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Holidays

Remembering The Christmas of 1945 in Northern NY

December 25, 2022 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

1945 Ad Welcome Home VetsAmong the finest Christmas seasons in America’s long history took place in 1945. We’re constantly bombarded with how special the holidays are, so it’s tough for any one year to stand out as extra special, but 1945 makes the list.

Events across the Adirondacks that year epitomized the nation’s attitude. Surprisingly, it wasn’t all about celebrating, even though the most destructive war in history had just ended a few months earlier. We often mumble mindlessly that we’re proud to be Americans. But the first post-World War II Christmas was the real deal, worthy of the word “pride.” [Read more…] about Remembering The Christmas of 1945 in Northern NY

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Christmas, Clinton County, Essex County, Franklin County, Holidays, Military History, World War Two

A Christmas in Kingston in the 1880s

December 25, 2022 by Lowell Thing 4 Comments

McEntee- Christmas in the Catskills,1867“I went out after a Christmas tree and some laurel, through seas of mud,” Jervis McEntee of Kingston wrote on Christmas Eve 1881, “to the place where I always go on the cross road between the Flat-bush and Pine bush roads. It rained a part of the time and turned into a snow storm on our return.”

Another year, McEntee’s usual places for a tree were so wet that he settled for a small hemlock on the side of the hill where he lived. It was a hill that offered a panoramic view of the entire village as well as the Rondout Creek and the Hudson River. His father James, an engineer who had helped build the nearby Delaware and Hudson Canal, had built the first house on the hill and the family still lived there. [Read more…] about A Christmas in Kingston in the 1880s

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Art History, Christmas, Cultural History, Hasbrouck House, Holidays, Hudson River School, Kingston

A Short History of Christmas for New Yorkers

December 25, 2022 by Peter Hess 9 Comments

Albany children singings hymns to St. Nicholas on the Eve of the Feast of St. NicholasThe tale of St. Nicholas is an old fable from mid-Europe that was popular in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. St. Nicholas was the patron saint of children, merchants and sailors and the patron saint of Amsterdam and was brought by the Dutch to the new world, which for the Dutch was Nieuw Nederlandt (New Netherland).

Many of the American traditions on Santa Claus originated in the Dutch settlement of New Netherland along the Hudson River between New Amsterdam (New York City) and Oranje (Beverwyck-Albany). The other colonies were English. [Read more…] about A Short History of Christmas for New Yorkers

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Christmas, Cultural History, Dutch History, Holidays, Religious History, Rensselaer County, Rensselaerswijck, Troy

Christmas Ghost Stories (Podcast)

December 24, 2022 by Bob Cudmore 1 Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, Christopher Philippo, a historian from Bethlehem, NY, joins us. He is editor of The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories. Stories include “The Green Huntsman” and “The Christmas Ghost.” [Read more…] about Christmas Ghost Stories (Podcast)

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Christmas, Holidays, Podcasts

Puritans, Prussians, and the History of Christmas Cards

December 24, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 3 Comments

First Xmas card by John Callcott HorsleyNew York has important associations with the formation of what is now considered a traditional American Christmas. “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (a.k.a. “Twas The Night Before Christmas”) was first published in the Troy Sentinel in 1823; The Albany Evening Journal ran an advertisement on December 17, 1841, that is believed to be the first time Santa Clause was used to advertise a store; and America’s first Christmas card was published in Albany in 1850/51.

Recently two rare printings of the first commercially printed Christmas card, published in England, have been announced for sale at auction. The cards depicts a family toasting with glasses of red wine. Commissioned by Henry Cole and designed by John Callcott Horsley, it carries the message “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” [Read more…] about Puritans, Prussians, and the History of Christmas Cards

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Christmas, Cultural History, Holidays, Religious History

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

December 24, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

America's First Christmas Card, Designed and printed by Richard H. Pease for his "Pease's Great Variety Store in the Temple of Fancy" c.1851. Image courtesy of Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections.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

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, New Exhibits Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Albany Institute of History & Art, Art History, Christmas, Cultural History, Holidays, Instagram, Pop Culture History

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.

Enjoy! [Read more…] about Holiday Humor: Regional Letters to Santa from Long Ago

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Christmas, Holidays, Santa Claus

This Holiday Season Record Your Family’s Oral History

December 23, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Oral History Home InterviewsBy combining technology with time-honored techniques of interviewing and storytelling, this holiday season can be an ideal time for people to hear and preserve eyewitness accounts of life experiences from loved ones for future generations, says an historian at Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History. [Read more…] about This Holiday Season Record Your Family’s Oral History

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Christmas, Genealogy, Holidays, Oral History, Social History

Yule Logs & Firewood Science

December 23, 2022 by Paul Hetzler 1 Comment

illustration of people collecting a Yule log from Chambers Book of Days (1832)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

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: Christmas, Forestry, Holidays, Logging, nature, trees

Christmas Traditions in Colonial New York

December 23, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

History Twins PodcastIn 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

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Christmas, Holidays, New Netherland, Podcasts, Washington Irving

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