Illustration: “Twelfth Night Merry-Making in Farmer Shakeshaft’s Barn,” from Ainsworth’s “Mervyn Clitheroe,” by Phiz, c. 1850. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Traditional Celebrations for ‘Little Christmas’

By Melissa Berry on January 5, 2024

In this article – to celebrate the traditional end of the Christmas season – Melissa Berry describes the history and traditions of “Little Christmas.”.. (Read More)

Illustration: cover of "Harper’s Weekly," Volume 23, 4 January 1879.

Christmas Letters (part 3)

By Melissa Berry on December 26, 2023

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry shares a Christmas letter written by the daughter of a California Gold Rush 49er in 1879 when she was 15... (Read More)

Photo: a “Talking Letter” from Eugene Daly during WWII, February 1945. Courtesy of Portraits of War.

Christmas Letters (part 2)

By Melissa Berry on December 22, 2023

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry shares “talking letters” families sent to their loved ones serving overseas... (Read More)

Photo: Christmas at the Annunciation Church in Nazareth, 1965. Credit: Israel Press and Photo Agency (I.P.P.A.) / Dan Hadani collection, National Library of Israel / CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons.

Christmas Celebrations – Some Other Opinions

By Katie Rebecca Garner on December 21, 2023

In this article, Katie Rebecca Garner writes about how some of our ancestors c. 1800 were opposed to Christmas celebrations... (Read More)

Illustration: “Nativity of Christ,” medieval illustration from the “Hortus Deliciarum” of Herrad of Landsberg, c. 1180. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Our Ancestors, Religion, and Christmas

By Katie Rebecca Garner on December 20, 2023

In this article, Katie Rebecca Garner writes about how some of our ancestors c. 1800 were concerned there wasn’t enough Christ in Christmas... (Read More)

Photo: Gilbert “Gibby” Wyer in 1989, the year before he died. Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Christmas Letters (part 1)

By Melissa Berry on December 19, 2023

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry shares a Christmas letter written by a WWII soldier stationed in North Africa in 1942... (Read More)

Illustration: “Merry Old Santa Claus” by Thomas Nast, from the 1 January 1881 edition of “Harper's Weekly.” Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Christmases Past: What Toys Did They Wish For?

By Gena Philibert-Ortega on December 18, 2023

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to find ads for toys, to see what was popular in past Christmases... (Read More)

Illustration: “The Christmas Tree” by Albert Chevallier Tayler, 1911. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Christmas Memories – and Changing Celebrations (part 2)

By Jessica Edwards on December 11, 2023

In this article, Jessica Edwards describes Christmas traditions in her family, including a creche and some very special cookies... (Read More)

Christmas Memories – and Changing Celebrations (part 1)

By Jessica Edwards on December 6, 2023

Jessica Edwards writes about her mother’s descriptions of celebrating Christmas when she was a child, showing how the family celebrations have changed... (Read More)

Tag: Christmas