In days gone by, Caymanians created their own ‘white’ Christmas.
During the weeks leading up to Christmas, families would go to the beach on moonlit nights, scoop up sand in thatch baskets or empty paint cans, and carry it back to their home, a custom known as ‘backing sand’. On Christmas Eve morning, they would sweep the sand to create a glistening snow-white yard.
To add to the festive décor, pink conch shells were collected to line the footpath to the front door. The sand yard and garden would often feature ornamental plants with vivid blossoms, some that would emerge only in December.
Moonshine babies
Youngsters would also gather pieces of broken crockery or bottles to stick in the sand to make ‘moonshine babies’. When the light of the moon reflected on the glass, the shimmering colours lit up like a Christmas tree.
Many houses were spruced up for the festive season. In those days, paint wasn’t available, so residents made their own from a mixture of white lime, sea coral and colouring powder to whitewash the house.
Christmas trees
Finding a Christmas tree was a tradition everyone looked forward to back in the day. Sometimes it was a willow or casuarina tree, or a rosemary bush – decorated with painted seashells, stringed popcorn, silver thatch ornaments, cloth dollies, wooden toys, and strips of coloured cloth.
Candles were placed on the window ledge to illuminate the tree. A faint trail of smoke from a smouldering fire pan, lit near the doorway to keep the mosquitoes at bay, gave the tree a smokey look, almost like a light covering of snow.
Most families did not have much money and store-bought items were scarce. Come Christmas morning, presents wrapped in brown paper and adorned with colourful thatch string could be found under the tree, containing such items as wooden trucks, stitched dollies, slates and pencils and flour-sack dresses.
Seasonal traditions
The church figured prominently, and everyone would attend services dressed in their Sunday best. Churches in each district put on Christmas concerts, with children taking part by reciting poems or appearing in a skit or play.
In yesteryear, Caymanians would take part in a tradition known as ‘marching’, where people would ‘march’ from home to home in their district, singing carols and playing instruments.
Caymanians would also gather for ‘kitchen dances’, which featured such instruments as the fiddle, flute, drums, pots and pans, maracas and graters – most of the instruments were homemade.
Feasting was a big part of the holiday celebrations, and there was always an abundance of food on the table at this time of year. Families would splurge on beef at Christmas – a rare, once-a-year treat for many.
The air would be flooded with the aromas of freshly baked heavy cakes and breads, stew beef, wild fowl, turtle or stew pork cooked in the outside kitchen caboose.
In days gone by, many men left these isolated islands to go out to sea to earn a living. They would return to be with their families for the holidays, making it a highly-anticipated and special occasion in Cayman – as it remains today.
This article originally appeared in the Christmas Wishes 2024 newspaper supplement.
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