Christmas in the 19th Century

by David Goss

According to How Christmas came to the Sunday Schools, a book I have been reading by Katherine Lambert Richards, marking Christmas was not universal amongst 19th century American churches. My reading of New Brunswick papers and other periodicals indicate conditions in this province mirrored what was going on south of the border with the notable exception of the Anglican Church.
It seems there were three basic positions on the celebration of Christmas. The most extreme was outright opposition on the basis that there was no biblical support for the selection of December 25 as Christ's birthday. Many fundamental churches espoused this view.
In the middle position were the churches who 'officially' held this view, but left the decision with the local church as to whether they allowed Sunday School parties, with trees laden with gifts for the children and a visit from Santa. Many did allow these parties, provided they were not held on Sunday. These churches would usually hold a Christmas service only if the 25th fell on a Sunday. Sometimes, if this were the case, the children would give readings, or be quizzed on their knowledge of the Christmas story as part of the service.
If Christmas fell on a weekday, no service would be held in these churches, but it would not be uncommon for the minister and his family to show up at the Episcopal/Anglican Church, where they could count on a service to mark the Saviour's birth.
Anglicans and Roman Catholics could be counted to hold a service, and this was the third position held in the mid to late 19th century, as Christmas was developing or redeveloping, and becoming the occasion we know today.
I've been interested in this topic for some time now, and in the past few months have been collecting photos of Christmas and Christmas-related activities for a book on the topic I plan to complete over the winter. On one of my many forays into the
Provincial Archives I came across the photo shown here of a New Brunswick church lavishly decorated for the Christmas services.

Although the New Brunswick Anglican has already run this photograph and asked if anyone can identify it, the church remains unknown. (Please let us know of you recognize it!) Obviously a spirited group of Anglicans fell into the third category of Christians who celebrated the season with gusto!
This photograph was in the collection of Christ Church Cathedral, which leads me to believe it is an Anglican Church. And as I said before, the decoration of churches was, for a reason I have been unable to determine, definitely an Anglican tradition of the latter part of the 19th century.

I have another reason to investigate Christmas traditions. My home church of St. George's in Saint John is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, and I was hoping to come up with something distinctive in the way of a Christmas play.
The Richards book was helpful in this quest. But of equal value have been the columns and clippings in the Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton papers of a century and more ago.

In Work, published in Carleton (Saint John West) in January of 1885 I found this description of the efforts to decorate St. George's. "Greening: A number of our young people were busy for a week or more before Christmas, preparing decorations for the church. All are thanked very heartily for their assistance. Too much praise cannot be given to the young men for their zeal and conduct throughout. When the decorations were completed, the church looked very nicely."s

In the Saint John Globe for 1888, I found the following which amplifies what Work had to say about St. George's. "The back of the chancel is covered with spruce trimmings worked into neat geometrical designs. In the centre of the figures is a crown surmounting a cross bearing the legend, GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST. The word EMMANUEL also appears ... the choir seats, reading desk and pulpit are neatly trimmed with spruce ... the walls are hung with banners bearing appropriate emblems ... the pillars supporting the base of the gallery are entwined with spruce ... the whole church is most beautiful and will repay a visit."

Work also confirmed the Sunday School experience that some in the U.S. were enjoying was also the experience in New Brunswick. Under the title Christmas Tree it noted: "Tuesday evening December 30th (1884) we had our Christmas tree for the Saint George's Sunday School. Around 125 children, with their parents and guardians, the teachers and officers of the school, the choir of the church, and the officers of the Sewing Circle attended, and a pleasant evening was spent. Each child received a present, which was taken from the Tree and handed to the child by Santa Claus himself - or someone who looked like him."

At this time of writing, the exact way the information on the 19th century Christmases will be used has not been defined. But there is great potential in the celebrations of yesteryear, I believe, to help us mark Christmas spiritually and meaningfully as we approach the 21st century.

Watch for a report on how it turns out in a future issue of The New Brunswick Anglican.