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When I first joined my boyfriend, now husband, to celebrate Dutch Christmas on December 6, he presented me with a chocolate letter. When I asked his father, who was born in the Netherlands, about the tradition he explained “It’s something our family has always done. Our parents would go to the local Dutch store and buy us the first letter of each of our names, one chocolate for all 12 of us! We usually got them on December 5th, the eve of Dutch Christmas” (Hartholt).
Although the tradition of giving an edible gift in the shape of a letter has been around since the 16th century (this is known because the Dutch masters painted them), it wasn’t until the 19th century that they became associated with Christmas (Holland at Home).
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Chocolate Letter A
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According to the Holland at Home website, “During [Christmas] parents would cover and hide Sinterklaas presents from the prying eyes of small children, by placing sheets over them. To prevent confusion over whose presents belonged to which child, a letter made from dough or pastry was positioned on the sheet to indicate the intended recipient's’ name."
When chocolate became cheaper to produce, in the 20th century factories started mass-producing the letters. Now, they are available year-round online, and in Dutch stores in the weeks leading up to Sinterklaas. I am surprised at how much I now notice small Dutch stores in Southern Ontario towns: a reminder of the Dutch immigrants who moved here en masse after the Second World War, including my father-in-law. I buy these delicious letters for my own children, and also for my original family from the Fergus store Made in Holland. I place the letters on the outside of their stockings at Christmas time at my parents’ house, but of course my children get two: one on December 6, and the other on December 25. I know that it will be a sweet tradition in my family for years to come.
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Sutherland
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Works Cited
Chocolate Letter A. Pinterest, i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/d7/15/2cd715d6cedb68f16094e75aedaeacf4--chocolate-letters-bold-fonts.jpg. Accessed 24 Oct. 2017.
Hartholt, Andrew. Interview. 5 Dec. 2003.
Sutherland, Randy. Made in Holland. 27 Feb. 2011. grandFOGGER, randysutherland.blogspot.ca/2011/02/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2017.
When I was younger my great grandpa used to get my whole family chocolate letters too, but then he passed, therefor no one else continued the tradition.
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