Like most people this time of year, I have had Christmas songs bouncing around in my head for the past several weeks. During one particularly festive onslaught on the radio, I heard “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Although I have heard this song too many times before, this time one of the lyrics stood out to me: “Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore.” This line seemed to capture something about the Christmas season that often goes unappreciated: by upholding Christmas traditions, we have the chance to re-connect with our past..This idea got me wondering: what was Christmas like in previous generations here in the West? I decided to do some digging into the digital archives. I was delighted to find a few old newspapers that captured a little snapshot of what Christmas was like for our ancestors a hundred years ago..Long before the modern conveniences of online shopping, minivans, and central heating, Westerners had very few comforts to get them through the harsh winters. Christmas celebrations provided a necessary reprieve from the intensive and sometimes monotonous routines required for winter survival in the Old West.. FORBES: A Picture of Christmas in the Old WestSchool Christmas concert in Alberta in 1930 (Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, WikiCommons) .In 1900, one author from Agassiz, BC wrote in the Outlook, “It is Christmas-time, and sometimes then we take more leisurely count of time.” He described his family’s efforts to make their home cozy for the holiday: “We have built a new house in a clearing in the British Columbia forest and there are open fireplaces; on their brick hearths we burn logs of cedar, of maple, and pine… the logs crackling and flickering.” To mark the season, their family sang Christmas carols together and told stories around the open fire..In 1929, an article from Red Deer, Alberta described local Christmas traditions. The article explained that the church was the centerpiece for the community, and that they would decorate their church with evergreen branches and the traditional Nativity set pieces. The article said, “The greatest charm of Christmas is the decorated church, the power which makes man see beyond the bare walls of the church and which carries him back through the ages to worship with the shepherds at the manger cot in Bethlehem.”. FORBES: A Picture of Christmas in the Old WestInterior of a church at Christmas time in Metlakahtla, BC (Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, WikiCommons) .The 1929 article also reflected on the traditional stories of St. Nicholas coming down the chimney, and joked, “Just fancy the catastrophe that might befall the world if it became the fashion to build houses without chimneys.” If only they could see the jumble of apartments stacked upon apartments in most Canadian cities today, with no sign of a proper fireplace for miles around..As with today, Christmas in the Old West was also a time for charity. Church groups regularly tapped into the spirit of the season by putting together donation bundles for people in need. An article from 1934 (in the middle of the Great Depression) reported that Winnipeg was a centre for shipping over 7,000 pounds of clothes, toys, and gifts to communities all around southern Manitoba where farming families had been struggling due to drought. After a year of terrible hardship, such donations would no doubt have helped thousands of families to “make Christmas merry” at a time when they may not have believed it was possible..I found another article from 1930 with the surprising title, “Near Starvation, Farmers Cheerful.” It spoke about how Christmas brought hope to people struggling at the start of the Depression in northern Saskatchewan. Farming families who were often “burdened with big debts due for the payment of agricultural implements and grocery bills” could be found “rallying around the Church and cheerily learning Christmas carols.” Even when people had no money to offer charity, they helped each other out in other ways by milking cows, collecting eggs, and keeping each other company.. FORBES: A Picture of Christmas in the Old WestChristmas tree in Calgary, Alberta in 1910 (Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, WikiCommons) .Their experiences may serve as an example to those of us today who are also going through hard economic times this Christmas. Westerners have gotten through such times before by relying upon each other, working hard, and looking to our traditions for a sense of purpose and inspiration. And we can do it again..That’s one of the great things about reading our history. It reminds us that no matter the hardship, we in the West have always found a way to triumph over adversity. I hope this Christmas gives you the chance to spend quality time with your families, to celebrate the foundation of your faith, and to enjoy some great food. But in addition to all that, I hope you also take a moment to remember the “happy golden days of yore.” By celebrating Christmas, we take part in a tradition that connects us from generation to generation and inspires us to press forward “as in olden days.”
Like most people this time of year, I have had Christmas songs bouncing around in my head for the past several weeks. During one particularly festive onslaught on the radio, I heard “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Although I have heard this song too many times before, this time one of the lyrics stood out to me: “Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore.” This line seemed to capture something about the Christmas season that often goes unappreciated: by upholding Christmas traditions, we have the chance to re-connect with our past..This idea got me wondering: what was Christmas like in previous generations here in the West? I decided to do some digging into the digital archives. I was delighted to find a few old newspapers that captured a little snapshot of what Christmas was like for our ancestors a hundred years ago..Long before the modern conveniences of online shopping, minivans, and central heating, Westerners had very few comforts to get them through the harsh winters. Christmas celebrations provided a necessary reprieve from the intensive and sometimes monotonous routines required for winter survival in the Old West.. FORBES: A Picture of Christmas in the Old WestSchool Christmas concert in Alberta in 1930 (Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, WikiCommons) .In 1900, one author from Agassiz, BC wrote in the Outlook, “It is Christmas-time, and sometimes then we take more leisurely count of time.” He described his family’s efforts to make their home cozy for the holiday: “We have built a new house in a clearing in the British Columbia forest and there are open fireplaces; on their brick hearths we burn logs of cedar, of maple, and pine… the logs crackling and flickering.” To mark the season, their family sang Christmas carols together and told stories around the open fire..In 1929, an article from Red Deer, Alberta described local Christmas traditions. The article explained that the church was the centerpiece for the community, and that they would decorate their church with evergreen branches and the traditional Nativity set pieces. The article said, “The greatest charm of Christmas is the decorated church, the power which makes man see beyond the bare walls of the church and which carries him back through the ages to worship with the shepherds at the manger cot in Bethlehem.”. FORBES: A Picture of Christmas in the Old WestInterior of a church at Christmas time in Metlakahtla, BC (Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, WikiCommons) .The 1929 article also reflected on the traditional stories of St. Nicholas coming down the chimney, and joked, “Just fancy the catastrophe that might befall the world if it became the fashion to build houses without chimneys.” If only they could see the jumble of apartments stacked upon apartments in most Canadian cities today, with no sign of a proper fireplace for miles around..As with today, Christmas in the Old West was also a time for charity. Church groups regularly tapped into the spirit of the season by putting together donation bundles for people in need. An article from 1934 (in the middle of the Great Depression) reported that Winnipeg was a centre for shipping over 7,000 pounds of clothes, toys, and gifts to communities all around southern Manitoba where farming families had been struggling due to drought. After a year of terrible hardship, such donations would no doubt have helped thousands of families to “make Christmas merry” at a time when they may not have believed it was possible..I found another article from 1930 with the surprising title, “Near Starvation, Farmers Cheerful.” It spoke about how Christmas brought hope to people struggling at the start of the Depression in northern Saskatchewan. Farming families who were often “burdened with big debts due for the payment of agricultural implements and grocery bills” could be found “rallying around the Church and cheerily learning Christmas carols.” Even when people had no money to offer charity, they helped each other out in other ways by milking cows, collecting eggs, and keeping each other company.. FORBES: A Picture of Christmas in the Old WestChristmas tree in Calgary, Alberta in 1910 (Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, WikiCommons) .Their experiences may serve as an example to those of us today who are also going through hard economic times this Christmas. Westerners have gotten through such times before by relying upon each other, working hard, and looking to our traditions for a sense of purpose and inspiration. And we can do it again..That’s one of the great things about reading our history. It reminds us that no matter the hardship, we in the West have always found a way to triumph over adversity. I hope this Christmas gives you the chance to spend quality time with your families, to celebrate the foundation of your faith, and to enjoy some great food. But in addition to all that, I hope you also take a moment to remember the “happy golden days of yore.” By celebrating Christmas, we take part in a tradition that connects us from generation to generation and inspires us to press forward “as in olden days.”
