JACKSONVILLE, OR—Historic Jacksonville, Inc. will celebrate the Victorian Christmas Boxing Day tradition on Wednesday, December 26, 2018 – when all Victorian Christmas tours of Jacksonville’s historic Beekman House Museum will be $2 per person with a canned good donation for ACCESS. ACCESS is a local organization that provides support services to help low-income families, seniors, and persons with disabilities gain self-sufficiency. If Beekman House visitors pay the full tour admission of $5 on the 26th, $3 of their admission will be donated to ACCESS.
Although Queen Victorian did not declare Boxing Day a national holiday until 1871, the tradition of giving money and other gifts to those in need can be traced to the Middle Ages. “Boxing Day” may be a reference to the church alms boxes that collected donations to the poor. It became the custom to open them and distribute the monies on St. Stephen’s Day, December 26. From at least the 17th Century, it was also a day off for servants who would take their families a ‘Christmas Box’ of gifts, bonuses, and leftover food.
Between 11am and 3pm on the 26th, Victorian costumed docents will share the origins of Boxing Day and many popular Christmas traditions and observances along with stories of Beekman family holiday festivities in the late 1800s. Tours last approximately 1-hour and begin every 15 minutes. No reservations are required.
The Beekmans, Jacksonville’s wealthiest and most prominent pioneer family, were the only ones to occupy their 470 E. California Street home, and their 1873 house remains completely furnished with family artifacts. The house is decorated for a 19th Century Victorian Christmas with items reflecting the family’s heritage as well as the holiday customs of Scandinavia, England, France and eastern Europe brought to Jacksonville by other pioneer families.
“Cornelius Beekman’s family was of Dutch ancestry; his wife’s family was German,” points out Carolyn Kingsnorth, President of Historic Jacksonville, Inc., the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides tours, events and programs at the Beekman House Museum throughout the year. “Their cultures contributed Santa Claus and Christmas trees to our current Christmas traditions. Other pioneers brought the holiday traditions of their homelands which have melded into how we celebrate Christmas today.”
Kingsnorth continues, “Our tours the day after Christmas revive another tradition from the Victorian era, that of Boxing Day. “Although Boxing Day’s origins are somewhat murky, it’s essentially a time of charity, giving money and gifts to the servants and the poor. That’s why we’re making ACCESS a beneficiary on the 26th. The community is always generous before the holidays. Our Boxing Day tours will help supplement local food banks during some of the leaner winter months. This way we’re not only celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, we’re extending the Christmas spirit into the new year!”
The C.C. Beekman House Museum is located at 470 E. California Street in Jacksonville. Parking is available on site. For additional information, contact 541-245-3650 or info@historicjacksonville.org, or visit www.historicjacksonville.org.