Shortly before her death in 2000 at the age of 97, my husband’s aunt Viola Clabo Henry was interviewed about Christmas in old Appalachia by the local newspaper. Although the article speaks of the simplicity of earlier times, there is also an undercurrent of poverty, violence, and racism. If our biggest concern these days is “Happy Holidays” versus “Merry Christmas,” then I think we’ve come a long way since the days of our grandparents.
Christmas was a much simpler fare in the old mountain communities of East Tennessee in sharp contrast to the hustle and bustle of today’s holiday extravaganza. Viola (Clabo) Henry was born in 1903 to James Newton and his first wife Ann (Rauhuff) Clabo in the Caney Creek area of Sevier County, Tennessee. Eventually, she would be the oldest of a blended family of 11 children. Viola, who lived to be 97, told the story of Christmases past as she remembered them.
“When I was just a chuckle of a girl,” Aunt Vi said, “the county always put out a Christmas treat for the kids at school. Santie Claus’s helper came to the classrooms and handed out bags of fruit and candy.”
Aunt Vi’s “Santie” wasn’t the traditional one. Instead, he was a beardless man disguised in worn out old clothes and painted in black face. He spoke in a dialect and used words that today would be considered highly racist, but at that time, the act would have been considered not only acceptable but hilarious.
One year when Santie’s helper stopped by, there were about 25 kids at the school. The man made his way through the building disrupting classes and passing out bags of candy, fruit and nuts. At the end of his visit, Santie pocketed the rest of the treat bags instead of splitting among the poor Appalachian students saying, “An aught’s an aught and three’s a three and all the rest belongs to me.”
Viola’s family lived in a small house tucked deep in the mountains. Like those around them, they didn’t have much money, so Christmas was a modest affair. About a week before the holiday, Viola’s mother Ann would shop for presents for the Clabo children at Freeman Stott’s store in Pigeon Forge or Robert Cardwell’s place in what was called the Gum Stand community in Sevier County, Tennessee. Ann would buy enough oranges and bananas to fill each child’s stocking. She would also get apples from a local woman everyone known to all as Granny Perryman. Granny kept the fruit stored in her cellar and Ann could get a large bag for a dime.
With a few exceptions like a ball or a bugle for the boys, most gifts were handmade. Viola and her sisters usually got a doll and a dress for Sunday service.
“Our toys looked like they came from the factory,” Viola said, “Once, my brother Charlie received a little red wagon made by our father, which he thought was fine.”
When Vi was 8, each of the Clabo children received a bank made of plaster of Paris. Vi’s bank was in the shape of a change purse full of money. The other children got banks that looked like tomatoes, apples and oranges.
And forget the fancy wrapping papers and coordinating gift bags.
“Our presents were wrapped in the brown or dark pink store paper,” Viola said, “I remember how pretty the pink paper was. One year, I rolled up little pieces of it and placed them around the flowers in my Sunday hat.”
Ann wasn’t as impressed with the paper. On the way to services, she discovered the homemade hat decorations and made the young girl remove them before walking into Caney Creek Church.
On Christmas Eve, the Clabo children would stay up late and pop popcorn while their mother boiled chestnuts in an iron kettle in the fireplace. They would make the popcorn into balls to share with relatives who often came to spend the night and share in the festivities.
The main course of Christmas day dinner was ham or chicken and dumplings. Dessert included pumpkin pie, dried apple stack cakes and gingerbread cookies. While the women and girls were busy cooking and baking, the boys would be off hunting. Cousins would come in the morning and the boys would be gone all day coming home only long enough to eat dinner.
At night, the family would gather round and watch as the boys lit up the night sky with three or four balls of string that had been soaked in oil lamp and set on fire. These lights took the place of fireworks. They would also shoot guns in the air as folks in a noisy celebration of the season.
When she was 16, Viola married Simeon Henry who was 8 years her senior. The two had several children and began their own Christmas traditions.
Sometimes a holly bush would stand in for the traditional pine. Since there were no electric lights, the bright red holly berries made nice decorations. The children would decorate the tree with strings of popcorn and little white strips of paper that had been cut and curled.
Viola bought gifts at Wade’s Department Store when they could afford it. One year it was tiny pots and pans to go on a wooden box with stove burners painted on the top. Despite its humble origins, Viola’s daughters were thrilled with the gift.
It wasn’t just presents that were simpler, decorations were as well. Houses were decorated with natural things punctuated with leftover ribbons and paper.
“It wasn’t no big to-do like it is now,” said Viola.
Viola died on January 21, 2000 at the age of 97. Below is a recipe for apple stack cake like she would have served at Christmas, although she probably never used a recipe at all. As with many old time recipes, the ingredients and directions can be considered approximate. In keeping with tradition, guests would often bring their own stack cake layer to add to the host’s cake.
Dried Apple Stack Cake
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, well beaten
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cooked dried apples
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar; add beaten egg, molasses, buttermilk, and mix well.
Sift flour, soda, salt, and ginger into a big mixing bowl. Make hole in center of dry ingredients and pour in creamed mix, stirring until well blended. Add vanilla, stir well, and roll out dough as you would for a piecrust. Cut to fit 9-inch pan or cast-iron skillet (this amount of dough will make 7 layers).
Bake layers for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. When cool, stack layers with spiced, sweetened old-fashioned dried apples. (See recipe below.) Spread between layers and smooth around sides and top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with meringue if desired.
Prepare cake at least a day before serving it and put in refrigerator (it will keep several days, if necessary, in a cool place).
Cooked Dried Apples*
Put 1 pound dried apples in heavy pan and cover with cold water. You may need to add water several times to keep apples from sticking to pan. Cook until soft enough to mash. While still hot, mash apples and add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon cloves, and 1 teaspoon allspice.
*If dried apples are not available, peel, slice and cook fresh apples with a little water. Add spices and sugars as listed above, and cook until mixture is very thick.
Christmas was a much simpler fare in the old mountain communities of East Tennessee in sharp contrast to the hustle and bustle of today’s holiday extravaganza. Viola (Clabo) Henry was born in 1903 to James Newton and his first wife Ann (Rauhuff) Clabo in the Caney Creek area of Sevier County, Tennessee. Eventually, she would be the oldest of a blended family of 11 children. Viola, who lived to be 97, told the story of Christmases past as she remembered them.
“When I was just a chuckle of a girl,” Aunt Vi said, “the county always put out a Christmas treat for the kids at school. Santie Claus’s helper came to the classrooms and handed out bags of fruit and candy.”
Aunt Vi’s “Santie” wasn’t the traditional one. Instead, he was a beardless man disguised in worn out old clothes and painted in black face. He spoke in a dialect and used words that today would be considered highly racist, but at that time, the act would have been considered not only acceptable but hilarious.
One year when Santie’s helper stopped by, there were about 25 kids at the school. The man made his way through the building disrupting classes and passing out bags of candy, fruit and nuts. At the end of his visit, Santie pocketed the rest of the treat bags instead of splitting among the poor Appalachian students saying, “An aught’s an aught and three’s a three and all the rest belongs to me.”
Viola’s family lived in a small house tucked deep in the mountains. Like those around them, they didn’t have much money, so Christmas was a modest affair. About a week before the holiday, Viola’s mother Ann would shop for presents for the Clabo children at Freeman Stott’s store in Pigeon Forge or Robert Cardwell’s place in what was called the Gum Stand community in Sevier County, Tennessee. Ann would buy enough oranges and bananas to fill each child’s stocking. She would also get apples from a local woman everyone known to all as Granny Perryman. Granny kept the fruit stored in her cellar and Ann could get a large bag for a dime.
With a few exceptions like a ball or a bugle for the boys, most gifts were handmade. Viola and her sisters usually got a doll and a dress for Sunday service.
“Our toys looked like they came from the factory,” Viola said, “Once, my brother Charlie received a little red wagon made by our father, which he thought was fine.”
When Vi was 8, each of the Clabo children received a bank made of plaster of Paris. Vi’s bank was in the shape of a change purse full of money. The other children got banks that looked like tomatoes, apples and oranges.
And forget the fancy wrapping papers and coordinating gift bags.
“Our presents were wrapped in the brown or dark pink store paper,” Viola said, “I remember how pretty the pink paper was. One year, I rolled up little pieces of it and placed them around the flowers in my Sunday hat.”
Ann wasn’t as impressed with the paper. On the way to services, she discovered the homemade hat decorations and made the young girl remove them before walking into Caney Creek Church.
On Christmas Eve, the Clabo children would stay up late and pop popcorn while their mother boiled chestnuts in an iron kettle in the fireplace. They would make the popcorn into balls to share with relatives who often came to spend the night and share in the festivities.
The main course of Christmas day dinner was ham or chicken and dumplings. Dessert included pumpkin pie, dried apple stack cakes and gingerbread cookies. While the women and girls were busy cooking and baking, the boys would be off hunting. Cousins would come in the morning and the boys would be gone all day coming home only long enough to eat dinner.
At night, the family would gather round and watch as the boys lit up the night sky with three or four balls of string that had been soaked in oil lamp and set on fire. These lights took the place of fireworks. They would also shoot guns in the air as folks in a noisy celebration of the season.
When she was 16, Viola married Simeon Henry who was 8 years her senior. The two had several children and began their own Christmas traditions.
Sometimes a holly bush would stand in for the traditional pine. Since there were no electric lights, the bright red holly berries made nice decorations. The children would decorate the tree with strings of popcorn and little white strips of paper that had been cut and curled.
Viola bought gifts at Wade’s Department Store when they could afford it. One year it was tiny pots and pans to go on a wooden box with stove burners painted on the top. Despite its humble origins, Viola’s daughters were thrilled with the gift.
It wasn’t just presents that were simpler, decorations were as well. Houses were decorated with natural things punctuated with leftover ribbons and paper.
“It wasn’t no big to-do like it is now,” said Viola.
Viola died on January 21, 2000 at the age of 97. Below is a recipe for apple stack cake like she would have served at Christmas, although she probably never used a recipe at all. As with many old time recipes, the ingredients and directions can be considered approximate. In keeping with tradition, guests would often bring their own stack cake layer to add to the host’s cake.
Dried Apple Stack Cake
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, well beaten
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cooked dried apples
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar; add beaten egg, molasses, buttermilk, and mix well.
Sift flour, soda, salt, and ginger into a big mixing bowl. Make hole in center of dry ingredients and pour in creamed mix, stirring until well blended. Add vanilla, stir well, and roll out dough as you would for a piecrust. Cut to fit 9-inch pan or cast-iron skillet (this amount of dough will make 7 layers).
Bake layers for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. When cool, stack layers with spiced, sweetened old-fashioned dried apples. (See recipe below.) Spread between layers and smooth around sides and top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with meringue if desired.
Prepare cake at least a day before serving it and put in refrigerator (it will keep several days, if necessary, in a cool place).
Cooked Dried Apples*
Put 1 pound dried apples in heavy pan and cover with cold water. You may need to add water several times to keep apples from sticking to pan. Cook until soft enough to mash. While still hot, mash apples and add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon cloves, and 1 teaspoon allspice.
*If dried apples are not available, peel, slice and cook fresh apples with a little water. Add spices and sugars as listed above, and cook until mixture is very thick.