Freedom!

To celebrate the end of the war, I bring you this moment from the Mud Run!

War Time Christmas * Great Gift Finds

As I have previously noted, one of our categories for gifts at War Time Christmas is second-hand or thrift store finds. Kemper and I were very excited to find some great vintage items from the WWII era at an estate sale back in the Fall. Now that they've been opened, I can share pics!

A serviceman's Bible (Army Air Corps) from 1942.

Originally owned by Bobby Brooke of West, TX.  Printed message from the President.

WWII serviceman game set.

Some great activities in here. Amazing illustrations!

A hand-tinted studio publicity print of Jimmy Stewart in its original frame.

A 1942 cook book from Chicago's famous Palmer House, signed by the author!

Merry Christmas! War is Over!

War Time Christmas * Presents!

The Christmas season includes presents, even in War Time.  So we had to create War Time Christmas rules for our little family holiday project.

We are each allowed give a family member a maximum of three gifts and they must adhere to the following gift categories:

I like our recycled paper so much that this part may be a permanent tradition!

Category 1:  a handmade item created by the gift-giver
Category 2:  a second-hand item acquired at a charity shop, thrift store, yard sale, or estate sale
Category 3:  something purchased on the black market*

*we have access to time travel and so it can be a black market item from the future!

It's been a lot of fun planning for these categories.  Kemper and I scored some particularly great items with authentic WWII history at an estate sale back in October!
 
In our family tradition we open gifts on Christmas Eve so tomorrow night all of the fun will be revealed. I'll share some of the goodies here after, so stay tuned.

This is for my nephew, who is not arriving here until the war is over. Consequently his gifts don't have to follow the rules.

War Time Christmas * What we have been watching

Here at War Time Christmas Cottage we really love movies. I've mentioned that we have watched Shirley Temple's STOWAWAY, Sonja Heine in IT'S A PLEASURE, the terrifying HOLIDAY INN,  and Rogers & Astaire in THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE.  Great film history education!

Here is a list of some of the most popular movies screened thus far:

Several Abbott and Costello films, including BUCK PRIVATES (1941).  They have been my favorites since childhood and am delighted that my kids love them, too.  This is due in no small part to the influence of their Uncle Derek!

SHERLOCK HOLMES and THE VOICE OF TERROR (1942)  Did you know that Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) worked for the war effort? He did!

The delicious Judy Garland confection, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), which is also a Christmas movie by virtue of giving the world "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1945) which opens with the sinking of a US destroyer by a German sub and ends with comedy and romance; it reminds me of the WWI plays I study in my research.

The sublime Powell and Pressburger film (staring Wendy Hiller!),  I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING (1945) which also happens to be of my top five all-time films. 

We all really enjoy typical Christmas movies such as MIRACLE ON 34th ST., IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, A CHRISTMAS STORY,  CHRISTMAS VACATION, and ELF but none of those have been on our menu this season. We can binge on them after Dec. 25!

War Time Christmas * Gifts on a Sunday

How do you spend a Sunday in War Time Christmas? Here's a sample:

* Go to church and help the young saints make edible manger scenes.  This is a tradition at our church and is led by Mr. Frey, the junior high Sunday school teacher. He brings graham crackers, pretzels, animal crackers, chocolate gars, gum drops, marshmallows, cereal, and other goodies to craft original manager scenes out of food. Then they eat them!

* Watch Shirley Temple movies, such as STOWAWAY (1936).  Tagline: "She sings and speaks Chinese!" 

* Wrap Christmas gifts with our homemade paper (more in a future post regarding our gift "rules" for the war).

* Sing Christmas carols to shut-ins from the congregation. A small group from the church visited nursing facilities, assisted living apartments, rehabilitation centers, and some private homes to spread Christ's love.  We sang traditional carols accompanied on two guitars -- I think it's War Time Christmas appropriate!!

Nom, nom, nom! Christmas!

I don't speak Chinese, and neither does Shirley.

Homemade gift wrap embellished with ribbon from our craft cabinet!

A merry band of carolers!

War Time Christmas * Saturday at the Cottage

Good times today at the War Time Christmas Cottage.

• Our WWII Posters jigsaw puzzle is almost finished!

• A visit to Holiday Inn reminded us of some greatest (Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby) and worst (blackface performance) aspects of entertainment on the 1930s and 1940s.

• We watched my favorite Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle.

• Our little War Time Christmas tree got more decorations. Check out pictures of our homemade candy ornaments!

• I traveled out to "Switzerland" (that's code for anywhere not part of our War Time) to celebrate the graduation of one of my grad students. Amanda, I'm so proud of you!!

• Kemper, the world-class papa bear here at War Time Christmas Cottage, made dinner: Scotch eggs, roasted root veggies, and a salad.

• Gracie, my favorite girl, made a vintage rice pudding recipe!

•  We recycled old newspapers into Christmas wrapping paper.

Our tree with all homemade ornaments.

Candy transformed!

She's a Master! Sic 'Em, Amanda!

My best friend is a great cook!

Recycling newspaper into wrapping paper!

War Time Christmas * Report from the Front

Things are going well here at War Time Christmas Cottage!  We enjoyed hosting a war baby named Jameson last night (Henry says he is in the INFANT-ry!). The baby liked our war movie of the night, DESTROYER, starring Edward G. Robinson.

Other movies screened thus far include the 1938 A CHRISTMAS CAROL and CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT.

Tonight we had a delicious war time recipe of potato and sausage pancakes with a cabbage salad.

Our evening plan is to work on this awesome puzzle. At least until the air raid warden calls for a BLACK OUT!

War Time Christmas * First morning!

It has begun!  We started the morning by waking the kids up with the sounds of a London air raid siren.  Then we all hid in the bathroom for a minute (this worried the dog so we kept it short).  Once the air raid had passed, we sat around the glow of the Apple MacBook Pro and listened to Chamberlain announce that Britain is at war with Germany.

We drank coffee in front of our virtual fireplace and then made a breakfast of potato with a little egg and bacon (not much; it's rationed).

Instead of "THE OFFICE" re-runs on Netflix, we watched a roaring fire.

During War Time it's the simple pleasures that matter most.

War Time Christmas * Preparations

War Time Christmas starts tomorrow! In preparation for the big day, we have purchased a fresh tree and we will spend the first days of the war making decorations for it. We have hung WWII propaganda posters around the house (and Gracie got a new special one for Hanukkah from our friends Dave and Maura!).  We have hung a bunting of British flags to represent our pretend status as citizens of the UK during the duration of the war. As you will note in the photo of the flags, our household is also getting ready for the war by watching movies (i.e. "Princess Diaries") that will not exist for a week starting tomorrow! Expect more updates about our activities daily as war blackouts permit!

War Time Christmas * Movie List

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We are prepping for the start of the war (coming Thursday, 12/18!) by making a list of approved movies and gathering as many as possible (DVDs and digital copies). We are allowed to watch any movie made before the end of 1945.  Send along any titles you think should get added to the list!

(And, yes, we acknowledge that DVD's, streaming digital films, and our LED flat screen TV are all ridiculous anachronisms for War Time Christmas. But we get to make the rules!)

Wizard of Oz   1939

Gone With the Wind  1939

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington  1939

Shop Around the Corner 1940

Philadelphia Story  1940

His Girl Friday   1940

Christmas in July 1940

Sergeant York  1941

Citizen Cane  1941

Maltese Falcon 1941

Casablanca  1942

Holiday Inn 1942

To Be or Not to Be  1942

The Man Who Came to Dinner   1942

Sahara  1943

Double Indemnity  1944

Arsenic and Old Lace  1944

Meet Me in St. Louis  1944

To Have and Have Not  1944

Christmas in Connecticut  1945

Vacation from Marriage 1945

The Bells of St. Mary  1945

War Time Christmas!

My family are fans of a BBC series of programs about life in English history which shows anthropologists working hands-on to live on a farm using only the sources and technologies available at the time. There Tudor Farm, Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, and our favorite--War Time Farm. We love this show! And the best episode of all is War Time Farm Christmas. You can watch the whole thing here on YouTube. 

Inspired by this program, and fueled by our familial blend of the whimsical and the geeky, we decided that 2014 for us would a War Time Christmas!

We will organize our Christmas holiday around the theme of WWII life in England.  Pretending to be Americans living in England 1940-1945, we will restrict our selves in various ways to represent (though not replicate) the limitations war placed on celebrations.

Here are some of the “rules” of our War Time Christmas.  

* The war lasts for the week prior to Christmas, starting on Dec. Dec. 18 and ending with victory on December 25.

* During the war, we have no access to our regular Christmas decorations so we have to make our own festive décor for inside the home using things already in the household.  We will decorate a real cut tree with these homemade ornaments and no electric lights.

* We can watch movies at home on our tv but only films that were made prior to the end of 1945. 

* We can only listen to music made prior to 1945, though we can use contemporary technology to play it.

* During the war, we have no access to electronic games. But our closet full of board games, cards, dominoes, mahjong tiles, and puzzles is accessible.

* During the war, we will only cook recipes and dishes that were used in England during the war. We have good storage of rationed food so shortages are not a big issue. Still, some food items just don't appear in wartime cook books (we know because we’ve got a stack of them for reference). 

* We have also made rules about gifts which I can explain in a future post!

So check this space later for descriptions and pictures of our War Time Christmas dishes, our playtime, our movie listing, and our music playlist.  We keep you updated on the war efforts here at War Time Christmas!!