Christmas Then and Now

 

I grew up in a city - Minneapolis - an only child living in an apartment with my folks. I remember trudging along snowy aisles between rows of Christmas trees at the lot down the street, my toes and fingers freezing in temps that sometimes dropped to minus 10 or 20 degrees. We never chose a very big tree because we didn't have much room in our living room. Later, when I was in my teens, the folks bought a shiny aluminum tree. Remember those? They placed it on my mom's cedar chest and set an electric wheel thingy nearby that turned, casting bright colors on the tree. I thought it was pretty cool back then. But so fake!

Now, compare that to what a Christmas tree looked like in a settler's cabin, if they had one. Remember, trees were scarce on the prairies. In those regions, a few leafy boughs might have to suffice. But if the settler dad did manage to find and cut down a tree, and drag it into his family's small, crowded shelter, it would probably be decorated with bits of ribbon, yarn, berries, popcorn or paper chains. There might also be homemade decorations such as figures made of straw or yarn, cookie dough ornaments or gingerbread men.

Old-fashioned Christmas; wikipedia, public domain

Underneath the tree you’d see homemade gifts like corn husk dolls, sachets, carved wooden toys, pillows, footstools, and embroidered hankies. Members of the family might have worked on some of these gifts for months ahead of Christmas. Others knitted scarves, hats, mittens and socks. If the year had been good, the children might find candies, small gifts, cookies, fruit or shiny new coins in their stockings.

Christmas Eve would generally find most families singing carols around the tree or fireplace. Children undoubtedly went to bed dreaming of what gifts they would find under the tree come morning. Did they believe in Santa Claus? Perhaps. Santa was part of holiday traditions in the eastern U.S. by then, but whether he'd made it into Christmas lore on the western frontier is debatable.

On Christmas Day, if there was a church within a reasonable distance, the family would attend services. Then they’d return home for the Christmas meal, which might feature venison stew, deer chili, and canned homegrown veggies. For those who could afford it, they might have beef or ham. Some possible desserts were molasses cookies, vinegar pie or dried apple pie.

In pioneer days, Christmas was a lonely time for many a mountain man, explorer, or lone cowboy. This was often true for settlers as well, cut off from family and friends “back home.” No different, really, from this year when many of us will forego traditional family gatherings for fear of catching the covid virus. Let's hope and pray that 2021 will be a much kinder year.

If you would like to sample a Christmas of yesteryear on a Texas ranch, you might enjoy this novella set in 1885. Young love is budding and a special surprise awaits the youthful heroine.

getBook.at/Perfect-Gift

 

O Tannenbaum - The Tree by E. Ayers

The song was published by Ernst Anschutz in 1824. It's based on a folk song from the 16^th century and eventually was adapted into a Christmas carol. The concept of a Christmas tree certainly brightened a home when the hours of daylight were shorter and much of the world was rather drab. It added fun to what was probably a rather boring time of the year. It's green and festive, and with its evergreen boughs showed there was promise of spring around the corner.

The original Christmas trees in Europe were hung upside down from the ceiling and decorated with red paper strips, apples, and gilded nuts. They referred to them as Sweet Trees because of all the yummy goodies that decorated them.

The idea of lighting a tree probably came from France where men would decorate the town square with a tree covered in roses to represent the Virgin Mary, dance around it, and then set it afire. (I have no idea why!)

That probably led to trees being decorated in candles. Certainly not for the timid homeowner! The trees were usually lit long enough for everyone to o-o-h and ah-h-h over, and then they were promptly extinguished. There were also plenty of buckets of water

nearby to extinguish a burning branch, and a few trees not only caught on fire, they managed to take the whole house with them. They also used to be tabletop ornaments but like everything else, the bigger the better and eventually trees were reaching the ceilings. So those beautiful trees with burning candles, although they might look fabulous, are not worth the risk. With today’s fantastic lights we can safely make the tree look as though it has real candles burning, or it can flash and do just about anything you might want.

Christmas trees are really newcomers to the USA. It’s believed German settlers introduced them in 1851. Maybe they became popular or as we say today they went viral, because there are plenty of references to individuals who had Christmas trees prior to that date in America. It didn’t take long for someone to figure out he could get paid to cut pine trees and sell them. About two years later, selling of Christmas trees was a sure way to make a little money. Back then that person went into the woods, found a few trees, cut them, and dragged them out.

By the 1880’s, German glass ornaments arrived and became very popular. The first ones were balls and then they became more elaborate. The star on the top of the tree seems to have an unclear history. But there’s enough evidence to say the first ones were made of tin.

In 1883 Sears Roebuck and Co started selling artificial trees. Very expensive! Fifty cents for the little one and a dollar for a big one, - really they weren’t cheap considering a man might be lucky to make $3.00 a week.

But by 1900, we had severely damaged the population of natural Christmas trees AKA our forests. W.V. McGalliard decided to plant 25,000 Norway spruce on his farm in New Jersey, creating what we believe is the first Christmas tree farm.

Theodore Roosevelt wanted to stop the practice of using live trees and wanted us to have “snow” trees, a deciduous branch that was coated in cotton and could be decorated. Luckily Mr. McGalliard’s sons, with some help from a hired environmentalist, put pressure on the President to allow trees to be farmed, claiming it didn’t harm the forests.

Franklin Roosevelt started a Christmas farm in 1930’s on his estate in Hyde Park, New York.

Today’s practice of farming Christmas trees has actually preserved several varieties. They are growth controlled and pruned to give us that perfectly shaped tree. Christmas tree management gives us a healthy disease-free and bug-free tree to bring into our home.

It is estimated that over 30 million Christmas trees are sold to individuals in the USA alone.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS

 to our readers, no matter what you celebrate. 

May we find peace during the holidays. 

And to help you get into the mood, the Authors of Main Street, have put together another annual boxed set of contemporary holiday stories on Main Street, wherever that street might be for you. My story in Christmas Wishes on Main Street is my book Christmas Paws. (Kindle for 99c for the boxed set, FREE on Kindle Unlimited, and also available in paperback.) 

 There's puppies in this story, some giggles, and a whole lot more!

A Little Christmas History

by Linda LaRoque

In the early 1700s New England, Christmas was not celebrated in the colonies. In some it was even banned, and those caught celebrating would be fined. The Puritans and Calvinists considered Christmas to be similar to the Catholic pomp and idolatry, or worse, the pagan rituals of the Druids.

The Quakers in the Pennsylvania area didn't regard Christmas any different from any other day. Stores were open, there was no more baking than normal and no Christmas porridge on Christmas Eve.

As time passed and more immigrants moved to the Americas, they brought their traditions with them. Eventually the laws against celebrating Christmas were lifted. In 1856 Christmas was made an official holiday in New England.

Picture courtesy Wikipedia Commons

For the Anglicans, the holiday began with the Christian liturgical year, the four week period before Christmas. Time was spent in religious services, fasting, praying. It was also a time of reflection, anticipation and expectation for the coming of Christ. Both churches and homes were adorned with all types of greenery, especially those with colorful berries. Mistletoe and Holly along with evergreens were favorites. Evergreens were shaped into wreaths and tied into boughs. They added color and fragrance to their homes and were the most common decorations until the Christmas tree was introduced by Prince Albert in Victorian England.

Mistletoe was popular in the 18th century and was arranged in large clusters and tied with ribbons. The bundles were major focal points in colonial homes. The hanging of mistletoe resulted from an ancient Druid belief that it warded off evil spirits and promised fertility of crops for the coming spring.

Families attended church services, Christmas carols and hymns were sung. The most most popular of the time were those written by Isaac Watts. He wrote "Joy to the World," "The First Noel," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," among a few.

The giving of gifts wasn't as big a thing as it is today. Contemporary shops would set up displays of typical gifts such as little books, candles, and candy. It was not uncommon to give a cash tip as a gift. The Christmas card as we know it was introduced in the 1800s along with Santa Claus and the filling of shoes, and eventually stockings, with candy, fruit, nuts, and other small gifts.

Photo courtesy Wikipedia Commons.
Christmas during the Civil War.

As you read in my post on December 4th here on Sweethearts of the West, Christmas feasts were extravagant for those in the cities and on farms where livestock and wild life was plentiful. For those in the wilderness and homesteads far from town, celebrations were simple in comparison.

From Dicken's Christmas Past
Courtesy Wikipedia Comons

Activities of this era did not center around the children, but rather around the adults. Children were not welcome at the fox hunts, the balls and parties. And the celebration didn't end on Christmas Day. Our ancestors didn't know what we know about the 'twelve days of Christmas'—twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany on January 6th, because Christmas day had a different connotation back then. They believed the twelve days began on Christmas day and continued for a full twelve days. Nor did they have the extravagance of Santa in his sleigh filled with toys and presents under the tree.

Christmas on the prairie was often a difficult time, especially if facing blizzards and December storms, but every effort was made to celebrate, no matter how small or meager their supplies. Some people who rarely went to town, made a trip before Christmas for extra supplies, shoes and clothing which was often given to the family as gifts. Around remote military posts, soldiers could be heard singing carols, and venison roasted on an open fire filling the air with a pleasing aroma. Writer Washington Irving wrote about the explorations of Army Captain Benjamin Bonneville in the Oregon territory. They were friendly with the Indians and Kowsoter, the local chief, invited the entire company to a feast. Following the meal, both Indian and white men competed in games of strength and ability.

If the home had room, which many early prairie homes did not, there was a Christmas tree. It might have been a cottonwood, scrub brush or a tumble weed. Every effort was given to making it look festive. Bits of ribbon, berries and popcorn strings, pieces of colored paper and possibly candles. The candles were placed in tin holders and when lit, were never left unattended for fear of fire. Gifts were most often hand made—knitted scarves, mittens, socks, dolls made of fabric (rag dolls), and stuffed with straw and miniature quilts. Boys received wooden toys like tops or other toys made from available wood. Some gifts were placed on tree branches, others were place under the tree.

Those traveling west on wagon trains also celebrated. Dinner would be sausage, biscuits, rice and game if available. Pies and cakes would be baked and served with precious commodities brought from home—preserves, tea, coffee and possibly a fruit cake they'd saved for the occasion.

This is the first commercially produced Christmas card. It was designed John Callcott Horsley for Henry Cole.

I hope you've enjoyed this sample of Christmas customs and celebrations in our country. Unfortunately I was unable to find any pictures of Christmases on the prairie. I hope my descriptions will paint a picture in your mind. 

References:  

Writers Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West.

http://hiddendirk.corecommerce.com/18th-Century-Christmas-Traditions.html/

http://www.lifeintheoldwest.com/celebrating-christmas-in-the-old-west/

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-christmas.html/

http://www.foodtimeline.org/christmasmenu.html/

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you'll leave a comment.

Linda

www.lindalaroque.com

http://www.lindalaroqueauthor.blogspot.com