Olde Christmas Sussex on Delaware

OLDE CHRISTMAS DAY

Olde Christmas Day is what we called it down in Sussex county, on Delaware. Epiphany is what the church calls it, and in England it is better known as “Twelfth Night” . It occurs on January 6^th as 'Little Christmas”.

Still today, in Sussex county Delaware, more folk are gathering in reunion , more so, that on the 25^th of December. Today, the first person to visit your house must be a man. Be it a woman, you are in for a year of bad luck. Also make sure the gentleman leaves by the same door he used to come in.

also be sure the visitor is entertained to a drink of either Peach brand or Apple Jack as this keeps the visitor in good humor throughout the day and early evening. For best taste the Peach brandy or Apple Jack is to be kept in a earthen jug with a corn cob stopper. One thing for sure, down state Sussex people know how to make the brandy and jack. This is what made the state famous and the recipe is hard to forget.

Children are told that 'all' honest persons are to be n bed the night before Olde Christmas Day, that the cows kneel in their stalls, daffodils sprout and hop vines bloom out for an hour or so. The

“Little Folk” are also out and one needs a lot of Peach and Honey to keep awake for the manifestations.

The real believers are in bed, safe, as long as a broom is in a corner of the room.

On Olde Christmas Day, the children will come back to the farm for a big turkey dinner, turnip greens, hog jowl, and sweet potato pie.

Abstract: Sunday, December 30, 1923, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Harrison Howeth, 2017.