The build up to Christmas was very exciting on St. Helena when I was a child. Orders would be taken for meat which was beef, pork and sometimes goat meat. We did eat lots of fish that our menfolk would catch, but at Christmas we would enjoy roast meat.
My grandmother would grow flowers and at Christmas we would sell blue and white lillies that the islanders call Christmas Lillies. Most people would order white lillies. A certain Mrs. Fuller would put her order for white Lillies in as soon as the order would arrive on Christmas Eve. My mumma would always make sure that Mrs. Fuller got her white lillie order as she always gave us a few extra schillings. Plus she always gave my grandmother a rather large cut of Tuna Fish.
The lillies were used in home as a decoration or to dress ones graves.
My grandmother would go to Jamestown Christmas morning in a Tubby Thomas open taxi. She would sell her flowers, eggs, mushrooms and blackberries while I would collect firewood. I would walk to the taxi to meet her and help her carry the shopping home. Mr. Thomas would not drive the dirt track from Deadwood to our little cottage.
My grandmother would buy me homemade sweets made by a man named Reggie George. They looked far to beautiful to eat as Reggie made them in the shape of animals. I always had a duck sweet and I really did hate biting the little duck head off. My grandfather liked Christmas and would give all of his grandchildren including me 10 schillings. The whole island would meet up in Jamestown for a good old get together.
People would stand around talking, drinking, playing music, and dancing. The little pubs would be overflowing with people. My grandmother liked to drink in The Standard and she would meet up with Auntie Reenie Yon. The salvation army would play carols near the dock. I liked the Christmas lights as we didn’t have electricity so we couldn’t have Christmas lights. We were using candles and oil lamps.
Christmas day we would go to the church and the schools on the island would do nice nativity plays and sing carols. Presents would be rubbers, rulers, pencils, pens and little white handkerchief trimmed with handmade St. Helena lace. All in all Christmas on St. Helena was a great time for the island to have a good old get together.
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