Just Like The Ones I...um...Used to...Well...It's Not All About The Gifts

I've received kind comments from readers who have mentioned how much they enjoyed reading my post about how I turned a portion of my home into a pseudo-historic house.  I've also received the same from those who enjoy my writings on our family Christmas traditions and how they'd like to do something similar with their own families but are not quite sure how,  and that's what I will concentrate on this week.

Just remember this:  less is more and more is less.  And--you need to be willing to at least give change a try.

Buy! Buy! Buy!  Even in the 1770s!
(my own meme I created)

Some might be a little afraid,  though,  to change things up,  for most of us have been sold the story of BUY!  BUY!  BUY!!,  and Santa,  Rudolph,  and Frosty have the decoration market cornered,  because,  you know,  that's what Christmas is all about,  Charlie Brown.

"OMG!!!  Our kids won't love us anymore if we don't get them everything they want!!!!"

Yeah...heh heh heh...maybe I can  help:

From the time my wife and I married back in the mid-1980s I wanted to have an old-time Christmas.  Not necessarily just like the ones I used to know from my own youth,  but from the time of my multiple-great grandparents.  And I worked at it,  slowly,  looked and listened by visiting historic places,  continued to research  (still do),  and it grew every year from there.

One of the first things I was taught was to stop centering this joyful holiday around gifts.  Now,  I'm not saying to not have presents  'neath the tree for Christmas morning at all,  but to spread the wonderfulness that is Christmas out so that gifts do not become the focal point.  I know people who will spend $500 and up per person on Christmas presents.  Wow---that can easily set one back thousands of dollars.

So---how about if you do  rather than buy?

Christmas Tree cutting day for us occurs the day after Thanksgiving.  Yes,  rather than spending the day after you've given thanks for all you have buying even more,  we go,  as a family,  out to the country,  to a tree farm,  and pick out our Christmas Tree.  Then we cut it down,  and this freshly cut tree will easily last into January.  Yeah,  stop with the complaining of,  "But the needles!  I'm getting an artificial tree!"

Wah!  Wah!  

Unless you are allergic,  there is nothing like a real Christmas Tree and the adventure in picking one out with the family.

Searching for the perfect tree.

One of my sons and my daughter have been opting for a table-top tree of late,  which were the popular trees of the Victorian period,  while my wife and I  (and my other son)  prefers a floor to ceiling spruce.  We decorate it in a more traditionally manner - less bulbs and more variety of ornaments,  such as woodland creatures,  birds,  gingerbread men and women,  bells,  musical instruments...and even a cannoli! - with candles carefully placed on the branches.  And,  yes,  I light them,  and have been doing so for over 35 years.

My grandkids in awe of their  Nonna & Papa's
candle lit Christmas Tree.

For the locals here in metro-Detroit,  for instance,  think about spending time at Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village where the entire 300 acres is decked out for Christmas or New Year's past.  At roughly $35 a ticket,  for a family of ten it is only $350.  And an evening of memories that won't soon be forgot!

Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village - Just like the ones you used to know?
Pic courtesy of Edie Stulz Wysocki

Then there is historic Crossroads Village,  which also has a very cool Christmas event,  including a Christmas train ride at roughly $24 a ticket. 

Those prices are not high in actuality,  especially when compared to the cheap products folks spend outrageous amounts of money on.  Or when compared to a single Detroit Lions ticket:  $115.  Yikes!  Imagine taking the family!  And that's not even including the price to park your car!

Christmas at Crossroads Village
Not so much historic as it is decorative

Yeah...I'll take the family memories any day.

Then there is the Holly Dickens Festival.

Here am I,  in merry old London town...er,  Holly.
At least,  it has a fair resemblance,  does it not?

What we have here in Michigan,  in the tiny Village of Holly,  about an hour north of  Detroit,  is the nation's oldest Dickens Festival.  'Tis true!  We have had the longest running Dickens Festival in the United States!  Yep--every Christmas for the past half century this Victorian village turns itself into merry old England of 1843,  where visitors can interact with Dickensian characters such as Ebenezer Scrooge.

When our kids were young we would go to the festival as visitors and really had a ball.  It only took a couple of years before I was ready and wanting to take part,  and for most of the years from 1998 through this year,  I have,  in some form or another,  been part of this wonderful festival.  I've sold chestnuts,  been a part of the  "Christmas Carol"  play,  a Dickensian roamer,  portrayed Charles Dickens as he wrote his most famous story,  and,  mostly and most recently,  head up my period vocal group Simply Dickens.

Simply Dickens at the Holly Dickens Festival 2022~
There is a connection between the festival's name and my group's name,  you know.
Old world Christmas music...

Which leads me to Christmas music:

Like you're in an old British pub

You see,  there is so much more Christmas music than Mariah Carey or  Rockin'  Around The Christmas Tree,  Jingle Bell Rock,  or songs about Frosty,  Santa,  Rudolph or anything of that sort;  I'm talking of the wonderful old carols with meaning such as God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,  Silent Night,  Deck the Hall,  O Holy Night...you know,  the more traditional carols sung in a traditional manner and not often played on the Christmas radio stations.  Better yet,  find these carols  (and others of this sort)  as instrumentals played on acoustic instruments.  And if you are feeling particularly traditional,  you can look for the more obscure music,  popular in their day but lost to most in our modern times,  such as Masters In This Hall,  Gloucestershire Wassail,  The Holly Bears a Berry,  and The Boar's Head Carol.  Music played on the hammered dulcimer in particular gives off a wonderful  Victorian  atmosphere.

I myself collect the old world carols,  and when I mix them in with Johnny Mathis or the Ray Conniff Singers,  I get a very diversified - some might even say eclectic - collection of Christmas sounds that won't make you say how tired you are of certain songs. 

It makes all the difference.

The CDs you see mixed in here are a few of my personal favorites - those of which can be found in my CD player quite often this time of year.

One of my instrumental favorites!

Country - not as in music but in a place -
very wooden.

Old world with a slight touch of new world

A very basic vocal collection

Next year - Christmas 2023 - Holly is planning a big 50th anniversary bash and already have told me they would like Simply Dickens to be a part!

Now what if you don't have such a festival in your own neck of the woods?

Try putting one together.  Gather up like-minded friends,  make a plan,  and do it.  It doesn't even have to be in a Victorian village - it can take place in a local park!  I know it's not that easy,  but I also know it's not that hard.  Thinking outside the box is what it is!

You can do some pretty cool things in your own home to make Christmas a bit more special for the family.  For instance,  how often have you returned home and just lit a candle on your table.  Perhaps you purchased one of the tin lanterns they sell at Greenfield Village or a wooden lantern from Samson Historical or Townsends and put a lit beeswax taper candle inside.  Just something so simple can create such an atmosphere,  even in your modern home with contemporary décor.  

Two lanterns and a wreath is all it took to create this traditionally vignette.
Yes,  the wreath is artificial.

In fact,  might I suggest that you stay away from the gaudy,  where there is a light or a plastic Santa or whatever in every available space?  The Victorians did decorate,  and,  yes,  they could at times border the gaudy.  But more often than not it was a more subtle form of decoration,  in a similar vein as the colonials.  Maybe a few sprigs of holly,  a wreath in your windows and on your door.  If you have a fireplace mantle you could spread greenery across that.  And,  of course,  the obligatory Christmas Tree. 

 

How about spending quality time with your kids,  grandkids,  siblings,  or whoever?

One of the traditions of  Christmas that goes back centuries is baking bread and,  more recently,  cookies.  My wife did this with our own children while they were growing up and now she does it with our grandchildren;  every Saturday before Christmas my home smells like a bakery!  

Can you just hear and see the happiness?
Can you smell the cookies baking in the oven?
The true joys of Christmas thaqt cannot be matched by any store-boughten presents.

And I'm the tester!

As for the Holiday feast itself,  my wife makes turkey - that's my preference - with all the fixings.  But she will either use an old recipe from years gone by or combine new and old,  such as with her stuffing.  Her stuffing is the best!  And she also makes wassail,  the fruit-flavored drink from the medieval period and continued in great popularity through the centuries.  Though in parts of the world wassail continues its popularity,  it really isn't very popular here in the US.  It is with us,  though,  and our kids,  grandkids,  and nephews & nieces all look forward to it every year.  In fact,  it wouldn't be Christmas in my family without it.

But this whole baking thing doesn't just have to be for kids - how about siblings and cousins, too?

It's a family affair,  you know.

I spy with my little eye:  my wife,  my son,  two nieces,  my sister,  two cousins, 
and a friend all baking/making cannoli shells together!  Such a festive gathering!

Then there are the Christmas gifts:

Well,  we are being sold the story that stores and society in general have come to depend on people spending their paychecks and racking up credit card bills in gift purchases: $300,  $400,  and even $500 or more per child or per family member is not unheard of.

But,  I have to say,  in my family it's not like that.  First off,  when our kids were young and still living at home,  we would spend just over a hundred bucks per child  (maybe $125),  as well as that amount on each other.  And neither my wife nor I ever got involved in those Secret Santa's gift exchange at work.

We weren't rich then and we certainly are not now.

You may say to me, "I could never buy what my kids want for Christmas for $125!"

So?  Get a credit card,  right?
Can't live without one,  you say,  right?
What if I told you we haven't had a credit card since the late 1990s - and no monthly bills to go with it either.

And yet,  we survive.

Not too many and each wrapped
in different sized boxes so no one
has any idea what lies inside!

One Christmas,  about 13 years ago,  I changed jobs in the fall and took a large pay cut to do so.  Ultimately,  there was a better opportunity for me.  Because of this,  money was at an all-time low,  and my wife and I,  who previously would spend the large amount of cash on our kids for gifts,  could not do it that year.  So,  we bought our children the two or three things each that we knew they would be happy with.  Come Christmas morning,  they were every bit as excited as if they received five times as many gifts!  Honest to God!  But,  how we opened the presents helped here as well:  one present at a time.  Child  "A"  opens his and we all watched and enjoyed what he received.  Then it's child  "B's"  turn to do the same,  and so on and so on.  This way,  everyone was able to see what everyone else got and get excited with them.  This also made the gift opening ceremony last longer and increased the anticipation.

Let me tell you - it WORKS!!! 

Getting a special not-too-expensive gift and a couple side gifts works!  And we continue in this manner to this day and include our grandkids in it.  I just can't see giving people a mess of gifts only to see them open them all at once and it be over in a matter of minutes.

Yep - everything is paid by cash or debit  (again,  no credit cards at all!).  We put the amount we plan to spend aside when we receive our income tax refund in the spring and do not touch it til late October,  when we're ready to begin the shopping.

You see,  we did  things throughout the holiday season as a family.  And that made / makes such a big difference.  When your own children don't want Christmas Day to come because all the fun would be over has really gotta tell you something.

By the way,  did I tell you of the cool gift I know I'm getting this year?

Well,  my son sadly mentioned for us not to get he or his wife anything for Christmas because they have no money to by Patty & I anything.  I told him that I think he can afford to get us something:  I then told him I would like a family gathering dinner in the dead of winter:  fresh-baked homemade hot bread and orzo soup.  He smiled and said,  "I can do that!"  I replied with,  "That's what I want."

Bam!

The main reason for this posting on how I create a traditional Christmas within my own  "hearth & home"  is due to the numerous queries I receive from various people - some who are living historians while others are modern folk. 

And,  so,  this is it.  

There are many who would like to do such a thing but won't,  a few out of fear of the unknown or fear of change.  I know this because they told me so themselves.  

But never fear,  for if it's not to your liking,  Christmas will return next year,  and you can change it right back.  However,  just remember my motto to spend less and do more---build up those memories for yourself  as well as for your loved ones.

That's one  "risk"  worth taking.

Memories are made of this:
My wife & I with our grandkids - December 2022

Now...one more thing,  for this post at least,  about Christmas that ties in to what this posting has been about.  My friend Jean recently wrote on her Facebook page:

"Sadly some are telling me they don't feel the Christmas spirit this year - here's my answer...

Christmas time is a gift    My husband is laid off,  we lost our beautiful van to a deer.  My husband's beautiful friend and co-worker died from cancer,  memorial was Saturday.  I had a stroke last month.  But here's the thing,  I am still standing.  I decorated fully  ( No body sees it).  We enjoy our favorite movies with popcorn and hot chocolate.  We dress the doggie in cute Christmas shirts.  I don't know when my last Christmas will be.  Maybe this is it,  who knows?  So put some spiced rum in your eggnog,  and count your blessings.   We made it through another year.

Joy is where you find it."

Many people responded very kindly in the comments.  

My response was:

"You,  my friend,  are the epitome of the Christmas Spirit.

Obviously,  though many may watch and love  "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"  or  "A Christmas Carol,"  but they completely ignore the messages:

'Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!  'Maybe Christmas,'  he thought,  'doesn't come from a store.  Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!' '

and

Reformed & happy Ebenezer Scrooge
on Christmas morning!

'...and to Tiny Tim,  who did not die,  (Scrooge)  was a second father.  He became as good a friend,  as good a master,  and as good a man,  as the good old city knew,  or any other good old city,  town,  or borough,  in the good old world.

...and it was always said of him,  that he knew how to keep Christmas well,  if any man alive possessed the knowledge.  May that be truly said of us,  and all of us!' "

For my wife and I,  Christmas was always  "a little bit more"  than what comes from a store.  No,  we're not cheap;  we just wanted to experience  Christmas. 
Much less stress,  much more happiness.
Merry Christmas.

Until next time,  see you in time.

To read more on historic colonial-era Christmas music,  please click HERE 

To read more on historic Christmas music from medieval through Regency,  please click HERE

~   ~   ~

"These are but shadows of the things that have been"---The Best of Christmas at the Fort

Writing letters by oil lamp at my first 
"Christmas at the Fort"  in 2009.

I was informed earlier this year that since the City of Detroit Parks and Recreation Department,  which oversees the Fort Wayne site,  has struck a deal with National Parks Service to allow for development while providing guarantees to  "maintain the fort’s historic integrity,"  our decades-long stretch of  reenactments held there may be no more,  and that includes the wonderful Christmas at the Fort.

I've been participating in Christmas at the Fort since 2009,  and in that time - from 2009 until 2021 - there have only been two years this event had not taken place: 2010  and in 2020. 

So here is my tribute to one of the most realistically authentic Christmas Past experiences I've ever had the pleasure in participating in.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~ 

As soon as you start to think of the past as happening  (as opposed to it having happened),  a new way of conceiving history becomes possible.

This is true in every sense,  as I have learned.

"He was conscious of a thousand odors floating in the air,  each one connected with a thousand thoughts,  and hopes,  and joys,  and cares long,  long,  forgotten,"  wrote Charles Dickens'  in  "A Christmas Carol"  describing the scene where Scrooge first enters the past.  These words are true for me in a number of my own time-travel excursions...and I would feel comfortable in stating that these words are true for all of us who participated in Christmas at the Fort for these 11 years..

Nostalgia,  as defined by Mr.  Webster's dictionary,  is described as,  in part,  "a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time."

And Memory  is defined as being  "the store of things learned and retained from an organism's activity or experience...by recall and recognition."

That would mean nostalgia and memory is a very personal experience then,  does it not?  Can it be possible,  then,  to feel a nostalgic sentimental attachment to a time period one did not personally live through?

And,  in the same vein,  would memories differ or be similar under the same circumstances?

Another question I asked a number of years ago:  is nostalgia and memory portable?  

I believe it to be possible for those of us who reenact the past as we experience these same nostalgic emotions and recalling those participations as a sort of immersive memory.   I mean,  it's pretty obvious that I was not around during the horse-and-carriage days,  and yet I still have a sort of nostalgic feeling for those times.

And lots of memories!

I ask and mention all of this for I feel there are a few of us who have a pretty good idea what it was like to celebrate Christmas in the 1860s.  And,  as living historian civilians,  I really am not sure if we can call what we've done at Christmas at the Fort  'reenacting.'  I believe it might be more accurate to say we are actually celebrating an 1860s Christmas rather than  'pretending'  to do so.

That's our 1860s home - the white one. 

What would you call it when we are in a period-correct home and have created a family setting with consistent participants to spend our time immersed in such holiday pastimes as decorating a small table-top Christmas tree,  singing ancient carols,  visiting neighbors,  spending the daytime hours in natural daylight,  then spending the waning late afternoon and early evening hours in candle light & oil lamp light,  and gathering together in the dining room as our domestic servant serves us a fine repast of  meat,  vegetables,  stuffing/dressing,  breads,  pies,  and other Christmas dinner delights for our Christmas Eve meal?

In fact,  the only hint of 21st century life is when the tour groups come through,  and even then most of us are unaware of these ghosts of Christmas future,  for only one from our group will step out to speak with them as to not disrupt our historical holiday celebration.

My first Christmas at the Fort venture was in 2009,  as you see in the top picture in this post,  and I was there at one of the houses as a  "family friend."  No,  not the white house you see in the photo directly above and below,  but in a different house,  and I brought along my writing desk and spent much of my time penning letters by oil lamp and taking my turn speaking to the touring public,  who went house-to-house to get a history lesson at each stop.

It was my first time  "working"  with my friend and presentation partner,  Larissa,  who,  though we were friends at the time,  our reenacting partnership was not even a thought yet.  I knew her from her job as a historic presenter at Greenfield Village,  and she knew me because I frequented the open-air museum often.

So this first time out went fairly well.

The following year - 2010 - saw the fort quiet for Christmas,  but it came back with a vengeance in 2011,  thankfully.

It was that year when I devised a plan very different from anything we had done before:   we formed a living history group and we were stationed inside the very elegant commander's home,  though our scenario wasn't about the commander who lived there in the 19th century;  it was to show how a well-to-do northern family would have celebrated Christmas Eve.

2016:  Home!

The house was as ornate and elegant as any,  shall we say,  upscale  Victorian home I have seen,  and we got to call it "home"!

2011:  Our first  "family"  group in what would eventually become  "my"  home.
Servants in the back!

The hint of what was to come,  however,  was there:  we did have a fine time as living historians bringing Christmas past to life.  First off were our roles;  we didn't want to just be a bunch of reenactors sitting there  "pretending"  as is seen so often.  We each had a role - but not scripted acting,  mind you!  For example,  Larissa became my wife,  changing her name to Elizabeth,  for her actual name was not a name in the 1860s.  We've had various younger girls portray our daughters at one time or another,  and some more often than others  (we only had daughters - no sons).  Larissa's mother joined us as well and,  thus,  became my mother-in-law.  I also had various sisters  (Sandy,  Carolyn,  and Jackie).  At one point I also had a brother-in-law there.

Jackie has portrayed my sister most often,  and Carolyn and Sandy intermittently.  But Larissa has portrayed my wife the entire time sans one year  (2014)  when,  in her real 21st century life,  she was great with child at the time of this event and thought it unsafe to take part,  but for the other 10 years she was my wife  (my real wife Patty prefers not to do immersion,  so she gave me her approval to have a  'reenacting wife'  for certain events,  including Christmas at the Fort,  and Larissa / "Elizabeth"  has been a kind and willing participant in this.  She,  too,  has an awesome husband in her real 21st century life,  as well as two children of her own).

And because we've done this in this manner for so long,  we easily make it look like we really are a married couple.

2015:  Larissa & I.  We're like a country song: 
Married but not to each other...lol...though we kinda are in the 1860s!

We didn't do as much strict 1st person as we have done in other years,  for it was when I began to really think about our conversations and mannerisms that occurred throughout the day.  I mean,  what is 1st person?  In the living history world it is an attempt to act and speak as closely as possible as those who actually lived in the time being represented.

And I believe,  for the most part,  at Christmas at the Fort we did very well.  You see,  1st person is much more than only speaking the way they spoke in the old days.  I have seen 1st person in such a way that presents the past as a bunch of stiff,  cardboard cut outs straight out of  a Hollywood movie such as Gone With the Wind.

That makes me cringe----!

I did not want us to be that way.

I feel we,  in our little historical group,  have become regular normal people of the 1860s,  and we usually spoke in a natural manner,  attempting to lose the Hollywood tripe and strict etiquette that many tend to follow.

Oh,  we did follow the etiquette of the time,  but not in such a way that made us  'characters,'  you know?  Not once did I hear of anyone speak of  21st century subjects:  no modern politics,  no talk of movies,  TV,  or modern entertainment,  no  "remember at the last reenactments when we..." - - nothing of the sort.

We also didn't use,  in the modern sense,  words such as  'cool'  or  'awesome'  or any other of a number of slang used in the 21st century.

So,  for the time we were there,  yes,  we were a family of the 1860s.

And,  after about eight or so hours,  the day is done,  and we retired for the night  (in other words,  we all went to our own respective homes).

And every year we took an annual  "family photo" - just as I do in my modern life.

The 2017 version of my 1860s family.

The 2021 version of my 1860s family.
And there were many more than just these two.

But it's Christmas time,  and throughout the daytime hours,  and into the darkness of the evening,  we took turns reading from the various material we had on hand including Dickens  "A Christmas Carol,"  the latest issue of Harper's Weekly  (from December 1861),  from a book of Christmas poetry,  short stories,  and other period correct verses.  We sang Christmas Carols to a pump organ,  and played parlor games.  And some of the ladies crochet and knitted Christmas gifts for their loved ones off fighting the rebellion.

Oh!  There was so much to do!!  First off there was cleaning to be done!

As any wealthy family would have employed,  we had a domestic servant there,  cleaning,  sweeping,  dusting,  and generally keeping house for us.  We made sure to include her in our scenario...our lives:  in 2012 it sort of took another step toward 1860s reality when,  while we had a group of visiting touring public inside,  our servant,  while dusting the hall tree or banister,  would sometimes stop what she was doing and take a peak inside the parlor to view the family celebration.  I,  of course,  as head of the house,  would chastise her and send her back to her duties of which I pay her for. The tour group initially thought of me as a sort of  Ebenezer Scrooge;  how could I snap at my servant girl on Christmas Eve when all she wanted to do was to spend a moment eyeing festivities she was not allowed to partake in?  I then explained that I was not paying her to join in the celebrations but to work.  We had family coming and the house must be in good order.  The modern tour group learned a good historical lesson with this little scenario.

On a side note,  as we gathered all of our participants together for the 2011 group photo (scroll up a bit),  one of our elegantly dressed female participants told the domestic,  "Servants in the back!"

The young lady obliged.

Yes,  we do take our fun seriously.

2012:  a photo from the very night I had to  "scold"  her.

2012:  Agnes serving her mistress.
Yes,  we called her Agnes even though her name is Carrie, 
for Agnes is easier for us to remember.  Renaming your help was
a common practice at the time.  If they wanted to keep their job
they pretty much didn't have much of a choice.

In 2016 we hired a second domestic,  Candace.

2015:  Agnes preparing our meal in the kitchen.

Oh!  There were Christmas carols to be sung!  

2018:  Larissa's mother played the pump organ beautifully,  and had a wonderful
singing voice as well.  She would sit at the keyboard and pick out the old
carols from days of old and all would join in.

2016:  Such carols as  "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,"  God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,"  and,  of course,  "Silent Night,"  among others.

There was food to be eaten~

In 2013 something special happened:  for the first time in over 30 years we got to eat in the dining room...and we got to eat by oil lamp and candle light!  In our planning of  our presentation for that holiday season it was brought up how could we expand our impression to make it more real than in previous years,  and when the idea came up of eating a Christmas meal in the dining room,  I didn't expect the coalition to agree to it.

But we have proven to them over the years that we are historical professionals in all we do,  and because of that we got the thumbs up.

Wow!

2013:  our first Christmas dining experience as an 1860s family.

And,  as you can see,  our servant(s)  were at hand to serve us.

2015:  Agnes prepares our table.
Let's put it this way - she  (and Candace)  were so good at their domestic servant
duties that we had no idea they were setting the table.  They just let us know when
our supper was ready and called us into the dining room with everything all set for us.

2015:  As if we had our likenesses taken by an actual tin-type photographer.

From that point on,  our Christmas meal became as much of a tradition and staple as any other for us.  It all made us feel like a real family...and,  more than that,  it made us feel as an actual 1860s family.

2019:  A very festive Christmas setting!

2018:  Larissa took this shot of me adjusting the oil lamp.
It's one of my all-time favorite photos.

Turkey,  stuffing,  sweet potatoes,  mashed potatoes,  cranberry jelly,  breads,  cheese,  sausage,  preserves,  and vegetables.  Yes,  we really had all of this as part of our Christmas Eve dinner here,  though sometimes it varied year to year.  And that's not even counting the desserts of pies and cakes!

2019:  Shortly before our Christmas Eve meal was served.

2017:  Even the servants had time to enjoy a fine festive holiday meal
(albeit in the kitchen)!

2016:  Shortly after our 2016 meal my  "wife"  gave each of us a small Christmas token.
Big extravagant gifts were just not a thing yet.

I must say,  having our Christmas meal like this became a magical experience,  beyond expectations.  Imagine the opportunity of eating a Christmas meal with only oil lamps and candles for light inside of an actual dining room of the time.  As one who wants to experience history,  I believe eating such a meal in the manner we've done for years gives me the same memories as those who actually lived in this past day and age.

And that's what we strive for.

2021:  I'm not sure,  but this just may have been our last meal in this manner.
I hope not!  This was pure magic for us.  It is our hope that Christmas at the Fort 
does return.

Gifts were not quite the same as we know them to be today:

2015:  The ladies crochet,  knitted,  and sewed garments,  whether mittens,  socks,  scarves,  or hats,  for the men in blue off fighting the Confederates.

It was in 2012 when we began our tradition of having a Christmas Tree.

Initially we used a feather tree. 

2017

Yes,  it is actually true that the feather tree was considered the first artificial Christmas tree and they were originally made in Germany as early as 1845.  Like many inventions,  the tabletop feather tree came about out of necessity.  By the mid-to-late 19th century,  decorated Christmas trees were more popular than ever;  however,  in Germany deforestation was widespread,  especially during the Christmas holiday season.

It had become the fashion to chop off the tip off a large fir tree to use as a Christmas tree;  however,  this practice prevented the tree from growing taller and thus made it useless as a timber tree.  Statutes were enacted to limit people from having more than one tree,  hence protecting the forests.  With the introduction of the  "goosefeather"  feather tree,  this problem was resolved.  Goose feathers were plentiful and these feather trees began to be produced as a cottage industry as the alternative to cutting a live tree.  The goose feather tree became the first artificial Victorian Christmas tree.  Metal wire or sticks were covered with goose,  turkey,  ostrich or swan feathers.  The feather sticks were drilled into a larger one to resemble the branches on a tree;  the feathers were often dyed green to imitate pine needles.  The trees were made to resemble the locally growing white pines of the German forestland,  so they had wide spaces between their branches, short  "needles,"  and composition  "berries"  on the end of every branch tip.

Here's a video taken on this 1860s Christmas Eve in 2017:

However,  I learned through my own research that though these trees were around in America during the time of the Civil War,  they were not in wide use at all,  and would not be popular in this country until closer to the turn of the century.  So,  in 2018,  we opted for a real live table-top tree.

Trying to keep it authentic,  you know.

2018:  Our first real table-top tree.
We even included a wooden Noah's Ark set underneath - another
common child's toy for the season!

2019:  The whole family joined in the merry time of  Christmas Tree
decorating,  while Larissa's mother once again played carols on the pump organ.

2019:  Truly a beautiful tree,  don't you think?

2021:  Our last year there and Carrie had her young daughter with her for a while, 
which was fine for we treated her as if she were our granddaughter.

2017:  But we didn't just decorate the Christmas Tree~

One of the most magical moments of all occurred in 2021 when the highlight of the evening...of the entire day...came about when we lit the candles on the Christmas Tree.  You see,  I positioned the candles on the tree in safe lighting positions,  for I have been lighting candles on our Christmas Tree at my modern home for 37 years now.  

I was very much hoping to experience my first all-period lighting.

I asked the person in charge if he trusted me to do such a Victorian thing.  He was,  understandably,  apprehensive,  but then,  with a look of concern but trust in me,  gave his approval.

The thing was,  we had the final tour group of the evening there and he wanted to give them a send off they would never forget.

So... 

2021:  Look what we did~

The moment caught in these photos was when the tour group and us  "ghosts of Christmas past"  all sang  "Silent Night"  while watching the tree all aglow - no other light in the room or anywhere else in the house.  A true immersion  you-are-there  feeling overwhelmed us.

A true immersion  you-are-there experience if there ever was one.

From what I understand,  this is all the people talked about for the rest of their tour.

I am honored that we were able to play a part.

~Magical~

I would harbor to bet that our time in the past celebrating Christmas is pretty close to the way the people we represent who actually lived  "back then"  also celebrated.

And this allows me to answer my own question from the top of the post:  I do not  believe what we've done here is reenacting...for we are actually celebrating the Christmas holiday,  just as we have together for over a decade.  And those couple of times when we could not,  due to the pandemic or another reason,  more than one from our group stated that it would not be Christmas for them without participating in Christmas at the Fort.

Now that's special.

So,  with that being said,  yes,  I believe it can be possible,  then,  to feel a nostalgic sentimental attachment to a time period one did not personally live through.

Not personally live through?

Then what would you call it when we are in a period-correct home and have created a family setting to spend the day and into the evening participating in such holiday pastimes as decorating a small table-top Christmas tree,  singing ancient carols,  visiting neighbors,  spending the daytime hours in natural daylight,  then spending the waning late afternoon and early evening hours in candle light & oil lamp light,  and gathering together in the dining room as our domestic servants serve us a fine repast of  Christmas dinner delights for our Christmas Eve meal?

What about lighting our table top Christmas Tree as the Victorians once did?

In other words,  even knowing the fact that we are not a real family of the 1860s,  the way we respond and present ourselves to each other and to visitors very strongly gives off the intended impression that we are - or were - an 1860s family.

2021:  off to visit neighbors.

We were there...Christmas 1861,  '62,  '63,  '64...

At this time it is hard to say whether or not Christmas at the Fort will be returning.  I have high hopes that it will but it is very uncertain.  If it does return,  we will be ready to resume our roles.

If it doesn't,  then we have these photographs and our own memories...

Either way,  no matter where or when you may be,  have the Merriest of Christmas's. 

Until next time,  see you in time.

My 1st time at Christmas at the Fort  (2009),  click HERE 

Creating our 1st family scenario  (2011),  click HERE

2012 - our first year with a Christmas Tree,  click HERE 

And it was in 2013 that we ate a Christmas meal in the dining room for the first time - click HERE

A slight changeup occurred in 2014 - for this one year I had a different wife - click HERE

Larissa was back in 2015 and all was right with the time-space continuum - click HERE

In 2016 we pushed ourselves into a more staunch realism - click HERE

2017 - with each passing year we continued to push ourselves in authenticity.  This year,  since I suppose I just felt kind of odd giving everyone my surname,  we all agreed on having our own surname for this family: the Logan family works perfect - click HERE

In 2018 we got a real table-top tree,  and continued on with this tradition - click HERE

2019 found us with a toddler granddaughter.  This was also,  sadly,  the last event we would have Larissa's mother join us,  for the pandemic shut the fort down in 2020 and cancer took Violet in 2021 - click HERE

2021 found us in what was the most magical of  our 1860s Christmas celebrations,  for we not only had our Christmas dinner,  but when darkness came we lit the candles on the tree - click HERE

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~