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By Donna SandersLeader-Telegram correspondentMONDOVI — At Christmastime in Bennett Valley 50 years ago, masked people wearing overalls stuffed with pillows commonly came knocking at the door in the middle of the night.It might sound as if the Norwegian community there was celebrating Halloween two months late. Instead, the inventive Norwegians had a way to include adults in the fun of Halloween and extend Christmas past Dec. 25.For Eunice Anderson, of Mondovi,Julebokking, or Christmas fooling,brings back memories of her father hitching the horses to the sleigh, her mother heating bricks that would warm their feet, getting dressed in homemade costumes, then going to their neighbors’ houses, where each family would try to guess the names of their visitors.“Really it wasn’t for the kids, it was for the adults,” Anderson said. “I went along when I was little because I was the only kid and there was no one to leave me with.“We usually went the next night after Christmas or at least during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. After they guessed our names, we’d take off our masks, and the host hostess would serve hot coffee and lots of Norwegian baking.”One visit was not the end of the evening’s festivities. The host family would join the visiting family, and they would be off to yet another neighbor.“We would usually go to three or four places. And usually you would stay a little longer at the last place. Most ofthe time you knew the people you were going to visit and you wouldn’t go to a place where they wouldn’t want you. At least you got to know your neighbors,” Anderson said.Her family’s tradition didn’t change when the Anderson family later moved to Gilmanton. “There, a lot of neighbors were Yankees and Germans, and they didn’t know about Julebokking,” she said.But that didn’t stop her family. She said they went anyway, told their new neighbors about Christmas fooling, and they got ready and went along.Both Anderson and her husband, Ellsworth, have fond memories of Julebokking together from before their marriage to as recently as five years ago, when they moved from Gilmanton to Mondovi.One time a family thought theJulebokkers were after their Liberty bonds. On another night, Anderson’s 5-year-old son, John, let in some foolers before his parents were dressed.Ellsworth Anderson described the costumes as homemade and said that, unlike Halloween costumes they had no particular theme. Their only purpose was to disguise the wearer.“Some would put an old suit of underwear over their clothes,” he said. “Men would dress like women and women like men. It was best if you could get your feet covered. You can usually tell whether it is a man or a woman by their feet.“And often there Were overalls stuffed full of pillows. There were a lot of big tummies and big hind ends. Anything to disguise your shape.”Halloween in December? 'Christmas fooling'Eunice and Ellsworth Anderson
Newspaper Details
Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US
Wed, Dec 30, 1981
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Uw -.
WI, USA 03 Dec 2020
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