In the story Xmas is lean because of a lousy cotton harvest. The gifts they give and the attitude they have remind me of permaculture. I would totally wear a flour sack dress. Catch and store resources!
That Christmas album (on 8-track, running off a car battery) was a part of my childhood. We actually had one Christmas that was just about that lean -- our staple foods that winter were salted fish from the Yukon, beans, rice, oatmeal, and home-made bread. But we, too, had plenty of kerosene.