Where does Hanukkah gelt come from in Latkaland?
At the conclusion of a Latkaland reading that I did recently, a wise little boy named Ty stumped me with a question. In his quiet voice, Ty asked me where the Hanukkah gelt came from in Latkaland. This is actually a very rational question, as the only resources in Latkaland are potatoes and oil. Having given Ty’s question some thought, this is (I believe) a fitting answer.
If you leave Latkaland (heading south from Latkaland Lake) the grass eventually turns an emerald shade of green and the air becomes rich and moist. You begin to notice flowers of brilliant colours and trees unlike any you’ve ever seen before, bearing leaves and fruit that smell so delicious you try to taste the scent on your tongue. As the fragrance becomes richer and the trees turn into a forest, you know that you have arrived in the Land of Golden Gelt.
The Land of Golden Gelt is inhabited by Geltniks, who happen to be first cousins of the Lunchkins. Like the Lunchkins, Geltniks are hard working creatures, but because they live in such a luscious land, they tend to be very sweet natured and easy going. It takes an enormous problem to upset a Geltnik.
You may be wondering what Geltniks actually do, besides enjoying their marvellous surroundings. Well, the Geltniks do have an extremely important job – creating chocolate gelt for Hanukkah.
If you wander around the Golden Gelt Forest, you will notice that there are some places where the smell is so very sweet, you’d wish you could stay there forever. Those places are the Chocolate Drop Groves, where the trees bear chocolate drop fruit that the Geltniks harvest, then melt and shape into chocolate coins.
In other areas of the forest, the wonderful smell almost disappears. You will notice that the trees in those areas bear golden leaves, which the Geltniks use to wrap their chocolate gelt. (By the way, silver Hanukkah gelt does not come from the Land of Golden Gelt. It is produced by humans, and simply wrapped in factory produced foil.)
Once the chocolate coins have been shaped and wrapped, they are sent off to wherever gelt is needed for Hanukkah. Many boxes of gelt are sent each year to Latkaland, where the Lunchkins store it in their treasure cave, and share it out on each of the eight days of Hanukkah.
Monday, November 9th, 2009