If the commercialism of the Christmas season has you disillusioned, order a copy of “Christmas in Illinois,” a nostalgic collection of memoirs about the holiday season.
Published by the University of Illinois Press, the book includes tales of Christmases past as remembered by familiar Illinoisans, such as Carl Sandburg and Gwendolyn Brooks, as well as hometown folks from Chicago to Cairo. Anecdotes capture Christmas in Illinois from the past two centuries from before statehood to the present day. Recipes for wild game, pickled herring and Christmas cookies will help bring the flavors of Christmases past to your holiday table. Edited by James Ballowe, the book also includes 32 black-and-white photographs.
For information on how to order, visit http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/83dmn2cf9780252034428.html.
