QUEEN’S PARK, with its ambience, has played an integral part on Christmas Day for the Davis family for generations. For them Christmas would not be Christmas without a stroll through the City park in their glamorous outfits. Some of the ladies in the family shared with EASY magazine their recollections of going to the Park on Christmas morning.
Ninety-year-old Emsie Davis has been spending her Christmases in the Park for several years. She said that as a young girl she enjoyed dressing up in her finest clothes and making the trip by herself.
“When I became a woman I used to go with my seven children and although people would watch me hard I was not bothered.
“My children were excited when Christmas time came because I would spread marl around the house to look like snow and I would weed it up good. I would stuff their beds high, high with khus khus grass and all of us would leave home at 5 a.m. to go to church but we had to be careful because the road was dark.
“Christmas lunch was one of the most exciting things about Christmas too. Back then lunch consisted of chicken, dove peas and rice and ham. We would also go to town and window shop; just looking at the displays in the stores made you feel good. And the tuk band would go from place to place playing music and people either gave them 12 cents or rum; Christmas in the old days was sweet.”
Emsie passed on the tradition of going into the Park to her children Hettie and June Davis, who are fraternal twins. They were born on December 29, 1957.
June said that, like her mother, she enjoys dressing up and loves the atmosphere.
“My family and I wake up early on mornings and go to church and from there we would go to the Park. We continued this tradition from our mum since 1970 and a lot has changed now. Before the green monkeys and the tuk band used to perform but that does not happen any more. People used to bring exotic birds for others to admire and there were exhibitions on display.”
She said women wore the latest fashion and tried to outdo each other.
“Back then we wore stockings and tall heel shoes. All the women came out looking prim and dressed to impress, trying to out beat one another. But now anything goes; you would find people wearing jeans or casual outfits.
“Hettie and I also like dressing alike and our favourite thing was the performances by the Royal Barbados Police Band their songs too.
“There was a time the activities moved from the Park to Bay Street Esplanade and it was not the same and one time my I spent Christmas overseas and that was the worst Christmas I ever had. I could not stop thinking about the fun I could have had in Barbados. The people in England are not as excited about Christmas like us and when the 25th came everybody took down the decorations.”
June’s sister Hettie explained to EASY that she likes going to the park with friends and family and gave details about how she plans for the 25th of December.
“We would plan with the members from our church group at Budlong Baptist; and although we do it each year ii does not get boring.
“My niece Catrina plaits our hair and we go to our needleworker Cheryl Welch to get our outfits. She usually makes our clothes exactly how we tell her to or she comes up with something she thinks we may like. Sometimes my sister and I dress different too. We may like the same idea but get it in different colours but nevertheless we like to dress as twins.”
Hettie said that they used to go for long walks in the community before they thought of going in the Park.
“Before the Park we used to go walking across the neighbourhood. We would sing Christmas carols and take in the Christmas spirit. However, we still have family get-togethers in the evening.
“Everybody would come by us and open gifts and eat dinner. Our niece Pat would bring all her fancy dishes and we would have a blast. We would call our family overseas on Sykpe and although our mother is blind we make sure she joins in the festivities.”
Reneé, Hettie’s daughter, also shared her experiences of going into Queen’s Park on Christmas Day. She said she likes to see women in fancy dresses and taking pictures with her family.
“Back then cameras did not have features like they do now; you could not pick and choose which one you liked and delete the rest. You took pictures and automatically the photo would come out so if your face was set up you had to take it over.
“Everybody had their spot to take pictures. The famous places are by the lion, the big and small fountain or by the flowers.”
The 38-year-old added that the Christmas tree plays an important role throughout the season and she told EASY that her mother cut down her first Christmas tree.
“My first Christmas tree was a cherry tree. My mother put it in a bucket and filled it with marl; it had decorations and it looked better than any other tree I saw at that time.
“When I was little I also liked to put sweeties and snacks in my stockings and my favourite treat was the candy apples from in the Park. When I got one I would eat it fast and ask my mummy to get a pinwheel toy.
“I remember when I was small there were several snow-on-the-mountain plants on top of the hill where I live and when the buds came off, the wind blew them down the hill and it looked like snow to me.”
Reneé said that she wished her two sons could have experienced Christmas like the Christmases she remembers from her childhood days. (SB)