SATURNALIA MUMMERS CRACKER

Belsnickling was a holiday tradition that took root in German and Pennsylvania Dutch communities and was later fostered in West Virginia. Folklorist Gerry Milnes has linked the name shanghai to a “Gaelic term ‘sean aghaidh’ meaning ‘old face,’ and relating to the masquerade that is essential to the practice” ( Play of a Fiddle, 17).Īs German and Scots-Irish settlers spread out, mumming traditions trickled into the mountains of West Virginia. Since the post-Civil War era, Lewisburg, WV has been home to another type of mumming parade called shanghai. Halloween is probably the most pervasive of these traditions, and involves “begging”, a common mumming trope. Mumming traditions include Halloween, Fastnacht, Mardi Gras, Saturnalia, and they typically take place between October and the spring. Generally mumming traditions reference sacrifice and rebirth and possess an element of ritual disorder. When European settlers arrived in Pennsylvania in the 17 th century, they brought “mumming” or masking traditions with them. Many traditions trace back to European immigrants in early America and some of these traditions still exist in West Virginia. The winter solstice has long been a time for festivities and seasonal activities. Or were they being condescending toward the poor and their traditions? We’ll never know for sure, as there are many stories and historical accounts about mumming and Christmas crackers.Everyone knows about Santa, but have you heard of belsnickels? Or perhaps they did and were amused by the entertainment. It seems they weren’t aware or didn’t care that both made fun of the rich and royalty.

SATURNALIA MUMMERS CRACKER

I think it’s a little amusing that during Victorian times, the wealthy participated in mumming and the Christmas cracker tradition. The crackers are popped at the beginning of dinner, and each guest must wear the enclosed paper crown. Two strips of chemically treated paper react to the friction from pulling on each end of the cracker, which causes a bang. Each end is twisted, and two people pull on each end to open.

Today’s crackers are made from paper tubes wrapped with decorative paper and stuffed with simple prizes, a paper crown, and a joke or riddle. The paper crown was added in the 1930s by his sons after taking over the confectionery business and became a mainstay Christmas tradition in England and now becoming more popular in America.Ĭhristmas crackers are traditionally set out on the Christmas table. Initially, the bonbons included a love poem that a man would buy and give to his love interest, but later, jokes and riddles replaced the poems, and a prize replaced the almond. The traditional story is that when he heard the crackle of the fire where he was sitting, he was inspired to add the “crack” to his individually wrapped almond bonbons. Tom Smith, a London confectioner, is credited with the first Christmas cracker. When invited, they would perform a skit and remove their masks when they were identified. Regula Ysewijn writes of the High Tories in her Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook, “During the Christmas season, it (mumming) called for dressing up in elaborate costumes” so that they were not recognized by those who knew them when they went door-to-door in the village.

I believe the relationship between mumming and Christmas crackers began with the inclusion of mumming at the Christmastime Wedding of Edward I.

It was practiced during Samhain, All Hallows Eve, and All Saint’s Day. Mumming also has roots in Saturnalia, a Roman festival celebrating the end of the autumn planting season. Mumming has roots in ancient Egypt but is best recorded in medieval times when the poor wore masks, crowns, and other costumes when putting on skits for entertainment. Mumming is putting on plays or skits either in a theatre or door-to-door.

Saturnalia mummers