Upon A Winter's Eve: Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village and at Home 2023

"Who,  and what are you?"  Scrooge demanded.

"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past."

"Long Past?"  inquired Scrooge:  observant of its dwarfish stature.

"No.  Your past."

"It was a long night,  if it were only a night,  because the Christmastide appeared to be 

condensed into the space of time they passed together."

~(taken from)  A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens~

Holiday Nights
Program Guide 2023

On the evening of December 28 I had a  "long past "  moment when I dressed in my colonial clothing and,  with my wife and our friends,  went to Holiday Nights at historic Greenfield Village.

And,  as always,  the spirits of Christmas Past were with me that evening!

Holiday Nights is one of the most spectacular Christmas events - not only in Michigan,  but in the nation.  It is a celebration of over 200 years of historical Christmas and New Year's observations,  from America's colonial period through World War II.

I have been attending Christmas in some form or another at Greenfield Village since...um...wow---1983---before they even had  a Holiday Nights or anything like it!  At that time it was simply an evening of dining at the Eagle Tavern with a guided lantern walk back to the front exit.  Sometime in the 1990s,  a separate evening event was created called the 12 Nights of Christmas.  Then,  due to its popularity,  12 Nights grew into 14+ nights,  and included New Years celebrations of times past,  and the name was changed to Holiday Nights.

And my wife and I missed very few annual visits,  if any.

Now here we are,  all these years later  (forty years later,  to be exact!),  and we still enjoy going every bit as much as we ever have.

So!  Won't you join me as we travel through Christmas past?  We shall begin at some of the earliest structures at the Village - those from the 18th century - and walk our way throughout time.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"...these were shadows of the things that have been,  that they are what they are,  do not blame me!"

Shadows of the night?
or
Shadows of things that have been?

All of the Greenfield Village photos here were taken after the sun went down,  therefore may be a bit dark to look at,  such as the next few photos.  But they have a period quality to them,  giving an impression of what life may have looked and been like 250 years ago,  back during the time of our founding generation:  Washington,  Franklin,  Adams,  Revere,  Jefferson... 

With a lone lit lantern for our sole light along the dark,  wooded pathway,  Jennifer,  Amy,  and I searched for the home of Samuel Daggett.

It was a dark and rainy night,  though the gray skies did give us a little extra light.

I have the lantern tucked in front of me,  and it is easy to see just how dark it is without its glowing flame.

Wait----is that the Daggett House up upon the hill?

Why...'tis!
Let's go inside and have a warm.
(This was my favorite picture of the evening)

Over at the Daggett House,  there is no Christmas celebration,  for the Daggetts were Congregationalists and did not celebrate the holiday.  So,  in the program guide,  it is stated:
"1760s Winter Evening"~

The guide goes on to say that  "in 1760 Connecticut Christmas was not observed."   This is not necessarily true.  Yes,  it wasn't observed by those belonging to certain religions,  as noted,  but there were those who did observe and celebrate the holiday.  And we must remember,  those who did celebrate did not do so in the all-out manner in which we do today;  their ways were geared more toward food:  eating pies  (minced,  pumpkin)  and enjoying a fine meal and drink - perhaps wassail.  Methinks Greenfield Village needs to research this a bit deeper  (click HERE for my own researched information---longstanding myths do die hard).

The guide does on to state:  "Peek in to see what a typical evening might look like for the Daggett family."

And this they did well.

Before going into the house that Samuel Daggett himself built back in the early 1750s,  we stopped at the cresset.

I was not alone in the wearing of 18th century clothing on this night;  my two  "partners"  in what has become an annual endeavor of the three of us dressing 18th century and visiting the past during Holiday Nights,  came along once again,  for this is our third year meeting up on this,  the last day of an open Greenfield Village until mid-April.
As you may be able to tell,  we are standing next to the lit cresset in front of  the Daggett House.

A cresset is a metal cup or basket,  often mounted to or suspended from a pole,  containing oil,  pitch,  a rope steeped in rosin or something flammable.  They are burned as a light or beacon.

The earliest reference to a Cresset that can be found is in England between 1066 and 1122. 

There was a goodly warm fire a-blazing in the great hall fireplace.
The Daggett House has one central chimney with,  I believe,  five fireplaces attached -
three on the main floor  (the great hall,  the kitchen,  and the formal parlor),  and two in the two bed chambers  "above stairs,"  as the second floor was known to be called in the 18th century   (from what the good folk at Colonial Williamsburg told me).

Cooking at the kitchen hearth inside Daggett.

These rooms would actually be even darker,  for the Daggetts more than likely would not have multiple candles burning along with two blazing fires in the fireplaces.  But for this event,  it is needed for precautionary measures - as much light for guidance,  yet still showing the room sufficiently dark.

Jennifer gazing out the window near the back kitchen door.
Her camera captured the brightness from the  (unnecessary)  spotlight
outside,  creating a daylight affect.

So I looked out the same window and asked to have a photo taken from the opposite side:

This is almost a sort of ethereal-spooky kind of image.

From Daggett we moved to the Plympton House.

But first...

We had to pass the Farris  (Cape Cod)  Windmill
from 1633.

This is a beautiful,  picturesque structure originally built on Cape Cod  (Massachusetts)  in 1633.

Since there was nothing going on near the windmill this night  (other nights before Christmas were able to see and hear a colonial fife & drum corps),  we moved passed and stopped at the home once belonging to Thomas Plympton.  

Ah...here we are - a house with loads of history!

This house saw some action in the early morning hours of  April 19,  1775,  when Abel Prescott,  brother of Samuel,  who did a partial ride with Paul Revere a few hours before,  came a-pounding on the door,  letting Thomas Plympton,  a member of the Provincial Congress,  know that the Regulars were on the march  (though  "the British are coming!"  was never said in that time).

It's too bad Greenfield Village doesn't have those of us who do colonial living history to
present a colonial Christmas scenario,  teaching about the Christmas celebrations of
the 18th century.
The Plympton House would be perfect for us!
They could do some slight modifications in furniture so we could sit inside the house,  around the table.  

I can see us now...how wonderfully awesome would that be?
Plus the folks would get more for their money - with the fife & drums and WWI guys gone,  this would be a good alternative.  It really would not take much to put together.

Ah...one can wish,  right?

No,  I did not enter the house with my lit lantern - only stood
at the door as if I were Thomas Plympton.

I actually was not portraying any one person this night.  And if people asked me  "who I was,"  I would only tell them  "a simple farmer."

However,  multiple people called me  "Mr.  Revere"  or even said  "The
British are coming"  to me.  No,  I actually wasn't
representing my Revolutionary War hero this night,  though it
was good to hear Paul Revere is still known in
the 21st century.

Time for a warmth break!

I have horrible sciatica and had to sit for a short time
as we made our through Greenfield Village. 
On such a damp,  rainy night as this was,  the warmth from
the firepits strewn throughout the Village felt wonderful.

Another house I enjoy visiting - the Giddings House,  built in the early 1750s.

Melissa was stoking the fire to keep it going in the everyday parlor, 
also known as the sitting room.
Like the Daggett House,  there is one central chimney with multiple
fireplaces attached on both the first and second floor.  Unfortunately, 
the 2nd floor is plexi-glassed off,  making it nearly impossible
to see the bedchamber fireplaces.  But it is to my understanding
there are five of them in total,  again,  like Daggett.

Jennifer and I warmed our cold,  damp hands in the everyday parlor/sitting room.
It was not a bitter cold evening - the temperature raised into the 40s,  which was one of the warmest Holiday Nights I've ever been to - but the rain kept the skin clammy.

This room was usually the second best room of the house,  and its furnishings were less formal and usually included a rocking chair,  regular chairs,  a table,  a sewing table,  a writing desk,  and a warm fire.  The sitting room was used daily by the family,  and it was here where they entertained their closest friends.

Though it was  "an orderly place,"  the room became dirty and cluttered as the day went on because it was the most used throughout the day by family and friends.

 

There is a recording of a lone fiddle playing a jig in the background.  For this season of the year,  this house used to be depicted as having a colonial-era New Year's party.

So now,  according to the program/handout,  they now call it a  "Winter Social Season in New Hampshire:  Step into the urban home of prosperous merchant and ship builder John Giddings for a typical social gathering,  and enjoy the rich aroma of chocolate being made."

Social gathering?
Let's dance,  my dear friend!
With the sounds of a fiddle playing,  Jennifer & I broke into an impromptu
period-type dance.
She did not expect it but went along - it was certainly fun!  

18th century treats.

The room to the left of the staircase is the  hall/best room/drawing room/the Sunday parlor - - take your pick at what to call it,  for during colonial times,  it went by all four titles,  though  "drawing room"  seemed to be the term used in the wealthier homes,  such as the Giddings.
Imagine the rare pineapple and other fruit in the dead of winter in the 18th century!

Inside the Giddings House kitchen we find the chocolateers 

working their craft and making a hot chocolate drink 

in the same manner as was done in the 18th century.

Roy here is quite the amazing man,  who very well represents
his 18th century counterparts.
It is interesting to see all of the ingredients that went into
chocolate from the 1700s:

the large white cone is a sugar cone,  while the tool laying next 

to it is called a sugar nipper  (to  "nip"  off the bits of sugar needed). 

The three spices seen here are cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne. 

Oh, and one of those small bowls has sugar in it.

In the small wooden plate left center are the shelled cacao seeds. 

Amy and Jenny watch as raw or roasted and shelled cacao seeds  (called beans)  are being ground 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.

Methinks Jenny is enjoying a hot cup of chocolate.
Okay - not really,  but I would like to try to make this myself someday.

I was lucky enough to drink colonial-style chocolate a number of years back at the R.  Charlton's Coffeehouse in Colonial Williamsburg. 

I enjoyed the hospitality shown to me inside R.  Charlton's Coffee House

in Colonial Williamsburg.

During our tour,  visitors were offered coffee,  tea,  or hot chocolate.

I chose......hot chocolate - - real colonial hot chocolate. 

Thick and rich and v-e-r-y chocolate-y.

And very good,  I might add.

Yes,  here I am being served in Charlton's.

My wife captured Amy and I through the Giddings
kitchen doorway leading outside.

Time to keep moving - - there was much more to see!

You can call it a winter social,  but,  to me it will always be a New Year's celebration,  in keeping with the season.  I'm not at all sure why they changed the name...

Eyeing three structures from the East coast of the United States:
Daggett House,  Farris Windmill,  and Plympton House.
With the addition of an unneeded way-too-bright spotlight.
It was a wet night on December 28 - - if only this were snow...

A bit closer and we can see,  on the far left,  the Cotswold Blacksmith Shop, 
then the Daggett House,  the windmill,  and,  closest to us is the Plympton House.

Jennifer and I at the Cotswold Forge.

Her camera really grabs the light - in actuality,  

it is a much darker scene.

Time marches on,  and so did we - - up to the 1940s and the second world war.

World War II-Era Red Cross Hospitality Station at the Cotswold Cottage~
"In 1944 wartime England,  U.S.  troops were stationed throughout the country,  including the Cotswolds."
It was here where we learned how our soldiers,  so far from home,  were given a royal treatment by those living in the English homefront.  

And nothing says  "home"  like a beautifully decorated Christmas Tree.
The Village did an awesome job replicating a tree from the 1940s.

The ladies also spoke on knitting or crocheting gifts such as scarves, 
mittens,  socks,  or hats for the fighting men.

Here we have a soldier enjoying a bit of Christmas peace.  He had magazines & books to read  and a phonograph with the latest records,  all amidst a festively decorated room. 

We also visited the Union military of the Civil War period at their Winter Encampment inside the McGuffey School.

Here are a couple of Union privates outside.
They have a bonfire for warmth and a tent for protection from the elements.

While inside,  those in higher ranks had all the comforts of home.
They did an ample job in their 1860s Christmas presentation.

But we're not done with the Civil War quite yet - - - - next we venture to Smiths Creek Depot,  originally built around 1858-59 in Smiths Creek,  Michigan,  near Port Huron. 

"Holiday Home Front During The Civil War~
As soon as the War began in April of 1861,  the ladies on the home front sprang to action to provide aid and comfort to the soldiers away from home."  

The beautiful table-top tree inside the living area.
I took this photo from the outside window.

Emily & Morgan prepared a Christmas meal up front on the cook stove.

There were also presenters and reenactors in the back for those waiting for the
train to come in...

And a seamstress as well,  sewing garments and necessities for the fighting Michigan men.

A sort of wide-angle shot showing a portion of the Village Green.
On the left we have the historic Eagle Tavern.
Center we see A Taste of History  (modern cafeteria-style restaurant).
The church is the Martha-Mary Chapel.

A Centennial Christmas 1876 at the Ford Home~
It was in this house, on July 30, 1863, in which Henry Ford, the first of William and Mary's six children, was born.

The Centennial of the United States'  birth  (1876)  was celebrated
every bit as vigorously as the Bicentennial in 1976. 
And hopefully the semiquincentennial  (the United States' 250th)
in 2026 will be celebrated in the same manner!

"A savory bouquet of Holiday cooking"  fills this Michigan farm house.
Yes,  we actually could smell the turkey from the outside.
Looks like a shadow of America's colonial past haunts the Ford kitchen  (lol)

Looking toward the city lights from the Ford Farm.

Holiday Nights is an amazing event celebrating the many aspects of the Christmas season,  and I look forward to going every year.  In fact,  God willing,  next year I hope to bring my kids and grandkids along,  as I did for Hallowe'en. 

However,  I do have a complaint:

I only wish all vignettes could've been there for all nights.

I cannot claim to have taken this next picture,  and,  though it was a part of the previous Passion for the Past post,  I felt I had to include it here:

This emotion-filled photo was taken by Knute Wales during the WWI vignette held at Cotswold Cottage on December 1st.  The subject of the picture is historic presenter and WWI reenactor,  John Sproul,  who is  "representing a Scottish soldier in 1914,  telling the story of the Christmas truce." 

That is the 1633 Farris Windmill silhouetted in the background.

Would've loved to have seen something like this in person.

.   .   .

I do not live in a historic home.  This year it will only be 80 years old.  That's nothing in comparison to those homes inside Greenfield Village or the stately Victorian homes in small towns throughout our state.

But I built an addition that we fondly call our Greenfield Village room,  for it was designed to look like a room from the past - based on a couple of rooms I've seen in structures at Greenfield Village.

That's as close as I'll ever be to owning a historic home.

Now,  anyone who knows me knows I absolutely love Christmas:  the decorations,  the music,  the feeling,  the excitement,  the food & drink  (wassail!),  movies  (not Hallmark!),  and the parties.

I've always made the grand attempt to have a history-oriented Christmas gathering,  whether with family or friends - to take a slice of  Christmas from numerous centuries and decades past and mix them all together with our present time.

I have grandchildren,  and it is my hope that one day,  when I am no longer walking on this earth,  that they will remember fondly Christmas at Nonna & Papa's house.

As noted in a previous post,  we spend part of our Thanksgiving Weekend heading north to cut down our Christmas Tree.
We have an eclectic collection of tree ornaments,  from sheep & a squirrel to a light house to a guitar and horn to even glass ornaments of Greenfield Village buildings.
However,  each of our grandkids have their own glass gingerbread decorations,  And each has their name imprinted upon  'em.
Here are two of the five:  Liam and Evangeline.

My granddaughter Addy and grandson Liam enjoyed searching for their special ornament when they came over on Christmas Eve.  That made me smile.

A candle-lit mantle.
No,  I'm not necessarily trying to be period accurate to any certain time,  
just sort of blending a few time periods.

A closer look at the fireplace mantle.
My wife decorated it this year  (she did a great job!),  and I added the  "lighting."
All candles were hand-dipped  (or made through a mold)  by me,  my family,  and/or my friends.

We have a wreath in each window,  an idea I stole from the Susquehanna Plantation at Greenfield Village.
My wife & I like the look it gives.

A copied their idea for my own windows.

My lantern lit at the window during our Christmas feast.

I do hope my grandkids will remember how Nonna & Papa tried to
make their Christmas something that 
"doesn’t come from a store. 
That maybe Christmas,  perhaps,  means a little bit more.”
Special.

Which is why we do all the candles.

Our own specialness.

Christmas comes at a cold,  dark time in much of the world,  so decorating with lights that brighten things up makes sense,  for the use of light,  particularly from candles,  around the winter solstice is a symbolic means to represent light in the darkest time of year.  For Christians,  of which my wife and I are,  the lights symbolize Jesus'  status as the Light of the World,  and the way He came to save people from darkness.

My replicated turn-of-the-20th-century Santa sign.
It is a vintage style Grand Christmas Expedition wax paper poster. 
Believe it or not,  what I have here is new,  but it is made to look like an old
adverting poster,  though I am not sure if it is taken from an actual
antique or just made to look that way.

One of the things I enjoy most,  as does my wife,  is placing lights and garland along
our ceiling edges.  There's a specialness about it with all the lamps off - just the ceiling lights,  partially hidden by garland,  glowing,  casting shadows across the walls and ceiling. 

The celebration of Yule by the Pagans also marked the Winter solstice with the light of a burning Yule log,  used to represent the light which warded off the evil spirits of the world during the longer Winter nights – again,  the darkest most dreary time of the year. 

Our traditions are old traditions.

Whichever one believes – or even if there is no belief at all – the beauty of the lights this time of year, as can be seen in the photographs included here,  truly do shine bright and does help  “to drive the cold winter away.”

My wife and I try to take an annual picture together on Christmas Day.
Here we are in 2023.
Merry Christmastide.

To read more about historical Christmastide,  please click HERE

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

A picturesque journey through Christmas Past,  click HERE

Christmas Day at Greenfield Village,  click HERE

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