I recently had the pleasure of having an internet dialogue with Ms. Ann Neville. Ms. Neville, currently a librarian at the University of Texas, at Austin, and former a Greenbelt resident from approximately late 1942/1943, through approximately 1950, shared with me her memories of holidays in Greenbelt, Maryland.

How important were holidays to the people of Greenbelt, Maryland?


Because there were so many kids around, holidays and family celebration were very important. The biggies were Christmas, Easter, and Halloween (from a kids point of view).

What kinds of traditions were practiced on holidays? For example, was better tableware used at meals? Did parents and children dress-up for the occasion as it is customary to do these days? Were more extravagant foods served on holidays than on typical days?

In our family, the silverware was used, white lace or brocade tablecloths, but there wasn't a set of "best" dishes. Holiday meals were ceremonious, and served at a different time of day. The main meal would be at about two in the afternoon. I don't remember much about the food...it was prettier, I remember that.

Since Greenbelt began to grow during the Depression, how were families affected economically around the holidays? For example, for the Christmas holiday, would a child have received any presents? Were family members able to exchange gifts for holidays during which gifts were typically exchanged?

Everybody got presents that I knew. There were shortages, and some things were odd. One Christmas, my Grandfather decided that he needed a down more balls to decorate the tree properly, so we walked to the 5 and 10. All he could get were these truly hideous clear purple plastic balls with yellow and green painted horizontal stripes. (I always intended to keep one, but they got thrown out one year before I actually claimed one.) So he re-arranged the tree decorations so the purple balls could be hung in the back, where they wouldn't be too noticeable.
Christmas Tree


Do you recall seeing anyone dressed up as Santa for the young children?


I don't remember a Greenbelt Santa. We used to go to DC and stand in long lines to see Santas. There was one in every department store, I think, and we'd go to several. Santas used to hand out board games and paint sets and really neat stuff. The lines were long, kids were crying, you'd be in your winter snow-suit, so it was hot. By the time I got to Santa I was having a hard time being a good little girl.

You mentioned that Christmas, Easter, and Halloween were big holidays from your childhood. Do you happen to remember what a Thanksgiving with your family might have been like? The town-wide attitude toward Thanksgiving?

My memories of Thanksgiving are strictly from at home. We had turkey and cranberry sauce and sweet potatos and squash and mincemeat and pumpkin pies. I don't remember any big deal being made of it. I made in tradition in my house that family and guests describe what they are thankful for before we eat, but there wasn't anything like that in my family.

Since Halloween was important to children, do you recall what kinds of costumes children used to dress in? Were most costumes store-bought, or did mothers make costumes for their children?

Some were made, some were store-bought, and some were improvised from stuff around the house. Some years, you had to wear a snow suit with your costume because it was so cold.

Did children go trick-or-treating at night? If so, what kinds of treats did they receive (candy as they do today, or cookies, cakes, etc.)?

We'd go out at night in groups, and get candy and gum and fruit and homemade cookies and cakes and popcorn balls. We'd take a regular grocery sack and it would be over half full, very heavy, and beginning to tear by the time we went home. It wasn't so much that we went to a lot of houses, but that a lot of the loot was big--candy apples and popcorn balls take up room in the bag.

Do you ever recall hearing of any "tricks" that children might have pulled on Halloween night?

Actually, the grownups were pretty likely to play tricks on us--peeled grape eyeballs, making us come in and do a "trick", by which they meant sing a song or tell a joke or recite a poem, or stand on your head--that sort of stuff. Or bob for apples--several stops were likely to include bobbing for your apple. Not so bad when it wasn't freezing outside, but wet braids are no fun in the cold.

Did Greenbelt have any traditional children's Halloween activities, such as bobbing for apples, or costume party/contest? A parade or a ghost walk/haunted house? School Halloween parties in the classroom, as children do today?

There was a haunted house--not a Halloween haunted house, but a regulation abandoned, dilapidated farm-house type house right in the middle of some of the housing off Ridge Road. I bet the big kids did some scary stuff there, but I was too little to know about it.

Do you remember a favorite Halloween?

No, they were all pretty much alike. One thing I like was that every year, my Grandfather would put a light and a battery inside a paper-mache pumpkin from the dime store, and that would be my "flashlight".

How about Easter? What were some traditions that Greenbelt residents might have taken part in?

Easter had a town Easter Egg hunt. There were separate sections of the field for different ages. Everyone dressed up pretty for the day. Getting an "Easter outfit" was a big deal. One year--I was five because I remember my Grandmother telling me 'That's not appropriate clothing for a five-year-old!'--I desperately wanted a red suit with a matching hat with a brim and a long black streamer down the back, and black patent-leather shoes. I have no idea where this desire came from, but I used to dream about myself in it. (I didn't get it.) I don't remember whether there was an Easter Parade, but there probably was.

I got not one, but two or three Easter baskets, hidden around the house and filled with candy and colored Easter eggs. The Easter bunny brought them. We kids didn't color eggs ourselves.



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