Sitting in a kitchen decorated with pink and brown wallpaper, was a 1950’s chrome table with the pink marbleized top. It had six chairs and they were all covered with vinyl that was the same marbleized pink. The top of the table was strewn with construction paper, glue, ribbons, flowers, candy, and little pieces of paper.
It was the first of May and I was sitting at the table with my Mother making May baskets. We didn’t have patterns for the baskets, but my favorite to make was the cone shaped one. It was fairly easy for a child to do and looked really cute hanging on a doorknob.
We started with a regular piece of construction paper, and cut it into a pie shape. I loved to use the pink and the red, but if I had lilacs to put in the baskets, I always used the purple paper. Once the shape was cut, we rolled it into the cone shape and glued the edges shut.
The glue was the clear amber glue in the glass bottle with the rubber tip on top. You pushed the tip against the surface and it applied the glue through a small slit. It would stick the paper together immediately.
It didn’t matter if the bottom sealed, because there wouldn’t be anything in it that could spill out. Then the handle would be cut from the same colored paper about 1 inch wide and the length of a piece of construction paper.
The handle had to be long enough to go over a doorknob, and to allow room for the flowers to stick out of the cone basket. Once the handle was glued into place I would tie a ribbon (usually the kind you could curl) in a bow with long streamers and glue it to the side of the basket.
There was a short poem about May Day on little pieces of paper that were scattered around the table. One would be placed in the bottom of the cone, and then a few pieces of candy were added to the basket.
When the candy was in the basket and the baskets were all lying on the table in a rainbow of color, it was time for the flowers to be carefully set into the top, and the May basket was finished.
Now it was time for the best part of the tradition. The neighbors that were close by received their baskets first. I could only take two at a time, so I made a lot of trips in and out of the house.
I would sneak out the back door of our house and over to our neighbor’s. When I arrived at their house I would creep onto the porch, trying not to make a sound. I would carefully hang the basket on the doorknob, then ring the bell or knock. Then it was a mad dash to find a place to hide, but where I could still see the front door.
I loved to wait and see their reaction. Most acted very surprised, and they were usually very pleased with their little touch of spring. Their reaction made it more fun for me, because they didn’t know who was leaving them a present.
For those who lived a few blocks away or across town, Mom would take me in the car. She would park down the street so I could sneak around the houses and put the basket on the door of a certain house.
It was like a game of ditch-um, you didn’t want to be caught. I thought I was fooling everyone, but they could look down the street and see Mom’s car. It was not hard for them to figure out who had graced their front door with a May Basket.
Mom said the May basket was a way to say thank you to people for all they did during the year for you, but for a child it was all about the thrill of trying to get away with something.
Creating a dozen or more baskets with Mom was great fun, and is now a wonderful memory, but the best part was the delivery of the little ray of sunshine to someone’s house.
In my minds eye I could see the recipient placing the flowers in a small glass of water. Then they would enjoy a piece of the candy they found in the bottom of the cone as they read the poem. I always looked forward to the first of May, because I could make and deliver my little May baskets. To contact Sandy: [email protected]
