“‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” We all recognize this famous line from “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” an old poem by Clement Clark Moore. But while the words to the poem are familiar, that is about where the similarities stop. Many kids simply can’t sleep on Christmas Eve due to the anticipation of Christmas morning when they get to partake in a variety of traditions such as spending time with family, eating some scrumptious food, and if we are being totally honest, opening gifts. However, those are some of the more traditional Christmas traditions and there are many families who like to go off the beaten path when it comes to Christmas fun.

Anne Davisson is a teacher in Cannon Falls and her family has a couple of Christmas rituals that are out of the ordinary. Every Christmas Eve, they partake in an American favorite; bowling. Not only this, but Davisson’s family also doesn’t wrap presents. She stated that after moving to Cannon Falls, holiday stress caused her to cover presents with blankets as opposed to taping paper, ribbon, and bows onto boxes, a time-consuming activity for people of all ages. Davisson figures that this reflects well on the environment. “We quit wrapping presents partly because it’s eco-friendly and I take so long to get stuff under the tree that it doesn’t make sense to put stuff in paper and throw it away in a second and, partly because it just seemed stupid to do in general,” she declared. Aside from how a gift is wrapped, there are many traditions that can stem from what people give to one another. 

Gag gifts are becoming increasingly popular and there is nothing quite like receiving a gift, getting all excited, and then having all of your hopes and dreams crushed by your ex-favorite sibling who sits on the couch cackling as you unwrap a piece of styrofoam coal. Okay, so this doesn’t quite sound like fun. Destinee Stamer’s family, however, has an antique gag gift-giving tradition that the whole family loves. It was started when Stamer’s great-grandma, Bernice, who loved making jokes began wrapping gag gifts for the kids in the family. After the kids got over the initial shock of receiving these presents, it became a family tradition. Instead of buying new gag gifts every year, they regift the same things that Bernice started giving people in the 1960s. Among these are things like stuffed Christmas trees, old underwear, a stuffed pelican, old socks that, according to Stamer, have clearly been worn, and old slippers that she says smell absolutely terrible and are definitely from at least the ’50s. As one could presume, Stamer’s favorite gag gift is not one on this list. Her favorite gift is an old Tarzan doll instead. “He was my great grandpa’s when he was a little kid. He was an old Tarzan doll at some point, but he’s missing both of his eyes now, his hair is all fallen out, though he still has the little Tarzan outfit on and he just looks like this creepy gremlin,” Stamer remarked. She feels that the gag gift exchange breaks up the monotony of opening ‘real’ gifts deciding that “It makes people laugh and it’s fun and it’s free!”

Christmas is a widely celebrated holiday and though its general concept is the same from family to family, traditions are unique to everybody, and in the end, they are the things that make Christmas special. Even if it involves receiving an old pair of underwear.