Families’ Weird Holiday Traditions, Illustrated

Part of the allure of the holidays is all the traditions: A turkey-and-mashed-potatoes feast on Thanksgiving, wrapped presents nestled under the bedazzled tree for Christmas, the lighting of the menorah during Hanukkah. It’s these iconic moments that Norman Rockwell captured in his popular illustrations of families’ snowy holiday revelry.  

But, then again, how Americans actually celebrate the holidays doesn’t always resemble a picture-perfect Rockwell painting. Families conjure up their own traditions to attach to the holidays, from the heartwarming to the gross to the downright silly. So, this year, we had readers send in stories and photos of their families’ unique and quirky holiday traditions. And in a modern twist on the Rockwell prints of yesteryear, we had Dan Bransfield, an artist in San Francisco, illustrate eight of our favorites based on the photos the families sent.

‘Throwing Pop Away’

When I was little, 15 to 30 family members would gather at my grandparents’ house on Christmas Day. Everyone got presents from at least one person in each of the families (my mom is one of five, and sometimes