Editor’s note: This story by Mary Jo Cunningham of Ellinwood will run in two parts. The first section will run today, and the remainder will run Saturday.

On the night of Dec. 24, 1874, just two short years after the town was settled, Ellinwood had a Christmas tree – the first Christmas tree in Barton County. Our town, being so fortunate as to have five or ten of the most wide-awake go-ahead ladies to be found in Kansas, thoroughly alive to every social interest of the town and country, determined to make a happy time for children during these grasshopper times.

A committee went to work in good earnest, thus showing their motherly aptitude in providing for the little ones of the community. They made all of the necessary arrangements, and in due time had a very respectable evergreen in position, in the school house, profusely decorated and literally loaded down with beautiful cornucopias and large neatly ornamented and embroidered stockings well filled with candies, nuts and goodies of all kinds. These, and the material of which the cornucopias and stockings were composed were bountifully furnished by Messrs, Landis & Williams, although very little help was given by other parties. The expense of the tree was defrayed by Mr. George W. Hollinger. Indeed the profuseness of generosity with which the tree was furnished is very credible to the liberality of our citizens.

Reaching Ellinwood’s handsome school house at an early hour, they were astonished to find the house literally jammed from parquet to dome – not even a seat in the gallery could be obtained for love or money. The community had attended many a similar gathering. They had often seen the lamps shine "O’er fair women and brave men," but never such a crowd as this. Not our least surprise was the large number of handsome young and married ladies the committee (by no means excepted) who adorn this vicinity.

Christmas remained important in this community of largely German descent. As they say, it is important to know your history. One quote says history has been the hearth by which the soul of the country has been kept alive.

This column is a compilation of many Christmas celebrations as remembered by over 30 present and former residents of Ellinwood- their own experiences, those of their parents and their grandparents. They are hoping the Christmases that mean so much to them will not be forgotten in the rush of today, and once again many will be inspired to have the social interaction that is so important in true communication among families and communities.

It all begins in fall with the butchering. With eager anticipation of the holidays and winter to come, butchering was a three to five day affair with family and neighbors getting together. After the actual butchering, the fat was rendered, the chittlings were cooked. Soap would be made by adding lye. It would be shaved for clothes and dish washing and mixed with water to make hair shampoo. Meat would be packed into crocks and sealed with lard. The sausage would be smoked for several days in the smokehouse which was constructed of wood or limestone. After that, the sausage would be hung in the basement to dry for a long time. It was a hard firm sausage that was made in north Ellinwood and tasted very good. Then, one year a family’s smokehouse burned down and all of the sausage was gone.

Along about maybe two months before Christmas, it was time to do more preparations for the holiday. The large dining table was extended to its full width with all the leaves added. A protective cloth was put on it. The prepared cookie dough was rolled out to cover its entire top. The numerous children in the family would all lend a hand cutting out the 150 cookies the surface would hold. They were baked and the process began again with another covering of dough. After about 300 cookies were baked, the next step was to stack them and carefully wrap them in Christmas paper with a bow. They were placed in a basket for the children to distribute to the neighbors.

The preparation for Christmas in the Krug Camp, an oilfield workers camp south of town, emphasized a country Christmas and the preparation for it led to a great feeling of community and friendship. There was a lot of trading of sugar, or potatoes, for milk and cream to make the goodies. The interdependence of the families was important, for it was a long way to town.

They had to make due with what they had. They went to the cellar for canned goods, apples or quarts of cherries. It was an uncomplicated life. Families of the workers were so scattered, they depended on each other and neighbors for interaction, a neighborhood community not only with Ellinwood but others in the area.

Another grandmother would begin her baking of the lebkuchen early in the fall, maybe as early as September, as this cookie was jammed with spices such as ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and allspice as well as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, honey and fruits, had to mellow for the full flavor to be presentable by Christmas season. Others made the well known pffeferneuse or peppernuts and the snow white springerles both native to the southern part of Germany.