vintagenorway: Christmas straw, 1910sOn Christmas Eve, it used to be common to set out extra food fo
vintagenorway: Christmas straw, 1910sOn Christmas Eve, it used to be common to set out extra food for dead ancestors. No one was to touch the food because it was only for the “guests”. One would often also have empty beds, in case the dead “guests” wanted to sleep.Traditionally, people used to lay out straw and hay across the floor in the living room, and there the whole family would sleep together on Christmas night. This is called Christmas straw. Its possible that this custom had its origins in Norse times where people slept together as protection against the evil forces that ravaged that night. Another explanation was that the people on the farm slept in the Christmas straw to remember baby Jesus who was placed in a manger with straw when he was born in a stable in Bethlehem. -- source link
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