The Legend of the Christmas Flounder
Local history often borders on being folklore. Tales about events are told and retold until they take a life of their own. The stories can morph and transmogrify to the extent that the original origins are hard to identify or prove. The story of the Christmas Flounder of Southeastern North Carolina was one of those stories.
Paul Jennewein, son of the well-known sculptor C. Paul Jennewein, was a reporter for the Star-News in Wilmington for more than forty years. His column, Along the Cape Fear, was a witty commentary on local happenings in the area. In the 1950s, he first told the story of the Christmas Flounder. During the depression, local fishermen were unable to provide the traditional Christmas dinner trimmings for their families. They instead, gigged for flounder by the light of the moon, took their catches home, and then stuffed them with other seafaring creatures such as oysters and crabs, along with local greens like collards. Thus, starting a new tradition for the coastal Christmas meal.
The only problem with the story was that no one could recall this taking place. One of Wilmington’s prominent local historians, Louis T. Moore, never mentioned the tradition in any of his writings. Likewise, the newspaper, had no mention of it before Jennevwein’s article. Of course, as with most stories, it doesn’t have to be proven to be passed along.
In 2000, Paul Jennewein passed away. A story published in the Morning Star News on August 5th, revealed the long-suspected truth. His wife, Virginia Jennewein, confessed, “He made it up.”[i] Around Christmastime one year, he’d saw fishermen out working and thought it made sense that they would be getting their “Christmas flounder.” And, during the depression, if people couldn’t afford the traditional foods, wouldn’t it make sense that they would have flounder stuffed with their own variations in leu of the turkey?
Our State Magazine, Southern Living, Charlotte Observer, and other publications have all shared the story of the Christmas Flounder. Even if the original wasn’t true, the enduring tale of Paul Jennewein and his made-up story has become its own legend. The Star News has kept the narrative alive by reprinting every year on Christmas Eve, a rendition written by former Editorial Page Editor, Chuck Riesz.
“And so it came about that one Christmas Eve in the reign of Franklin the King for Four Terms, the merry glow of kerosene lanterns and – for those who could afford the Ray-O-Vacs – flashlights gleamed over the waters of the sound.
Westward wading, still proceeding, went wise men who knew that dull-witted fishes would be sleeping in the mud at that time of night. Suddenly the sharp splash of steely gigs shattered the starry stillness.
Next day, the unfortunate flounders, lovingly stuffed with native delicacies such as oysters, crabs, collards and grits, graced Christmas tables all over the area. Non-Baptists who knew a reliable bootlegger accompanied the humble dish with a jelly glass of high-octane cheer.”[ii]
Interested in coastal fishing? Listen to our oral history interview with Melvin Twiddy, an Eastern North Carolina fisherman. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/3739#details
[i] BLUM, AGNES. “Former ‘Morning Star’ reporter Paul Jennewein dies.” Star-News (Wilmington, NC), August 5, 2000: 4B. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/114606C9C3992E04.
[ii] “Floundering in tradition.” Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), December 24, 2002: 8A. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank- com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/0F823642306BB788.