Oh,Tradition

It is the breakfast of champions; leftover turkey and an orange, washed down with Walmart brand coffee. I can have that for breakfast because I’m an adult and I can do what I want. Both the turkey and the orange are Christmas leftovers.

I always got an orange in my Christmas sock when I was a kid. It was a tradition that continued as my kids were born. I never really thought about it until a few years ago when my son in law asked “What’s up with the oranges every year? “ as he unloaded his Christmas stocking Santa left here at the homestead. My wife says it wasn’t part of her family tradition either. It is my thing she says. Isn’t that what is cool about tradition? Too bad I don’t have a story to reinforce the annual orange in the stocking thing. It just is.

Connor Prairie is a local living history museum. This year they started a giant Christmas extravaganza. My granddaughter went there with her parents. After they attended the event, my SIL was exited. He said he learned that oranges were a popular Christmas treat in the colonial years. The fruit ripened in the late fall and was generally available in the North around Christmas time. There you have it, the source of the orange-in-the-Christmas-stocking thing.

Country Living magazine did a piece on oranges in the stocking tradition a few years ago. I suspect this is more in line with my family’s practice. My Dad was a child of the depression.

Here is another piece on oranges in the Christmas stockings. I guess I’m not so weird after all!