Journey through Christmases Past - Christmas Traditions

 

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! Well, at least for a little while more. We are 250 days away from Christmas! Doesn't it seem like we just celebrated? 

This week, as we journey through Christmases from the past, I thought it might be interesting to talk about traditions.

When 4RV Publishing released the second edition of my book, A Christmas Kindness, we added material for readers, including Christmas traditions from around the world. Readers can learn about:

• Letters that children in the United Kingdom write to Father Christmas. 
• The Christmas Eve party in Argentina with large dinners, fireworks, and special lit balloons floating through the air. 
• Children in Greece traveling from house to house singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve. 

Growing up, we always knew Christmas was coming when my mother pulled the books out of the shelves in the living room and added her Christmas village. My sister and I were trying to find one online because it was unique. Then she rearranged the furniture to make room for the Christmas tree. Shiny Brite ornaments, Bradford Tinsel Garland, the flocked Santa, and the Christopher Radko bird ornaments dotted the branches of our artificial tree, which I think always had colored lights. 

Mom ordered from the Sears Wish Book and hid presents under her bed. She must have wrapped them after we went to bed, because I don't ever recall seeing her wrap gifts. We hung our stockings on a fake cardboard fireplace, and later on the lower bookshelf. 

One of the few photos I have of my childhood home on Christmas morning

Our bedrooms were at the opposite end of our apartment from our parents' room, so my middle sister and I would sneak into our oldest sister's room to play cards or listen to music before waking our parents. Once we were allowed to wake them, the first thing we did was sing Happy Birthday to baby Jesus. Then we opened gifts, cleaned up the remnants of torn paper and bows, and prepared for the extended family to arrive for dinner. 

What are some traditions you recall from your childhood Christmases? 

Journey through Christmases Past - Christmas 1871

 

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.

Christos Anesti (Χριστὸς ἀνέστη)! Today, our family celebrated Orthodox Easter. For Christians, the holidays of Christmas and Easter are closely connected. Christmas opens the story of salvation, and Easter is its fulfilment. Just like Advent prepares our hearts for Christ to come, Lent prepares our hearts for why He came. With that spirit in mind, let's journey back to the Christmas of 1871.

The year opens with the birth of the German Empire, and by May, the Franco-Prussian War has ended. America, only five years past the end of the Civil War, is in the middle of its Reconstruction era. Ulysses S. Grant, the Commanding General of the United States Army during the war, is now serving his second term as President of the United States. It is also the year that Congress will pass the Third Enforcement Act, designed to protect African Americans from violence during Reconstruction. 

Photo credit: Wikipedia

The Rugby Football Union is formed in England in January. In March, journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his expedition to find missing Scottish explorer Dr. David Livingstone in Africa, which will take him most of the year. Then, on April 10, 1871, P. T. Barnum debuts his first traveling circus. 

Sadly, the Great Chicago Fire in October would leave more than one-third of the city's population homeless. The city's residents focus on rebuilding. Machinists work day and night to restore water; General Sheridan's troops and volunteers patrol the city to keep people safe; the newly formed Union Fire Proof Ticket, comprised of Republicans and Democrats dedicated to restoring Chicago’s economy and reforming its politics, gathers with their supporters; and Members of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Trinity Church plan to open a free Young Men's Club and Reading Room to help homeless out of work young men. 

By December, residents of Chicago attend theater and lecture events as a distraction. A new mayor is elected. The new temporary city hall is constructed and welcomes employees of the city government. On Christmas Day, some stores welcome last-minute shoppers, and theaters attract large audiences. Four thousand Catholic worshippers attend a 4 a.m. High Mass with many Protestants on hand to witness the ceremony. [View a more complete timeline of Chicago in 1871, here.]

In the Big Woods of Pepin, Wisconsin, a four-year-old Laura Ingalls Wilder is growing up in a "little gray house made of logs," alongside her Pa, Ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and her brindle bulldog, Jack. In the fourth chapter of Little House in the Big Woods, Wilder describes the snowy days leading up to Christmas that year, when "Pa's breath hung in the air like smoke," and "icicles hung from the eaves  of the house to the snowbanks." 

Then the day before Christmas, the cousins come, and the little house is so full that Black Susan the cat runs out to hide in the barn. The children play outside, making pictures in the snow. When it is bedtime, they listen to the stories the adults tell until Pa gets his fiddle and sings them to sleep. In the morning, the children find that Santa Claus has come, leaving presents in their stockings. 

If we consider these two Christmases side-by-side, you have a holiday filled with hope and magic. For Chicagoans, Christmas 1871 arrived in a city that was rising from the ashes, forging a new identity that would usher in an era of steel-supported skyscrapers more than a decade later. Nearly 350 miles away, on the snowy Wisconsin prairie, a Christmas of frontier simplicity unfolds, bringing with it a visit from family and Santa, along with the magic of Christmas morning. Both holidays embrace the importance of gathering together and making room for joy, which we still embrace today. 

Journey through Christmases Past - Inside a 1940s Kitchen

 

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, everyone! Hope you had a nice Easter if you celebrate it. We had most of the family at the house today. Our youngest was working. After spending two days in the kitchen, cooking and baking, I felt inspired to share more about kitchens and landed in the 1940s. 

Before the 1950s, which is when the open floor plan concept began, kitchens were hidden workspaces that focused on functionality and efficiency. Metal cabinets with enamel finishes were typical; some still exist in homes I've shown and viewed here in Massachusetts. 

Depending upon where you lived in 1940, and how easily accessible and affordable electricity was, your home likely had an icebox or an electric refrigerator.

Vintage 1940 icebox - Photo credit: Architectural Salvage Warehouse

Electrical appliances were also found in some 1940s kitchens.

Drip coffee maker - found on Pinterest from an expired Etsy listing

2-slice toaster - Photo credit: Toaster Central

Stand mixer - Photo credit: Facebook page (no longer linked)

Features you might find in a kitchen in the 1940s included:

Farmhouse sinks or double bowl sinks with drainboards - Photo credit: Retro Renovation

Breakfast nook - Photo credit: Click Americana

A working pantry (jealous of this one)

A pullout cutting board 

A step to reach upper cabinets (super jealous of this one)

Built-in dishwasher - Photo credit for all these is Rare Historical Photos

Sometimes, you even had your washer and dryer in the kitchen, like in this photo featured in the "THEN AND NOW: Here's How US Kitchens Have Evolved Throughout the Years" article from Business Insider. 

Does your home have any of these neat features?