As a little boy, I can remember that when my Grandpop Salvo was still alive, every year around this time a big white box would appear (sometimes more than 1) out of nowhere, containing the biggest grapefruits I’d ever seen. If there were multiple boxes present, the additional ones would contain oranges or possibly even the “Clementines”. This same event would happen at the home of my Angelone and Ghione relatives as well.
The arrival of these large quantities of citrus fruits are always more of a Holiday kickoff symbol for me than any Black Friday ad, TV commercial, or anything else you can think of.
This past weekend, we had a family gathering at my house, and among the offerings on the table pre- and post-dinner were: 2 crates of clementines.. The Italian Holiday season has officially begun!
From Frank R.: The boxes of oranges and grapefruits and crates of clementines were a holiday time tradition in my family as well. My grandmother would get her boxes of fruit every year, and the family would take their share as they would stop by to visit. When they were kids, my father and his six siblings could also expect to find a big orange or grapefruit in the "toes" of their Christmas stockings every year!
Many times, that was "ALL" you got, young'ns!
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