Welcome to our newest feature, Journey through Christmases Past. This series is a nostalgic celebration of the holidays we all remember...
- The history and traditions of the holiday.
- The décor that filled our homes.
- The toys that defined each decade.
- The television and movie shows that brightened the season.
- The outfits we adored (and the ones we definitely didn’t).
Along the way, I’ll sprinkle in a few of my own Christmas memories. So settle in with a cup of your favorite hot beverage and join me on a journey through Christmases past.
Happy Sunday! We are now 75 days away from Christmas 2026. Holy cow! Time is just flying by. This week, two new holiday titles arrived.
Starry-Eyed for Christmas by Sheila Roberts
The Wish Book Christmas by Lynn Austin
Even if I read one more holiday story than last year, I will consider this year a success.
Tomorrow, the States will be commemorating the arrival of
Columbus in the Americas and the history and cultures of Indigenous Americans. Canadians will be celebrating Thanksgiving. So, let's see if we can connect all three to Christmas.
On Christmas Eve in 1492, the
Santa Maria, possibly the most well-known of Christopher Columbus's vessels, ran aground while Columbus slept. As the story goes, leaving from Hispanolia (present-day Haiti), Columbus and his crew sailed for weeks, and having gone without sleep for two days, Columbus put a steersman in charge so he could get some rest. But that weary steersman passed the buck to a
cabin boy, who could not handle the ship in the strong currents, running it into a sandbar.
With the help of an Indigenous chief, Columbus created a settlement and fortified outpost named La Navidad, using the timbers and supplies from the Santa Maria. La Navidad, as you might know, is the Spanish word for Christmas.
Indigenous peoples have celebrated the winter solstice in a variety of ways for longer than
written history. In the early 1600s, King Henry IV of France sent Samuel de Champlain to colonize Canada. According to this
article, "he explored the Canadian wilderness, founded Quebec City, made the first accurate maps of the North American coastline, and served as the unofficial governor of the vast territories in New France." To share the Gospel in these new territories, Champlain would bring Jesuit missionaries on his journeys. Jean de Brébeuf was a missionary to the Huron Indians for more than a decade. After his death, de Brébeuf was canonized. Saint Jean de Brébeuf is credited with writing "The Huron Carol, also known as "Jesous Ahatonnia" or "
Jesus is Born" in the Wendat language. Because of forced conversions, missionary work, and integration with the Christian church,
Christmas is celebrated in a variety of ways by some Native Americans and tribes.
While Thanksgiving in Canada is similar to what we celebrate in the United States in some ways, it has different origins. What is accepted as the first
Canadian Thanksgiving is said to have occurred in 1578, with English explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew giving thanks either on land or aboard their ship in Frobisher Bay (present-day
Nunavut). On November 14, 1606, inhabitants of New France under Samuel de Champlain (see above) held feasts of thanksgiving between local Mi’kmaq and the French, with cranberries helping them avoid
scurvy. It would be 1872, before Canada declared a national day of Thanksgiving to celebrate the recovery of the
Prince of Wales from a serious illness.
I learned today that certain Canadian provinces can make Thanksgiving optional, so some people work that day.
How does Canadian Thanksgiving tie into Christmas? Well, they are distinct holidays, just like in America. However, the day after Thanksgiving, commonly referred to as "Black Friday," is huge for retailers in the States. Whereas
Boxing Day, celebrated the day after Christmas in the U.K. and Canada, is their huge shopping day. So both have shopping days that center around the Christmas holiday, but they have different timing.
