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Georgetown Acton Wednesday Dec 19 C5 A took at Christmas past Holiday wasnt declared until 1849 Upper Canada in the when the legend of Santa Claim alias Saint Nicholas Father Christmas and Kris ingle began to grow in popularity considerable speculation his means of transportation Quick young minds sought solutions to the obvious dif ficulty of visiting so many homes in so short a period of time Christmas Eve According to the recently published Canadian Cfarbtmas Book by Caroline Carver the debate on a number of possibilities among them that Santa arrived a on b crossing the St Lawrence on a whale c riding a sled pulled by reindeer and finally d riding on thebackofagiantsuedturkey As Caroline said On Dasher on Dancer on on Turkey It easy to understand why the reindeer theme won wide acceptance and certainly has withstood the test of At Christmas it fun to look at how the season was celebrated a century or more ago and to learn where some of the tradi tlons we enjoy today have their roots Christmas in the mid 19th century was more festive than it was 75 years earlier In when United Empire Loyalists began settling the territory which eventually became Ontario Christmas was likely a somber occasion Having sought freedom in Canada from persecution in the United States following the American Revolution those early pioneers had little of material value a few clothes almost no food and inadequate shelter They huddled along the shores of the St Lawrence and Niagara Rivers fighting for survival and no doubt praying for better days ahead Better days did come Settlements and settlers prospered Many more people came to make their bomes here and gradually the Christmas traditions we know today began to take root According to Catharine Parr Trail who Canada in and who wrote The Canadian Settler Guide people bere did not observe the occasion as had been the custom in England She wrote When I first came to Canada I was much surprised at the cold Indifference which most people snowed in the observance of Christmas Day with the exception of the few residing English families the church was scantily attended For in those days there was no dressing of the houses or churches with evergreens as Is now so generally the custom But while the nativity of our Lord was little regarded all its honor and glory was conferred on the New Year s day The religious Christmas day was celebrated by Anglicans Catholics and German Lutherans then Those of Scottish descent who were mainly Presbyterian made New Year a day a festival That year Catharine set out to decorate the home were she was a guest as she would have done in England Evergreen boughs were draped over doors and picture frames and along mantles In the absence of holly Catharine used cranberry boughs The cranberry bushes were plentiful in the Upper Canada bogs common to the mid countryside Of particular delight to young people was the practice of fashioning a kissing bough from which was hung in a convenient passage Under the bough a lady could not refuse a kiss Catharine s Christmas activities at first amused her host and hostess but before long they became accepted traditions of the Christmas trees had long been a favorite title fid time lo tun friends old and nett a German tradition before the idea spread to England during Queen Victoria Royal family set up trees for their own children and the practice became popular throughout England when an engraving of the Queen and Prince Albert standing next to a tree was published in The Loudon in 1MB Upper Canada German population Intro duced the Christmas tree here and strengthened by the additional influence of British acceptance of the custom the Christmas tree began to be used in Canada by the mid century Tree decorations included garlands of popcorn and cranberries decorated cookies handmade shapes such as cor and drums and small handmade toys tufts of colored fleece and dried apple slices The apple slices were tasty treats for the children on Christmas day Tapered candles completed the tree decorations however these were carefully placed and were lit for only a few minutes at a time Fire was such a constant threat that as a caution buckets of water were kept near the tree Glass decorations did not become popular until the late lBOOs Girt giving entered the celebrations in the middle of the century but was usually reserved for the children Practical gifts such as homemade mittens and socks were most common but occasionally doll or a small whittled toy could be found hanging from the branches of the Christmas tree As consumer products and more money became available storebought gifts replaced the homemade ones A store ad vertlsed lead toys marbles musical work men toy dogs horses and rabbits mouth harps boats chairs and Noah Arks Christmas became an official holiday In Canada in Christmas cards imported from England gained popularity in the 1C60 and Canadian printers offered their own on the market in the 1870s As with all the other traditions the Christmas feasting we enjoy today evolved over the decades as more food became available and imports were easier to obtain Catharine Parr Trail feasted on goose fattened on the nee beds of ponds and rivers She wrote that turkeys were found only on old cleared farms and that beef was only available when an ox was slaughtered to save it from a natural death By the second half of the century however turkey was a popular Christmas repast Plum pudding with burning brandy and mincemeat pic nuts and parted fruits completed the feast In the AWTRENTON DENTURE THERAPIST MAIN ST GEORGETOWN isolated parts of the province none of these delicacies could be easily obtained except perhaps for a few oranges One man who remembered fondly the Christmas pudding of his past attempted to create one In the midst of the Upper Canada wilderness but lamented that without the proper ingredients even though we ate It It was awful After the meal children and adults would gather in the parlor to play chess back gammon whist a Buff and Queen This last was a game in which the prettiest girl In the room was seated In a chair Young men were blindfolded and bad to find their way to her to steal a kiss When success was near an aged relative was substituted for the young girl Tils game delighted Victorians Another game which was particularly popular was Snapdragon Raisins and currants were placed in a large bowl filled with brandy which was set afire The object of the game was to snatch the raisins out of the bowl and pop them Into the mouth without burning the fingers 8772359 Merry Christmas i fin PENNIESWORTH CMntignrrwrt Sheppe AUTO Main St William WwBlbCLOSD during wishes our friends CHRISTMAS J Store Hours Monday to Friday 9 a m 9 p m Coffee Donuts Saturday 5 8778889 Happy PETTY BROTHERS GARAGE LTD Atn St Roc wood TO WISH YOU the t of is a fan a I ends of me an extended Chratmas and Now Yea CLOSED December January Don Anne Carol Ken MAIN STREET NOBTH ACTON and Staff at the extend to and iioute tills season fill Holies lHlff peace llfct JJFW con men during flifeh Jo Anns Cvofcna Holland Shop DOWNTOWN ACTON christmas greetings of lb holiday be your MANAGEMENT AND STAFF THOMPSON FUELS Heres to You A toast to you our loyal patrons for bringing us another success year Were looking forward to serving you now and in the future RESTAURANT PIZZERIA Lie under LLBO DOWNTOWN ACTON HOLIDAY GEORGETOWN TIRE SALES LTD St Georgetown 8731605 or 1608