Christmas

America’s First Christmas Card & An Early Albany Department Store

December 24, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Before F. W. Woolworths’, Whitney’s, or even Myer’s department store, there was Pease’s Great Variety Store, located in the Temple of Fancy at 516 and 518 Broadway in Albany, NY.

As with other fancy goods stores, Pease’s catered to the middle and upper middle class selling highly decorated goods like ceramics, prints, furniture and other decorative household items that progressively thinking people might have wanted to purchase. [Read more…] about America’s First Christmas Card & An Early Albany Department Store

Dear Santa: Send Candy, Nuts, and Fruit (Christmas Gifts of the Past)

December 24, 2022 by Lawrence P. Gooley 2 Comments

Children’s Christmas wishes and expectations years ago were much different from today’s world of high technology. I was so struck by this—the simplicity and innocence—that I included a chapter entitled Letters to Santa in a recent book on the history of Churubusco, New York.

The sample letters below were published in newspapers of Northern New York from 1920–1940. They portray the sharp contrast to the modern holiday, where expensive gifts have become the disproportionate norm. [Read more…] about Dear Santa: Send Candy, Nuts, and Fruit (Christmas Gifts of the Past)

Holiday Humor: Regional Letters to Santa from Long Ago

December 24, 2022 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

Plenty of laughs are scattered throughout this year’s collection of letters (unedited) to Santa. Check out the first two for an idea of what to expect.

Balsam Woolly Adelgid: A Foe to Firs

December 23, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

’Tis the season for balsam fir, the fragrant evergreen that adorns our homes through the winter holidays. Its scent and long lasting needle retention make this the most popular Christmas tree and wreath species. Balsam fir is also an important timber species used for lumber. Native to North America, balsam fir (Abies balsamea) grows throughout the more northern latitudes and highest elevations of the country, including in the Northeast.

However, researchers predict a northward shift of balsam fir in an increasingly warming climate. Warmer temperatures are also contributing to a rise in populations of an exotic invasive pest – balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae) – which feeds on fir trees, affecting their health and viability as lumber and Christmas trees. [Read more…] about Balsam Woolly Adelgid: A Foe to Firs

Yule Logs & Firewood Science

December 23, 2022 by Paul Hetzler 1 Comment

The tradition of burning a Yule log has largely fizzled out in most parts of the world. While holiday cards often feature cute, picturesque birch rounds in the hearth, old-time Yule logs in 6th and 7th century Europe were monster tree trunks that were meant to burn all day, and in certain cultures for twelve continuous days, without being entirely used up. [Read more…] about Yule Logs & Firewood Science

Christmas Traditions in Colonial New York

December 23, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In the latest episode of The History Twins, Carla Lynne Hall and Jim Keyes discuss Christmas traditions in Colonial New York.The ingredients of modern Christmas are believed to have started in New Netherland, the Dutch colony founded in 1625, which later became New York. [Read more…] about Christmas Traditions in Colonial New York

A Dutch Holiday Traditions Podcast

December 21, 2022 by Clare Sheridan Leave a Comment

On the December 2022 Crossroads of Rockland History, Jennifer Brooks, Public Education and Outreach Coordinator at the Historical Society of Rockland County, joined host Clare Sheridan to discuss Dutch Holiday Traditions.

They traced the line between the traditions of early Dutch settlers in Rockland County and surrounding areas to the growth of our modern American Christmas and explored the history behind our holiday traditions. Where did they come from? Who is Saint Nicholas, and how did he become Santa Claus? Why is the December season known for gift-giving and charity? What’s with the tree and the chimney? And what does any of this have to do with religion? [Read more…] about A Dutch Holiday Traditions Podcast

Eastern Dwarf Mistletoe: A Hemiparasitic Hydrostatic Time Bomb

December 18, 2022 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Have you noticed the cheery evergreen sprig with pearly berries, currently perched over the doorways of Yankee traditionalists and those desperate to be kissed?

That’s common mistletoe (Viscum album), which one botanical dispatch from the 1800s called “perhaps the most distinguished plant in the flora of England.” It’s found in broadleaf trees across Europe, and its associations with protection and fertility trace back to at least the Ancient Greeks and Celtic Druids. [Read more…] about Eastern Dwarf Mistletoe: A Hemiparasitic Hydrostatic Time Bomb

Joshua Anthony: The Baking Powder King

December 15, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

In the 1800s, most of the commerce at Halfmoon in Saratoga County, NY, was located close to the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Joshua Anthony however, developed his spice factory in a remote part of northern Halfmoon on his grandfather’s farm on Farm to Market and Anthony Roads.

The three-story tower in the center of the factory once boasted a windmill that provided power for the machinery. Anthony heated the farmhouse and buildings in the winter with steam from the factory. [Read more…] about Joshua Anthony: The Baking Powder King