HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1988-12-21, Page 34Page 14A—Lneknow Wednesday, December 21,
As. we make ready for
the ies•tiv itie•s,. we'd
hike to wish if oft one
and AI a 't utetide of
good times and good
cheer_ Many tharthi_
D. G. "Dinnie
MacDonald
Son
May Christmas bi? •
your time of
dreams come true
Biuewat.er
Agro art Ltd.
195-2!51)15 or
West Wawanosh
Mutual Insurance Company.-
Diteclor. and Ste, Dun, neon
T
Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
:n Upper Canada .n the 1850s when
:ne .e;enr ;f Sant:. Claus a.ua5 Saint
\1chj.las.. Father _li.-isrm,,s dill K—' tr-
gle began t,) grow u2 pt;pi.::^t,, ,'cn-
-.deracle :7L'C'1 aL Qn ,urro irtiet:
.".earls )f :ransporaclon.
7..' nils sought solutions to the )ovrd)us ur:
acuity of visiting so many wines in su
;port a period of rune Christmas Eve.
i1....cwr11I_g to the '_anatitan .7...irtstrnas
Book by Carolt.ne i2arver. the zeoate
focussed: nn a ruir.ber of possibilities
among them that Sans arrived a on -
snowshoes, b , crossing the St. Lawrence
on a whale, c riding in a sled pulled by
reindeer, And fnarty di riding on the
back of a giant -sized turkey. As Caroline
said: "Ola Dasinsr, Qn Dancer, on
Prancer, on Turkey...,' ..it's easy, to
understand whey the reindeer thpm,e won
wide acceptance and it certainly bas
Withstood the test of time.a.
Christmas in the u I9th century was
more festive than it was 75 years earlier.
In 1784. whari United Empire Loyalists
'began settling. the territory that eventual-
ly became Ontario. Christmas was likely a
somber occasion. Having sought freedom
.n Canada from persecution in the United
States following the American Revolution.
those early pioneers had little of material
•. slue. a few 2:othes. almost no food and n-
adequate sheiter. They huddled along the
shores of the St. Lawrence and Niagara
Rivers fighting for survival and no doubt
praying for better days ahead.
Better days did come. Settlements and
settlers prospered. Many more people
cavae to snake their homes here and
the Christmas traditions we
itairM today began to take root.
According to Catharine Parr Trail, who
arrived in Canada in, 1832 and who wrote
The Canadian S'etttiar's•Gt de, people
here did not observe the occasion as had •
been the custom in England. Sf e wrote:
When i first' came to Canadia i was
ranch • at the cold indifference
which rnaost people snowed in their obser-
vance of Christmas Day - with the excep-
tion of the few residing English families,
the church wasattended. For in
those chars, there was no dressing of the
houses or churches with evergreens as is
fl so, generally the custo ..But wile
the natira ity of our Lord was little regard-
ed. all its honour and glory was conferred
on the New Year's day."
The rets Christmas day was
celebrated by Angeans, Catholics and
• German Lutherans then. Those of Scot- -
tidy descent, who were mainly
,Presbyterian... New Year's Day a
EesOvaI.
That year Cathar• ine set out to decorate
the home where she was a guest as she
would have done in England. Evergreen
boughs were draped over doors and plc-
, tare fres and along mantels,, In the
absence of holly, Catharine used
cranberry boughs. Cranberry bushes
were pientrftd in the Upper Canada bogs
common to the rmidl-18005 count&yside. Of
particular delight to young people was
the practice of fashioning a kissing bough
From: evergreens, which was hung in a
..pi r_ 1•
0 0.-p
113 •.
, onveruent aa,sa e. Under the bough a
.idv ,;uid not :efus e a tuss.
'athar'.ne•s Christmas activit.es at fir' t
amused H.er ' ost anti tlt)ste5S out. oefore
P.7L -Lett ^E' tie :L' t 1 - ,r::Clw 'C
a s. ri
hristma.:.; ;rves i...,,n4 peen a
for to Llt:rr_::ar atstion before the :dea
r reau to England curing Queen "v
t.;r1.4 s reign. The .R,ot'ai `ir U v sec up
trees f )r their own. .2i-alcren and the prac-
:ice became popular tnnughout England
when an engraving. of the Queen and
Prince Albert standing net to a nee was
published in The mustrated London News
in 1848.
Upper Canada's German population in- '
troduced the Christmas tree here and,
strengthened by the additional influence
of Brutish acceptance of the custom. the
Christmas tree began to be used in
Canada by mid-century.
Tree decorations mcluded garlands of
popcorn and cranberries, decorated
cookies handmade shapes such as cor-
nucopias and driirn5 and small handmade
toys, tufts of colored fleece and dried ap-
pie slices. The apple slices were tasty
treats for the children on Christmas day.
Tapered candles completed the tree
.iecorations:iowever. these were °
)arefri?1 aiaced and were at 'or ..)nw;
`ew minutes at a 7.1r -ie Fire was such
:onstant threat that. as a ^autos
buckets of water were Kept ear the free
Glass decorations Qid dot become
popular until the late 18005.
Gift -giving entered the celebrations in
the middle a ofthe century, but was•usnaI-
ly reserved for the children. Practical
gifts such as homemade mittens and
socks were most common, but occa-
sionally, a cornhusk doll or'°a seri 1T whit-
tled toy could be found hanging from the
branches of the Christmas tree. As con-
sumer products. and more money became
available, store-bought gifts replaced the
homemade ones.
Christmas became an official holiday
in Canada in 1849. Christmas cards isn-•
ported from England gained popularity in
the 1860s, and Canadian, printers offered
their own on the market in the 1826s.
As with all the other traditions, the •
feasting we enjoy today evolv;
ed over the decades as more food became
available and imports were easier to ob-
tain. Catharine Farr Trail feasted on
goose fattened on the rice beds of ponds
and rivers. She wrote that turkeys were
found on only old_ cleared farms and that
beef was available only when an ox was
slaughtered to save it from a ,natural
death.
By the second half of the century,
however, turkey was a popular
Christmas repast. Plum pudding, ablaze
with burning brandy and mincemeat pie.
runts and imported fruits completed the
feast. In the isolated parts of the pro-
vince none of these delicacies could be
easily obtained, except perhaps for a few
oranges.
After the meal, children and adults
would gather in the parlor to play chess.
backgammon, whist, and Blindman's
Bluff.
Ilii
Joe and Dean Agnew
of
Agnew jeweHer,
Gift & Children's ltiV >ear
e\ f'-is1 ttl+'er
vb I�O�E� nor
Hamilton Fuels
lucknRivy,F' Inc.
st s w X ‘t n pbC
dtzaitt#t wrrtaer mYnIth 4 orrh
bt P eD Vt. FF.P.1.1