Remembrances of Christmas past

Charleswood

Christmas has always been a special time for me. I often reflect on my childhood Christmas experiences — from my grade-school teachers having us make special gifts for our parents to putting up the Christmas tree when school was out to playing outside in the snow making snow forts with my brother and, of course, the grand dinners and gift exchanges with my large, extended family.

I vividly recall Christmas trees, holiday music on the radio, and store decorations not coming out until December. As I get older, my interests are turning to having a much simpler and more traditional Christmas. On that note, I did a bit of research on Christmas in the 19th century.

The tradition of the Christmas tree originated in Germany and the first Christmas tree in Canada appeared in 1781 in Sorel, Que., presented by Baroness Frederica von Riedesel, who was entertaining British and German troops. The first electrified Christmas tree appearned in New York City in 1882. created by Edward Johnson of the Edison Electric Company who made a set of electric lights for the tree. Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, made the Christmas tree a prominent fixture in Great Britain during the holiday season. Back in the 1800s, Christmas trees were decorated with strings of popcorn or beads and fruit such as apples, lemons or oranges were used as ornaments along with homemade trinkets.

In the 1850s, the first Christmas card was created by R.H. Pease in Albany, N.Y. Louis Prang, a German immigrant, is credited with expanding the giving of Christmas cards on a large scale. By 1875, his printing press could not keep up with the demand.

Christmas in Canada in the 1800s was centred around religious observances with family. Gifts were simple and homemade. Christmas dinner would consist of roast beef or goose and minced meat pies. Turkey dinners didn’t appear until later in the century. Toys were handcrafted. Sleds, snowshoes, wooden puzzles, or whittled figurines were common gifts. If stockings were hung “by the chimney with care,” they could be filled with an apple or cornhusk doll if children were well behaved. Gift giving in the 19th century played a very small role in festivities.

A Victorian Christmas feast would have also included side dishes such as stewed celery, mushroom patties and cauliflower au gratin, along with Christmas pudding. Since ovens were not widespread, Christmas puddings would have been wrapped in flour-soaked cheesecloth, immersed in boiled water, then cooked through an open flame. Baking over an open flame certainly would have presented challenges. The YouTube series Early American gives a good glimpse into early North American cooking. At Christmas time, wild goose and gingerbread were staples. While goose is no longer on our holiday plates, there are plenty of other old-time recipes to try out including mulled wine, which is a favorite of mine.

Merry Christmas and happy new year!