by Lucy Gordan

When I moved to Rome in 1970 there were no advent calendars (I brought them to my very appreciative nephews from New York), no Christmas trees (not even in St. Peter's Square or Piazza Venezia) and no Santa Claus, because all three are Northern European customs. I felt like a Martian especially because the postal system slowed to a snail pace, so I didn't receive any season greetings until mid-January.

Even when Santa Claus started to creep in during the early eighties, little attention was paid to his traditional size. His doubles were usually disappointingly skinny and carried no bell. The holiday season, like today, began on December 8, the Immaculate Conception, but with families setting up their crèches, not decorating trees. Christmas Day itself was a religious, not a commercial, holiday with family: a fish dinner on Christmas Eve, midnight Mass; then on the 25th morning Mass with the Pope's message afterwards on TV and a huge meal followed by an afternoon of family card or board games. Children received their stocking and presents on Epiphany.

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Fonte: La Voce di New York