Remember May baskets? It’s almost May Day. Have you ever had a May basket or remember the tradition? I got my May baskets back in the 1950s. Not just decorated Dixie cups laden with a few pieces of candy, but elaborate crepe paper covered holders with woven crepe paper handles and streamers. I don’t recall ever receiving an actual woven basket. But that wasn’t the tradition on the coast of Maine at the time. The Burns boys would hang baskets on Cross Street. Their mother and grandmother made them! The tradition calls for hanging the basket on the door, ringing the bell, if there was one, and running away quickly. The recipient had to chase the gifter, and I think you were supposed to kiss him or her, but I don’t remember following thru on that part. There was supposed to be great fanfare in the chase, and equally grand embarrassment, if you couldn’t catch the gifter, whether male or female. But I do remember the chase. It wasn’t all meant to be romantic, all tho’ that’s the way some people choose to remember it. For some, it was just a neighborly thing to do on a singularly great day in May. The well-known basket artists had quite a business, if I remember right, at that time. They started weeks in advance, preparing the elaborately decorated containers, taking orders and delivering throughout the area, just in time for someone to fill it, and surprise a lucky recipient. Mrs. Burns and her mother or mother-in-law were the resident artists of the time. I know exactly where they both lived, and I remember seeing the elaborate baskets hanging in the window of the lady in Rockport. They hung there to mark “Her” house on the old Route #1 and the location of the best made baskets anybody knew at the time. I always dreamed of getting one of the really Big ones all purple or pink, with layers of crepe, pulled into delicate curls and fringes surrounding the opening or there may have been a longer “apron” to an elaborately-designed basket. They were not simple concoctions and were quite a prize for anyone lucky enough to receive one. At some point, I remember someone using wallpaper samples and crafting May baskets to take advantage of some nice floral prints. And people also would use Dixie cups or simply paper cones, but none of these fill the bill in my memory. I think they actually used saved oatmeal cylinders or something of equal size and shape. I’ve searched and there is little out there that compares to those elaborate concoctions that fill my memory bank. A quick search on Pinterest came close, but even they didn’t have the right combination, but close. When I moved inland, I was surprised and disappointed that the tradition wasn’t the same. They didn’t observe just May Day, but mistakenly (by my estimation) believed you could dole out May baskets anytime during the month. What fun is that? There is no special day, no anticipation, no fun-loving chase and capture. In recent years, many writers have lamented the passing of the May Day tradition, some tried to resurrect it with crafting tips or suggestions of what constitutes a May basket ( they’ve got it All wrong!) And then there are those that fear it will be brought back, but by some commercial operation with plastic do-dads and lots of commercial candy and gifts….sort of like what happened to Easter and every other holiday that might involve small gifts. REAL May baskets are committed to memory now, but if they’re in your memory maybe it’s time to “write-it-down” so it’s not lost on another generation. Did you hang a May basket? Did you receive one and more importantly perhaps, did you catch the gifter and whatever happened to him or her? Maybe it’s a memory you share with someone else? Or perhaps you should before it’s lost along with those other remembrances you’ve been meaning to share. Brighten someone’s day hang a May basket or share your memories of an old tradition. To learn more about the May basket tradition check out: http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/04/30/402817821/a-forgotten-tradition-may-basket-day