Journey Through Christmases Past - Christmas 1869

 

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 130 days away from Christmas 2026. This time of year tends to fly by for me. Once we return from summer vacation, my work commitments increase, and once I pull the garlic and potatoes out of the ground (already did that two weeks ago), it seems fall creeps up on me faster than I expect. Once fall is here, the holidays aren't far behind. 

Though I haven't followed my month-by-month holiday planning schedule this year, September's post, which links to the previous months, can be found at: https://christmasyearroundccm.blogspot.com/2025/09/three-things-to-do-in-september-to.html

Let's get into this week's Journey through Christmases Past post. Today, we are journeying back to 1869, which is a year of enormous change in America and across the world. 

Photo credit: Found on this FB post

America is almost four years beyond a Civil War that could have forever torn apart the young nation. Many are focused on Reconstruction, civil rights, and equality. 

In January, Elizabeth Cady Stanton becomes the first woman to testify before Congress as she advocates for a 16th Amendment to the Constitution to guarantee women the right to vote. Later that year, she and Susan B. Anthony found the National Women's Suffrage Association. 

In February, Congress passes the 15th Amendment, which prohibits the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Then, in March, Ulysses S. Grant is sworn in as the 18th U.S. President. In his Inaugural Address, Grant encourages the ratification of the 15th Amendment and says that the questions that will be presented to his post-Civil War administration will be ones that previous Administrations didn't have to deal with. He states they should be "approached calmly, without prejudice, hate, or sectional pride, remembering that the greatest good to the greatest number is the object to be attained." 

Photo credit: Science History Institute Museum & Library

March also finds Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev introducing the periodic table. Do you remember having to memorize the periodic table in high school? I sure do! Also in March, the Cincinnati Red Stockings become the first professional baseball team. 

In May, the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad is completed at Promontory, Utah, linking East and West and transforming trade and travel. Can you imagine how people must have felt being able to travel across the country in 7 to 10 days instead of months? Two weeks later, Major John Wesley Powell embarks upon a scientific expedition down the Green and Colorado Rivers of Utah.

In September, President Grant faces his first scandal. Financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk's plot to corner the gold market led to a dramatic drop in the price of gold on September 24, 1869, which created a selling panic. This incident became known as "Black Friday." This article discusses how the term came to be connected with the day after Thanksgiving and the holiday season.

In November 1869, the Suez Canal opens, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean by the Red Sea. And in December, America's first national labor union, the Knights of Labor, is founded. 

As Christmas 1869 edges closer, the holiday is infused with social purpose. Stanton and Anthony are publishing and mailing their weekly journal, The Revolution. Awareness of poverty, labor exploitation, and inequality is on the rise. As the United States faces Reconstruction, other countries around the globe are dealing with ongoing or developing issues. In the spirit of the season, those who can are encouraged to give generously. Charity bazaars are organized. Churches coordinate food and coal deliveries. Thanks to the railroad, advertisements for real estate, investment, and tourism opportunities appear in the newspaper. 

While Christmas would not become a federal holiday in America until the following summer, as the country worked to come together after the "great rebellion," unity was vital to the success of Reconstruction. Other countries were modernizing, expanding, and unifying. Perhaps Christmas 1869 could be seen as the bridge that connected people to their traditions while their nations were undergoing transformations.