Ring in the New Year - Past New Year's Traditions 1865-1920 by Jo-Ann Roberts

 

Happy New Year, Friends!

Since many of our holiday traditions in the United States came to our shores from immigrants looking for a better way of life for themselves and their families, New Year's was no exception. 

Following the Civil War, parties, dancing, and festive spirits were staples of New Year's celebrations, just like today. Yet, there were many other odd, quaint, and charming customs that, for the most part, are no longer practiced today. 

Matchmaking

Wealthy folks would hold "open houses", inviting all the local eligible bachelors into their homes to meet their unmarried daughters...similar to today's speed dating! The bachelors would spend about fifteen minutes chatting with the unmarried daughter, provide her with his calling card and move on to the next home. If interested, the daughter would call upon the bachelor for another visit to talk and to meet her family.

In New York City, young men would race around the city to visit (call on) as many young women as possible. By the 1890s, the custom had fallen out of fashion in in favor of more exclusive New Year's Eve parties.  

The calling card to the left is that of Mr. Augustus Rux (pictured on the card). Apparently, he was successful as he married Mary Beck in 1916. They had two children together.

New Clothes

While many people didn't have the means to purchase a new outfit to wear on New Year's Day, women and girls often tied ribbons in their hair. Pioneer men might sport a new kerchief to symbolize fresh beginnings, and leaving of all the past year's hardships.

The Threshold 

The threshold represented the crossing from one year to the next. At the stroke of midnight, the front door was flung open, and one greeted the new year with shouts of "Welcome!" The head of the household would take three bits of bread before throwing the loaf against the door while those gathered prayed "that cold, want or hunger might not enter" in the coming year. 

If the first visitor of the year to cross the threshold by stepping into the home (whether family or friend) had dark hair, it meant good fortune was ahead for the family. If the person had blonde hair, it meant troubles loomed.

Pigs and Clovers

 

Postcards were often sent to and from loved ones, a number of them containing pigs and clovers, as they were considered bearers of good fortune for the year ahead.

Cleaning the Hearth

Cleaning out the ashes from the hearth was completed on New Year's Eve as a sign of sweeping away all the past year's misfortunes and ushering in the new year with a clean slate.

Divination 

People would playfully predict one another's fortunes for the new year interpreting each other's tea leaves, and by engaging in opening the Bible to a random page. Known as "dipping", the player would, without looking, point to a particular passage. The selected excerpt was thought to predict the good or bad fortune of the person doing the dipping. 

Bell Ringing

Many towns and cities rang bells at midnight to chase away evil. This may have led to the present-day tradition of noisemakers and party horns. 

The tradition of ringing in the new year at Times Square in New York dates back to December 31, 1904.

In 1904, the New York Times newspaper moved their location to Longacre Square.  To mark the joint celebration of its move, a name change to Times Square, and the impending new year, thousands were invited to the festivities.

Shortly before midnight, dynamite exploded as a signal that fireworks were set to begin, and the giant numerals 1 - 9 - 0 - 5 were illuminated atop the New York Times building in the direction of theaters, hotels, and restaurants downtown. This annual celebration with fireworks continued for the next two years. 

In 1907, New York banned fireworks and a new way to ring in the new year was sought. It was decided a ball, constructed of wood and iron, and illuminated with 216 electric lamps would signal the new year. 

New Year's Eve, 1907. The streets were blocked off from traffic and the crowds kept back to ensure safety for all visitors, hence the scene seems bare.

The ball has changed locations through the years, its move to its current location at One Times Square in 2009. The dropping of the ball has been an annual tradition in Times Square since December 31, 1907, the only exceptions being 1942 and 1943 in observance of wartime blackouts.

Although many of these traditions are obsolete or have morphed into something different, opening one's home, along with special foods served and enjoyed on New Year's has lasted for generations. My wish for you is still the same as those who have gone before us...luck, good fortune, prosperity and health throughout the coming year.

FIREWORKS, FOOD, AND FOOT RACES: CELEBRATING JULY 4th IN THE OLD WEST

By Jo-Ann Roberts

 

“I believe the Fourth of July will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”  John Adams

 

In 1777, a year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia celebrated by firing guns, setting off fireworks even while the war dragged on. The tradition was widespread and was taking place throughout the war despite hard times.

In the Old West, the 4^th of July was celebrated as well. From the smallest mining camps to towns to the bigger cities, Americans had picnics and dances and gathered for speeches, rodeos, horse races, foot races, turkey shoots, and parades. Historical pageants, and later baseball games, and watermelon-eating contests added to the festivities. 

Cripple Creek CO July 4th

In the late 1800s, Native Americans who had pledged their allegiance to the United States celebrated the 4^th of July with rodeos, pow-wows, and war dances.

After the 1862 gold strike in Canyon City, Oregon, a typical Fourth of July celebration would have a picnic at noon, with barbecued sheep, hogs, and young steers. And the tables would be piled high with the good food prepared by excellent cooks. Townspeople would gather around a platform where the band would play patriotic selections and popular music of the day. A blessing by a preacher and a reading of the Declaration of Independence would follow. After the reading and speeches, folks spent the evening dancing the Virginia Reel, polkas, and schottische.

Canyon City OR

The 1820 celebration at Camp Council Bluff (now Fort Atkinson State Historical Park) in Nebraska was quite patriotic. Troops were reviewed, an oration read, a national salute was fired, and dinner guests drank toasts to President James Monroe, their country, the Declaration of Independence, and George Washington.

Camp Council Bluff, Nebraska

Now Fort Atkinson State Historical Park

Comprised of a few hardy miners and even fewer women, the mining camps of Hamilton and Treasure Hill decided they would have a 4^th of July celebration. They formed a flag committee, a music committee, and a dance committee. Since there was only one man who played the violin, and he tended to imbibe a bit too much, the miners had to regulate the flow of whiskey to the musician.

The only two women in the camp comprised the dance committee.  Because the flag committee waited too long to get a flag, they improvised using a quilt with a red lining and some white canvas material. A traveling family camped nearby had a blue veil. Luck was on the miners' side since the family included a mother and four daughters…more women for the dance.

Whether it was a Nevada mining camp with a few hardy miners and even fewer women, or an Arizona town where a rodeo and a picnic was held with all of the townspeople attending, Americans old and new celebrated the Declaration of Independence in the Old West.

Author’s Note: I was born in the West…Western Massachusetts, that is…specifically in Pittsfield, where the Fourth of July parade has been an annual tradition since 1824. Or is it 1812? Long touted by the City Council as 1824, a local citizen doing genealogy research has suggested that the first parade occurred in 1812.

In addition to the parade, there is a drum corps competition, a baseball game at twilight, and a fireworks display.

Pittsfield MA parade

The fact that a smaller community like Pittsfield has been doing something for over 200 years is remarkable. Marching bands and fire departments from Boston and Worcester to the east; Bennington, Vermont to the north; and Torrington, Connecticut to the south are perennial favorites and come back year after year. Why? It’s watching someone’s grandfather and a seven-year-old boy saluting the flag at the same time. It’s the tradition of patriotism, pride, and respect we all share as Americans.