Editor’s note: This is part four of a four-part holiday series by local writer Ron Corcoran.
By RON CORCORAN
Just before going to bed that night — “de Pakjesavond,” or the Evening of the Presents — the children would diligently place both a carrot and some dry hay inside their empty, but carefully-located, shoes.
These “snacks” were not for Sinterklaas nor were they for the three helpers, the Zwarte Piets. No, these treats were for the white horse Sinterklaas rode while dressed in his red-and-white splendiferousness and directing the gifting activities of his three chimney-capable urchins.
Then the Dutch children, after getting their parents to promise to put out the fire in the fireplace before “turning in” for the night, would go to their bedrooms and try to fall asleep. With the excitement regarding what the following morning would bring and “with visions of sugar plumbs dancing in their heads,” the children were rarely successful in drifting into slumberland very quickly.
But eventually they would.
And sure enough, as Dutch folklore attests, Sinterklaas would arrive on his white horse in the wee hours of the night and his three helpers would go to work with their uniquely-assigned tasks for each home.
Sinterklaas would review his book, which recorded the names and addresses of all the children, and he would read the naughty-versus-nice annotations. With that information, Sinterklaas would then dispatch his three young assistants — the Zwarte Piets — to distribute the predetermined presents from the gift bag to the appropriate homes in all of the neighborhoods of the cities and surrounding communities.
The goodies in the large bag that Sinterklaas carried with him always contained everyone’s favorite: the ever-popular Dutch chocolate. Most often the chocolate was in the form of the first letter of each nice child’s first name. For example, if a nice boy’s first name was Radjan, the chocolate letter would be an “R”.
Also included in the bag were other popular edibles and tasty treats such as pepernoten, speculaas, kruidnoten, candy-flavored marzipan figures, almond-filled pastries, and mandarin oranges.
(Author’s note: If you’ve never eaten speculaas or kruidnoten, ask your Mom to make some for you. If she really loves you, she will.)
Not to be ignored, naughty children were also remembered by Sinterklaas. The gift for the naughty children was always a roe, i.e. a short, hand-made broom of willow branches. The small broom was specifically intended to be used by parents to spank naughty children who had failed to meet sufficient niceness expectations during the preceding year.
(Author’s note: Sinterklaas, by today’s standards, was not always politically correct.)
Seldom over the years did Sinterklaas disappoint very many children in his domain, when they arose on the morning after “the Evening of the Presents.”And now you know about the early history of annual gift-giving and where some of today’s Christmas traditions came from.
However, as you also know, not everyone of us is equally fortunate or equitably blessed. Therefore, when you think about gift-giving this season, find a way (via any of a number of local charitable organizations) to share your good fortune with others … such that all members of our communities can experience a very Happy Holiday season.
For more stories by the author, go to AlmostTrueChristmasStories.com.
