message from the giver, too.
Dame Curtsy recommends some, shall we say, involved ways of distributing gifts. Etiquetteer doesn’t think much of her “Snowball Christmas” idea to roll every gift in cotton, “dip lightly in mucilage or gum arabic water, then sprinkle plentifully with diamond dust. Pile these balls in a pyramid . . . with a wreath of holly around them.” The entire house would glitter like Varykino until Memorial Day! More user friendly is the “Christmas Barrel,” a large barrel decorated with crepe paper and holly and ribbons, placed somewhere in the house where everyone could get to it before Christmas to put their presents in. “At breakfast it was rolled into the dining room and the contents disclosed” by a family member chosen to be Santa by drawing candy canes instead of straws. “This is not much trouble, and infinitely better than just the ordinary way of giving things.” She also suggests putting presents into an urn as a table centerpiece, and making a “huge stocking . . . with a wire in the hem around the top to keep it open.” If you’re looking for some novelty in your Christmas morning, one of these methods might be worth exploring.
Etiquetteer wishes you joy as you contemplate novelty, tradition, and of course Perfect Propriety for the Holiday of Your Choice.
*Indeed, 2024 uniquely synchronizes the three winter holidays. Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 25 and Kwanzaa begins December 26.