By Peter Michael
WORKING at Christmas was just part of life for me when I lived in America. Christmas though was different in New York. The weather is a bracing cold that hits the skin immediately and makes us feel our fingers are about to fall off. Especially on Long Island, where my job was. I worked at my aunt’s ice cream store, selling not only fresh sundaes and milkshakes (yes, in the dead of winter), but also cakes and ice cream sandwiches that customers took home for dessert.
To be fair, homes are very warm in the northern US states and are well insulted, due to the cold that beats the structures. Snow is just a part of winter for us, so why wouldn’t someone get ice cream, most of our customers think.
Christmas was a fun time of year, because as most things in the US, we had themed cakes and creations. We have peppermint ice cream, dark chocolate ice creams, and we even had Santa Claus cakes accompanied by little snowmen ice-cream sandwiches and cups with elf faces drawn on them in piping gel.
The Santa cake is made with vanilla and chocolate ice cream separated by a layer of cookie crumbs. He is frozen and then decorated with red and white whip cream, and a little holly leaf on his hat. As always, there is still that little twinkle in his eye.
When I worked there (and I worked there for about 13 years), I used to experiment not on design, but on colours. I would add a hit of orange to yellow whipping cream, to give it a marigold colour that I would pipe into roses that looked rich and buttery. Or I would just touch up the red with a little black food colouring to give it the deep scarlet hue we are used to seeing Santa wear.
Sales on the novelty items was generally good during the holidays, even if you could use your back garden as a separate freezer due to the cold. Even customers were different during the holidays. Always electing to smile, wish you a Merry Christmas, and cheer you up for working on Christmas Eve – we were closed Christmas Day. We would exchange cookies, jams, and other homemade items, with some of our favourite and regular customers.
America is seen as an overly friendly place sometimes, especially when it comes to service. Even though, I don’t think New Yorkers are terribly friendly. I am guilty of it myself.
But even if we are overly friendly for Europeans, I still think Christmas and holidays ooze out of us and our wishes and greetings are heartfelt, almost like a hug without the touching. Selling ice cream is what I have always said: ‘Selling happiness’.
