by Shannon Butler
It’s that time of year again, folks. Of course, this year has certainly been one for the books. It will be interesting to see what future historians have to say about the things we’ve done, or didn’t do. Some of our holiday traditions (like big family gatherings) will be put on hold for the sake of our own heath. However, there is one thing we can do (and clearly many of us have done) that will bring us some holiday cheer, and that is… decorating!
Are you one of the many who decided to learn how to bake while on quarantine? Maybe you got super fancy with the sugar cookie designs? Or perhaps you decided to learn how to make your own ornaments, or take some extra time to wrap things up in order to make them look super pretty? Did you finally master the art of making a gingerbread house?
Where does the desire to deck the halls and Christmas trees in our living room come from? It can be argued that the trend setter for this was none other than Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who first showcased their decorated tree in 1848. At first, decorations included candles, sweets, small wrapped presents, and paper ornaments. Glass balls became popular by the 1880s.
What about the tradition of taking pictures with Santa? The man credited with that idea was James Edgar, who owned a store in Massachusetts and began dressing as Santa in the 1890s. We decided to look through some of the family photo albums in our collections in the Local History room, to see if perhaps there were some photos taken during Christmas time. We managed to find a few nice ones from family homes right here in Poughkeepsie.
Enjoy the photos and Happy Holidays from all of us at the Poughkeepsie Public Library District!
References:
Green, Jonathan. Christmas Miscellany: Everything you always wanted to know about Christmas. 2009. – 394.266 Gre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus#Parades.2C_department_stores.2C_and_shopping_malls
Images:
01 – Jackman Family Christmas tree, circa 1900
02 – Florence M. Konsier in front of her family’s Christmas tree, 1911
03 – Christmas tree at # 45 South Cherry Street, 1914
04 – Small Christmas tree at # 63 South Grand, 1918
05 – Betty Lou and Tommy Ryan in front of the Christmas tree, 1949
06 – Betty Lou Ryan and Santa, 1949
