ONCE upon a time, there was a little village girl and all she wanted for Christmas was a new dress of her own.
Now that little girl is all grown up and in her place is a town girl who wants another designer bag, wads of cash, a new wardrobe, a car, a pair of designer sunglasses, an iPhone, a laptop, a new mobile…
There’s no denying it: times have changed and with it the celebration of Christmas.
Although it is still a time spent with family, today’s younger generations celebrate the season in a very different way to how their grandparents remember it.
Instead of focusing on the joy of celebrating the birth of Christ, attending the Christmas Day liturgy followed by a meal with loved ones, today’s youth are more interested in what new designer accessory they’re going to get and how much money they’ll make from friends and family.
“It’s so different to when we were young,” said 76-year-old Chloe Panayi.
“In the past, we used to get shoes two times a year. Once at Christmas and once at Easter.
Now, every month kids get a new pair. We didn’t used to get presents either. We’d get the equivalent of 25 cents at New Year to buy sweets with.”
The 76-year-old said she remembered how Christmas Day involved waking up and putting on a new pair of shoes and a nice dress to go to Church.
“We’d then come home and have a meal with the family. We’d start with soup and then we’d have lamb or kid cooked in wine in the oven. We didn’t have turkey the way they do nowadays. We’d then eat kourabiedes [traditional Christmas biscuits] and other biscuits,” Panayi said.
“Now, people just want to get presents. I was in Canada once and it was so commercial. That’s all anyone cared about,” she said.
Neoclis Eliades, 85, agreed.
“When I was younger, things were very different,” he said.
The pair, both pensioners at the Nicosia Day Care Centre for the Elderly, were sharing their views on the old and new way of celebrating Christmas with the Sunday Mail.
“I remember I used to get the equivalent of five cents from my godfather, and I’d buy a penknife with it. I used to feel such elation when I’d get that money. Now that love and respect that used to exist are gone,” he said.
“People are more selfish nowadays. When I was young, you used to help the poor at Christmas time. That doesn’t happen any more,” another elderly woman interjected.
Nevertheless, 85-year-old Eliades said that he actually preferred Christmas now, because it was a time spent with his daughters and grandchildren.
Margarita Chaili said she didn’t see much of a difference between her childhood and now.
“I’m an only child and used to spend Christmas with my parents. Now I spend it with my husband, whom I’ve been with for 60 years and love very much, and my four children and eight grandchildren.”
Kanela Andronikou, 81, was less fortunate than her friend.
“In the past, I used to have a good time. Now, I’m very lonely. I have one daughter but she’s in the Middle East and this year I won’t be flying out to spend Christmas with her,” she said.
The Greek woman said she’d go to her sister-in-law’s and spend the day there quietly.
“When I was a child and growing up in the Peloponnese things were different. There was snow outside, all the family gathered together and we went to Church. There were no presents, it was a religious holiday.”
This year, the 81-year-old said she would be buying gifts but didn’t expect to receive any in return.
“I do enjoy Christmas, because it’s a time when families come together and it reminds me of the past,” she added.
Chrystalla Salata, 85, said that when she was a child, presents were exchanged at New Year.
“I lost my mother very young and was raised by my brother and his wife,” she said.
“That was life. Things happened. They were very good to me though and brought me up like their daughter. At Christmas I’d get a pair of shoes and small things. There were no dolls then because we were poor. Now they all have dolls. When I was young, we actually used to make our own dolls with cloth.”
Salata said although children were spoiled in this day and age, she had wanted for nothing as a child.
“We were poor, but we still had a meal with our koulouri [village bread] and our lamb. We might not have been wealthy but we weren’t deprived.”
Eleni Angelidou, 73, said she and her sisters spent the week running up to Christmas
helping their mother prepare.
“We’d wake up at 5am and help her knead the dough to make bread, and roll out pastry to make biscuits and cakes so that we’d have something to offer people who’d call in to visit,” she said.
“We’d also have lamb kapama [a type of stew]. None of this turkey and chicken that they have today. If I don’t have kapama it doesn’t feel like Christmas to me. I still make it and take it to my daughter’s house. My children like it because they grew up eating it, but my grandchildren don’t like it. They like to have souvla.”
Angelidou said she also remembered being eight years old and making a cloth pouch which she tied around her neck at New Year and called in on relatives to collect money.
“I’d collect about 50 cents in total and I’d be so happy because it meant I could buy material to have a new dress made. I used to get so excited about Christmas. I was the second eldest of five sisters and only our older sister used to get a new dress every Christmas. When she’d outgrow her clothes they’d be handed down to the rest of us because my mother couldn’t afford to buy us all new dresses. Our older sister had to get married first and then I’d be the next in line for new dresses. We had to wait our turn in those days, so I used to save up my Christmas money and buy material to have a dress made.”
Unlike her older sister, who was brought from their Famagusta district village to Nicosia to buy a new frock, Angelidou purchased her material from the village shop.
“I remember I always loved pink and I’d get a pink dress made with a full skirt which I’d wear with a belt,” she said.
She compared this to her grandchildren, who now needed about £50-£80 to buy a jumper.
“They don’t want anything from me and tell me to save my money to spend it on myself, but they do expect more from their parents than what I used to get as a child. Things are different now and parents give children so much and make so many sacrifices so that they have everything,” she said.
Seventy-nine-year-old Eleni Koliou said she remembered getting 2.5 cents for Christmas and feeling grateful.
“It’s not like that now. I used to jump up and down for joy. My mum would make bread and we’d sit down to a family meal. Now people have so much they even throw things away. It’s not the same as it used to be at all,” she said.
“I remember I used to buy sweets with the money I’d get at New Year. My siblings and I were raised by my aunts, because our mother had died in childbirth. They’d throw the money in the air and we’d have to try and catch it. They’d always make sure we all got something. We’d gather about 70 cents each and buy sweets with it, and we’d also be bought a pair of new shoes,” Kika Eliadou said.
The 77-year-old said this year she’d spend the holidays with her children and grandchildren.
“I’m waiting for my grandchildren to return from their studies for the holidays and instead of waiting for Christmas I’ll give them their presents straight away,” she said.
Koulla Kapidji, 76, added: “We had good times when we were growing up. There were no drugs and no going out. Families were close knit and there wa
s more love. The poor were helped and relatives and families spent Christmas together and we got a new pair of shoes as a gift. Not like now, where they get so much.”
