Advent Calendars

 ADVENT CALENDARS

Uncle Bob and Aunt Jane Llewellyn family - Christmas 1958

‘Tis the season to remember the days of my childhood when we received a brown envelope from our Aunt Jane Llewellyn. Inside was the annual Advent calendar. Each day of the Advent season had a little flap like a door to open on an 8.5” by 11” size piece of heavy stock paper that had a nice historic seasonal painting on it. This never struck me as peculiar until I recently remembered it and thought about the fact that we were all raised as Quakers (Society of Friends) in Philadelphia. She actually was raised Unitarian. Aunt Jane was one or the first to attend the Friends boarding school, Westtown, who was not a member of the Society of Friends. She stayed active in Cheltenham Friends Monthly Meeting through her adult life, and was always a part of our childhood memories there. Anyway, the Quakers espoused a plain and simple style of worship that eliminated all man-made trappings. So at Christmas time I can’t recall ever seeing any decoration at our Meeting House, although at home we always had a real tree decorated and a wreath on the front door and candles with chimes, lights strung outside the house and various other seasonal decorations. Mom always made lots of cookies. So the Advent Calendar just seemed normal to me then, although it certainly was not a Quaker thing. 
The first published advent calendar was produced in 1908 in Germany by a man called Gerhard Lang. So maybe Aunt Jane had fond memories of them?
When we opened the little flap during the Advent season each day inside was written some Bible text about Jesus. I don’t recall any specific calendars, but it seems like they were Currier and Ives lithographs or something along that line, or historic paintings like some of the European Masters, Dutch skating scenes like Hendrick Avercamp painted of ‘The Little Ice Age’ or ‘Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters’. On Christmas day we opened the last flap and read the text as a family. Those are good memories along with so many other warm ones from back when I was a little boy. My mother would play Christmas carols. I still have the music book in this photo that she used back then. We used to sing them along with her accompaniment on the old upright piano she had learned to play on as a girl and kept throughout her entire life. 

Christmas 1959 - Tom, Ed, Andy (now Willi)

Our original copy With the Christmas Story as told by St. Luke and St. Matthew compiled by Frank Edwin Peat

I don’t think we kept any of those old Advent Calendars so I can’t find a sample to show. My sister-in-law, Viki, kept up the tradition for a while and gave us Advent calendars for some years when our sons were at home. On reflection it does keep us who keep some of these traditions mindful that if we do, it should be ‘unto the Lord’ (Romans 14). Jesus is what it ought to be about, so remember to open your Bible and read about the One it is all about - Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:39 Amid all the warm sentiment and tradition of this season take time to remember that God so loved the world that He sent His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16 ‘Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…’ Isaiah 9:6. ‘Peace on earth; good will toward men…’ Luke 2:14 ‘Joy to the world, the Lord is come.’