A CLEAN CHRISTMAS STORY (FULL DISCLOSURE --THE ITEM OF INTEREST IN THIS STORY IS SOAP!

Nearly all of us harbor some Christmas traditions from our past. This one began in this writer’s childhood in the 1940s. My parents were searching for something to put on the Christmas tree to resemble snow and happened on the idea that our laundry soap (Ivory flakes at that time – Ivory Soap was a big item in the 1940s) mixed with a little water and whipped up with an egg beater made a perfect white frosting to coat the branches. A little sprinkle of mica flakes (no glitter in the 40s) made the “snow” sparkle. Then Mom with her artistic bent, decided she could make a model snowman with a paper core wrapped in upholstery or medical cotton tied with string in appropriate places, could be frosted with our soapy snow which, when dry, would last a long time. This was a project where we kids could help. We dressed our snowmen with features and hats made of black (or other colors) construction paper and added other features as our imagination might create. The result was so cute we made many of these over the years, giving them as gifts to relatives, teachers and friends.

A few years ago I decided to try to re-create this childhood memory. Directions for this creation are as follows: Find a cardboard tube – toilet paper, paper towel or other roller. Wrap the tube with a thick layer of cotton batting and tie a string around the center to create two “snowballs”. Make the head with a ball of cotton wrapped around with string to create the third ball and a strand of cotton for arms. The snow frosting is the hard part in our modern era as we had to find a solid (flake or granular) soap product. Granular Ivory Snow was found and whipped with the electric mixer. Although not as good as flakes, workable “frosting” was made and our cotton snowman was given a thick coating as was a cardboard cotton covered base. Our features were thumbtacks and a short piece of electric wire instead of paper and real buttons from our button box. The hat was premade (saved from a centerpiece years before) although we could have made a paper top hat, all added before the frosting dried. We gave him a walking stick instead of a broom (I remember boom as a kid). A photo of our “lost tradition” creation is included. Don’t you want to make one of these? What traditions do you remember – or still practice? Anyway all of us at W.H.S. wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Remember 2026 is the Nation’s 250th celebration. Much more about this will be posted later.