Christmas & New Year's at Greenfield Village: Twice at Holiday Nights 2025

It's like stepping into a Christmas card.

~~~

A little Greenfield Village history lesson here:
Holiday Nights is sort of the offspring of the old 12 Nights of Christmas,  which was the Village's original evening Christmas celebration from,  I believe,  back in the 1990s...(they used to be open daytime hours in December back in the day and folks could see Christmas history in a much less crowded atmosphere.  This was called  "Holiday Homes Tour").

I remember the first time Patty and I went to the Eagle Tavern Christmas dinner together back in 1983 when she was still  'just'  my girlfriend.  At that time,  everything took place inside the Eagle Tavern - the food,  the singing - all in the candle-lit atmosphere Eagle Tavern is so well known for.  There were no other evening activities.  Back then,  the ticketed visitors got a horse-drawn wagon ride from the ticket building to the tavern.  Once the festivities inside were over,  we visitors followed a lantern-lit walking path back and out of the Village to the parking lot.

That was it - -   

Oh!  But   it was so special---even as simple as it was!  It was my first real  "old time Christmas"  exposure.

We then learned about the daytime Holiday Homes Tour,  which was in itself pretty amazing,  for each house that was decorated,  including Firestone Farm and the Adams House,  was staffed with period-dress presenters,  giving wonderful Christmas history.  This was something new for me.  

If I remember correctly,  it was around 2001 when the decision to open up the Village in the evening for a special nighttime Christmas extravaganza first took place.  

Yes,  we were there.

Initially known as  "The 12 Nights of Christmas,"  the name was changed a few years later to  "Holiday Nights"  when they increased the number of evenings beyond 12,  due to its immense popularity.  Beginning in 2010 the Holiday Homes Tour ended,  keeping only the evening program.  The one plus Holiday Homes Tour had over Holiday Nights was that visitors had all day to relax and roam the Village and could remain in the homes a little bit longer,  with a lot less people. Kinda like visiting over Thanksgiving Weekend.

Also,  Firestone Farm was at one time decorated inside and out,  including a parlor Christmas Tree.

The one thing you can bank on is that Christmas at Greenfield Village,  whether daytime visits  (especially over Thanksgiving Weekend)  or Holiday Nights,  beats all.  It truly is  a Christmas Card come to life.

Above is the 2025 Holiday Nights program.
and below we have...

...past Holiday Nights programs.

These first batch of pictures were taken on the snow-covered evening of December 12:

This captured my eye as we walked from the parking lot to the Village entry gates.
Not rainy for the December 12 visit.

This was taken about two weeks before Holiday Nights began - it was,  I believe,  the last time the Village was open during daytime hours for the year,  and they were decorating.  I loved how the waning setting sun looked through the clouds.

Every year,  I usually go to Holiday Nights twice:  

one time in modern clothing to simply enjoy all of the festivities,  and the second time in period colonial clothing to have more of an immersion feel,  especially when I'm down where the 17th and 18th century structures are,  which I enjoy immensely.

Modern Ken & Patty~
Here I am with my bride of 40 years on December 12,  2025.
A very kind couple snapped this shot of Patty and I at the Ackley Covered Bridge.

Susquehanna Plantation House
I love that we had snow early on,  though,  unfortunately,  it became a muddy mess on December 28.

Love this look on the Susquehanna porch.
I believe that's a settle table there.

While inside they were preparing for a New Year's Day wedding.

The cabin in which William Holmes McGuffey was born in 1800.
The cabin was built 1789/1790.

Mary on a long winter's night...

Welcome to the Logan County Court House 

We always love to stop in the Logan County Court House and listen to the phenomenal Neil Woodward perform old Christmas Carols on the violin,  the banjo,  the pennywhistle,  and other period instruments.

Neil also tells a bit of history before each song he plays about the song,  the instruments he is using,  or both.  In fact,  he was performing  "Oh!  Susanna"  as I took this picture,  and before he began to play it,  he told us about his banjo and how it was made in the very same way that banjos were made back in the early 19th century.  The old-style wooden banjos had a very different sound than the banjos we know of today,  and therefore,  as he said,  we are hearing the songs as Stephen Foster himself may have heard them. 

Let's move into about 1844 to the time Charles Dickens'   "A Christmas Carol"  was first printed in the United States  ('twas a year earlier in England).

I'm not sure how long Greenfield Village has had The Magic Lantern Show,  for until last year I never took the time to check it out,  but after watching the movie  "The Man Who Invented Christmas,"  where there was a scene when Dickens'  father entertained his grandkids and others with such an item.  it clicked with me--"Hey!  Wow---I saw this in the movie!"---so,  my wife and I made sure we watched the entire program - - we both loved it!  

Magic lantern shows were a popular form of entertainment and education before the invention of movies.
It drew a decent crowd here at Greenfield Village.

In fact,  The magic lantern was invented in the 1600s and was a common sight in European courts and festivals.  The shows combined projected images with live narration and music.

Magic lantern shows grew in popularity,  and were a staple of entertainment in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  They were performed in theaters,  churches,  schools,  and even homes  (as seen in  "The Man Who Invented Christmas"). 

The technology behind magic lanterns evolved over time,  with limelight

and kerosene lamps replacing candles as the light source.

Seeing an earlier show with a candle would be pretty cool.

"God Bless Us Everyone."

City sidewalks,  busy sidewalks,  dressed in holiday style

In the air there's a feeling of Christmas...

It's like being in the city a hundred years ago - perhaps in the 1910s or 1920s.

Model Ts zip  (or chitty chitty)  passed.

This is part of what makes Holiday Nights so special,  400 years of history,  including showing the period in time of my own Grandparents,  which helped me to  "see"  them in their time.

And there was even an old-time Christmas Tree lot!

We've seen scenes like this in movies,  but here it was,  alive!
Christmas past doesn't have to mean  "long past,"  though even a hundred years ago may be long past to many young people today.  But because my grandparents were born in the 1890s and early 1900s,  to me it doesn't seem quite as far away,  if you know what I mean.

For 18 nights this all occurs,  and each night a sell out!

From early 20th century Christmas in the city we'll go back to about 1880 for Christmas in the country.

There was a slight change made last year,  and it continues this year.  That change is the new location and path of the horse and cart ride.  In previous years it went through the porches and parlors section,  but in 2024 it changed to ride along the road to Firestone Farm,  then past the Firestone Apple Orchard,  then onward to the Liberty Craftworks area where we were dropped off.  Liberty Craftworks is where the Gristmill is located,  along with the printing shop,  pottery shop,  the weaving shop,  and the glass blowers.

As we mosied along the bumby path toward Firestone Farm,  I had a Dickens of a time taking a non-blurry picture.

I rather like this change.  I enjoy going into areas not normally open this time of year.

However,  I'd like to add to this change,  if I may:

I remember way back when when Firestone Farm used to decorate the inside of the house for Christmas,  including a Christmas Tree set up in the parlor,  totally in an 1880s manner.  Early on it was a part of 12 Nights of Christmas  (before Holiday Nights).  Then the Firestone Farm Christmas ended due to the possible treacherous walk along the dirt road to get there  (as I've been told).

Now that there is a horse and cart that goes right passed,  I would love to see it as a drop off for people that would like to see the Christmas celebration of 140 years ago inside the house,  and then it could be a pick up point after,  say,  30 minutes or so.

The carriage out front was a nice touch.

The bright light in the background is a bit annoying...
The clouds were thick as we passed the Firestone farmhouse and orchard.  

Another thought I had:

Since there is the Firestone apple orchard there,  they should have wassailers roaming through and singing some old Wassails as well.

What's wassail,  you ask?
Wassail is a traditional hot, spiced drink commonly served during the winter holidays,  and included was a salutation or toast to good health,  and also includes a centuries-old tradition of singing and drinking to ensure a good harvest. 

Wassailing was popular throughout the Christmastide,  clear to 12th Night  (the evening of January 5th),  where it was most popular,  and so could easily fit in with the perimeters of Greenfield Village's Holiday Nights.  Aside from the Gloucestershire Wassail,  they could also sing Here We Come A-Wassailing,  The Kentucky Wassail,  and even The Apple Tree Wassail,   which tells of  (and can be seen)  as a traditional form of wassailing practiced in the cider orchards of southern England during the winter.  On New Year's Eve and on Twelfth Night,  men would go with their wassail bowl into the apple orchard and go about the trees. Slices of bread or toast were laid at the roots and sometimes tied to branches.  Cider was also poured over the tree roots.  The ceremony is said to  "bless"  the trees to produce a good crop in the forthcoming season. 

How wonderful it would be to show this at the Firestone orchard!

Or maybe at Daggett when they eventually plant apple trees there! 

Taken from the edge of Liberty Craftworks area of Greenfield Village.

But,  this is not to be---at least,  not yet---so on we went to Liberty Craftworks.

These were the two horses that pulled us to Liberty Craftworks...

...and that's when we went to the print shop.

Every year - nearly every event - the printers here come up with a unique design.  I usually forget to make it to the print shop to get my freebie,  but this year I didn't.  I made sure I got my copy:

Every year the print shop does a period-appropriate Christmas print.  Sadly,  I usually don't get them,  mainly because I rarely visit the Liberty Craftworks area where the printer works his trade,  but this night I did,  and received my copy of the 2025 print.

And here is one of the printers at Greenfield Village - the one who printed my print.

The pottery shop - the exterior was built in 1787!

A potterer decorating a plate

Jugheads made right there are not quite ready for sale.

And one can create any holiday look with their jughead!

The gristmill - I was not sure if it was open,  so I didn't try to go in.

This Loranger Gristmill has a history all its own - click HERE

Eyeing the Ford Farm through the trees.
I did do a quick in and out and in and out,  but didn't snap any interior photos of the Birth Place of Henry Ford.  And that's pretty much what you do there:  you go in the front door,  then go out a side door,  then go into another side door then shuffle along into the kitchen then out again.  I liked it much better when it was a walk through.

The front of the Henry Ford Museum is an exact replacation of Philadelphia's Independence Hall.

A closer look as we were leaving.
By exact replica,  I mean exact - the same measurements and mistakes included.

But wait---there's more!

On December 28,  I ventured back to Greenfield Village.  Unfortunately,  the weather began on the cool and rainy side.  In fact, there was an all-day cold rain that fell,  and continued later into the afternoon.  But I'm a trooper---or perhaps nuts!--- and went  anyhow...in my period 1770s clothing.  My wife,  Patty,  also came along,  and in a wonderful surprise,  she,  too,  came dressed in her colonial-era clothing!  Her concern was mainly to keep warm  (and as dry as she could)  on such a damp night.  But guess what happened?  The temperature rose into the 50s  (!!)  and,  by the time the gates opened to let us into Greenfield Village,  the all-day rain,  which was supposed to continue on into the evening,  stopped---just...stopped.  Oh,  sure,  the ground was wet and muddy and the cemented areas were wet and had puddles,  but it didn't rain!

By the way,  it did downpour as we got out of our car upon parking in the lot...but then it let up...and eventually stopped.  Just about a half hour before opening,  the rain stopped.

This next photo plays a small role in the night's activities:

Here are my two wassail bowls,  one smaller and one larger.
This larger one was listed as a fruit bowl or salad bowl,  but can easily be used and works well as a wassail bowl.

I brought along the larger of my two wassail bowls with me,  in lieu of my lantern,  as part of my plan.  I try to be a do-er...a recreator...and so as I learn and research,  I try a number of things to help make the past come to life.

Greenfield Village has mummers 

Mummers were/are men that would disguise themselves in garish costumes during special times of the year,  especially at Christmas and New Year's Eve,  and even during Hallowe'en,  and put on skits,  sing carols,  and were general merrymaking pranksters.  They would gather together with a large wooden bowl and move throughout the village to people’s homes singing songs of good health and happiness to the homeowners as well as to their servants and animals - not unlike our modern caroling.  The villagers,  in turn,  would fill the bowl with the spicy ale or money or both.  Whoever did not give the drink or money,  or whoever gave too little,  the mummers  (also known as wassailers)  would wish ill will on them.  Or…maybe would push their way into the home where they would find food or drink and take it for themselves of their own free will,  their faces hidden from the masks and costumes they were wearing.
I was pleased to get a shot of the Mummers with my wassail bowl~

Patty and I continued strolling...and due to the warm weather meeting up with a cold front,  we had a bit of fog roll in.

And the fog gave the atmosphere a slightly ethereal look,  as you can see in this photo I snapped of the Martha-Mary Chapel and the large lit Christmas Tree.

My wife walking toward the Ackley Covered Bridge as the foggy mist surrounds...

Hanging back to get a unique photo of Patty walking to the Ackley Covered Bridge.

18th century Ken & Patty~
Patty and I asked one of the security guards to capture our image.
From what I understand,  covered bridges emerged in the early 1800s,  with the first one that's been documented being Philadelphia's Permanent Bridge  in 1805.
So having us as 1770s folk photographed on a covered bridge would most likely not have occured.  In fact,  neither would having our photograph taken!  (lol)

As I've mentioned in other posts,  I have degenerative lower disc issues as well as pretty major sciatica pain in both legs,  so I do have to cop a squat every-so-often.  Luckily,  during Holiday Nights there are bon fires and barrel fires with benches for us who feel such pain and need to rest for 30 seconds or so.

Ah,  but there's my favorite house---the Daggett House.
That line around my cloak must be caused by the surrounding lights and had an effect on the picture.

As I moved up to the house,  Patty stepped back a few yards to capture the moment.
We recently got new phones and the cameras inside these phones take amazing nighttime pictures - much better than my actual camera does. So,  just so you know,  the darkness was actually much darker than what these images show.  So on this night Patty snapped a few from her phone,  I snapped a few using my phone,  and I also took some with my regular camera.

Now...little did I know that while I was moving up to the house,  one of the presenters inside,  my friend Lyle,  took a few images of me through the window as I stepped to the front door:

I believe we were the first visitors of the evening,  so Lyle was able to pull out a phone and catch me in the New England fog  (lol)  --  okay...so it's Michigan fog---same difference!

There is almost a bit of an eeriness to these pictures.
Imagine if there were no bright lights shining,  how cool it could be.

And Lyle even captured my wife moving up behind me.
Such awesome pictures!!

Thank you so much Lyle!!

"Good evening!
Is Mr.  Daggett at home?"

And a grand thank you to my wife who had the foresight for this photo.
They all work together well~~~

Erin uses a blow pipe to help stoke the fire for the visitors.

This almost has a medieval feel to it.

Erin & Lyle - !!

No snow on the 28th,  but there sure was on the 12th!
Yes,  you may see a mix and match here of the two dates.

Lit lanterns in the wintertime are beautiful - ---- - whether in a historic setting or in your own modern home.  

Okay,  lit lanterns anytime  of year are beautiful,  but especially in the fall and wintertime.

There's the loom on the left - imagine weaving in this low light.

Not every year,  but...sometimes,  around the Christmastide,  a replicated 18th century loom will be brought into the great hall of the Daggett House as part of the Holiday Nights presentation.   I love when they do this - it helps to add to the realism.  Now,  if only they would do this at other times during the year.
I know...I know...they have the Weaver's Shop...but here in Daggett you have period-dress presenters inside an 18th century home,  as we see Elda in this photo.  It could be done.

Elda is preparing the loom.

Elda spoke to my wife about the ten yards of fabric used here - not sure if that was woven on the loom inside the house over the course of the Holiday Nights event or maybe even woven on a loom at the Weaver's Shop in Liberty Craftworks and brought over for show.

Here you see a runner that was weaved on an 18th century loom.
This photo was taken at my home.

Okay,  I'm going to go out on a limb:  let's bring the weaving and spinning back to the respective houses for the era being shown.  I personally have been experiencing start to finish activities and crafts of long ago,  including weaving  (at Waterloo Farm Museum and River Raisin Museum),  working a shaving horse,  growing,  harvesting,  and processing flax that was spun into linen thread and candle wicking,  threshing wheat with a flail,  winnowing the wheat,  grinding it into flour,  only to have it baked on the hearth,  plowed behind a team of horses,  dipped candles with pure beeswax,  helped to chop down a tree with an ax,  made cider from heirloom apples from scratch,  taken part in 18th century holidays no longer celebrated by the majority of today's population - most are religious in nature...and more future-past plans are in the works.

Step it up,  I say.

Kitchen lantern~

The kitchen window with dried fruit and vegetables.

By the time we left Daggett,  the misty fog had lifted,  leaving the area darker yet.

Directly next to the 1750s Daggett House we have the 1630s Farris Windmill.
How I wish the fog was still there - that looked very ethereal!
Still,  the windmill silhouetted against the gray sky is pretty awesome...

Earlier,  I wrote about mummers and wassailers.  But I didn't fully explain what wassail is.

"In the 18th century,  wassailing was a lively English tradition evolving from ancient toasts  ("be in good health")  into festive caroling,  especially around Christmas,  New Year's Eve,  and 12th Night,  involving singing,  visiting homes that may hopefully share a warmed spiced,  mulled drink of cider,  spiced fruit such as apples and oranges,  cinnamon,  nutmegale,  maybe sugar, and possibly wine/whiskey/rum,  and promoting community goodwill,  alongside continued rituals of toasting apple trees for good harvests,  often  poured hot into a special wooden wassail bowl. 

Wassail and wassailing was so popular that carols still sung today were written about it:
Here We Come A-Wassailing

Gloucestershire Wassail

Apple Tree Wassail

Here I am wassailing at the more upscale Giddings House:

Come butler,  come fill us a bowl of the best

And I pray that your soul in heaven may rest

But if you do bring us a bowl of the small

May the devil take butler,  bowl and all.

Okay...Anne is definitely not a butler nor a maid---she looks to be the Lady of the House---perhaps a Giddings daughter or Mrs.  Giddings herself.  But she looks non-too-pleased of my begging.  Maybe I should not have worn my shoddy clothes to look poorer...

or maybe I should not have sung at all,  knowing I do not have an angelic voice  (lol)

~Many thanks to Anne for posing with me~

Wassailing is the older,  original form of Christmas caroling,  essentially the same activity but with more focus on toasting health and good fortune  (using the drink called wassail)  while going door-to-door to sing and spread cheer.

So...as mentioned earlier,  I brought along my wassail bowl for a couple of posed pictures.

The cresset in front of the Giddings House on December 12.

Anne did a wonderful job in her description~~

Also inside the Giddings House they are making chocolate.

Mr. Giddings hired chocolateers as a special New year's treat for his guests.

When speaking to the chocolate maker I learned that the raw cocoa seed is not edible;  that it must be fermented,  roasted,  and winnowed to remove the shells.  The beans are then heated slightly and ground into a paste that hardens into cakes.  When cocoa was needed,  the cakes were scraped,  and the chocolate was mixed and heated with milk  (or water)  and sugar to become a beverage.

Ever since Greenfield Village started having chocolateers working their craft in the Giddings kitchen,  this had been one of the most popular scenarios of Holiday Nights!

Chocolate was initially a treat for the wealthy,  but soon was available to the every man.  Benjamin Franklin sold locally produced chocolate in his Philadelphia print shop.  In 1739,  he was selling bibles and other books,  pencils,  ink,  writing paper,  and  "very good chocolate."

It is fascinating to watch them make the chocolate~~

Here he is grinding raw or roasted and shelled cacao seeds (called beans) on a warm lava stone called a Metate stone. 

A metate, also known as a mealing stone, is a type of quern - a ground stone tool used for processing grain and seeds and, in this case, the cacao seeds for chocolate making.

John and Abigail Adams were very fond of chocolate.  In 1779,  John Adams,  while in Spain,  wrote,  "Ladies drink chocolate in the Spanish fashion.  Each lady took a cup of hot chocolate and drank it,  and then cakes and bread and butter were served;  then each lady took another cup of cold water,  and here ended the repast."   Abigail Adams,  writing to John Quincy Adams in 1785,  described drinking chocolate for breakfast while in London:

"This Morning went below to Breakfast,  the Urn was brought up Boiling,  the Chocolate ready upon the table..."

I was able to capture some of the ingredients for making chocolate.

Near the chocolateer...

Still in the Giddings kitchen,  I do often complain about the lack of quality nighttime photos my camera takes,  but every-so-often,  especially if I can angle the camera j-u-s-t right,  I can capture a wonderful period ambience!

There is the Smiths Creek Depot.

Patty...outside the depot.
Waiting for the train to come in...no trains in colonial times,  however...
But this is a magical Christmas  train~~~

And there you have many of the photos taken at the 2025 Greenfield Village Holiday Nights event,  "an evening of caroling and bustling streets filled with Yuletide goods,  enchanting you with the warmth of the holidays at one of Michigan's most beloved traditions."

Now the wait begins...the wait for Opening Day on April 10,  2026.

This is always a tough time for me.  I remember the days Greenfield Village would be open during the winter months and would have sleigh rides.  That was such a great time.  Then slowly,  over time,  the powers-that-be began to close earlier and earlier in the year.  Now,  their last daytime opening hours takes place clear back to Thanksgiving weekend.  So I try to get the most out of this last evening - December 28 usually - and I dress up in my colonial clothing to add to my experience.

It's also why I go twice during Holiday Nights.

But the new year brings America 250 - the Semiquincentennial - the 250th anniversary of the United States of America!  I sure do hope Greenfield Village has some celebratory Declaration of Independence plans!

The great day itself!

 

 

100 years later~The Centennial!

200 years later - the Bicentennial!

You are HERE~~~

250 years later - the Semiquincentennial!

Until next time,  see you in time.

To read more about Christmas Past,  please click HERE

To ready more about historical New Year's celebrations,  please click HERE

To read more about Christmas Day at Greenfield Village,  please click HERE

Christmas