Did you know that the Christmas celebration we know today was “reinvented” during the Victorian Era?
In England, under Oliver Cromwell, the Puritans had rejected all “frippery,” and during the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, workers were allowed little time for celebrations of any kind. December 25th had become just another workday.
Clement Moore’s poem, “Twas the Night before Christmas,” began changing that. But it was Dickens’ 1848 masterpiece, A Christmas Carol, that rekindled the celebration of Christmas in England and America.
Gayle Lewis,Beekman House Volunteer Docent
Experience a Victorian Christmas when Historic Jacksonville, Inc. opens the 1870s Beekman House for Victorian Christmas tours. Located at 470 E. California Street and once home to the town’s wealthiest and most prominent pioneer family, the house is decorated for a 19th Century celebration. Victorian costumed docents will be sharing stories of holiday festivities in the late 1800s along with the origins of many popular Christmas traditions that settlers from all over the world brought with them.
Find the good luck German pickle ornament on the Christmas tree. Steal a kiss under the mistletoe. Learn how holiday letters became Christmas cards. Hear how Santa’s appearance has changed over time. Sample one of Mrs. Beekman’s sugar cookies.
One-hour tours begin every 20 minutes between 12n and 3pm on Saturday, November 25, and then every Saturday and Sunday from December 2 through December 17. Tour admission is $10 for adults; $5 for children12 and under. Mrs. Beekman’s Christmas Bazaar is FREE! You’ll find information and tickets at https://www.historicjacksonville.org/victorian-christmas/.