Orange County Historical Society celebrates the season
An old-fashioned Christmas is something many of us have yearned for, having heard echoes of a time when the most-celebrated holiday of the year was simpler and — perhaps — more heartfelt than in today’s busy and commercialized world. The Christmases of our ancestors were a time for family, homemade decorations and lovingly crafted gifts. Or maybe no decorations or gifts at all, but simply the gathering of loved ones to create a warmth that chased away the bitterness of winter’s chill.
Whatever the choices those people made long ago to observe Christmas, the Orange County Historical Society (OCHS) is this year once again offering the chance to revisit what might have been in those pioneer days.
Visitors will relive a sense of what Christmas may have been like in the 19th century, experiencing a taste of what Christmas was like long before shopping malls and convenience stores, before gifts were purchased online and everyone felt the need to have the latest thing.
Through a special holiday celebration at the historic Lindley House — the former home of early Orange County settler Thomas Elwood Lindley — visitors will relive a sense of what Christmas may have been like in the 19th century, experiencing a taste of what Christmas was like long before shopping malls and convenience stores, before gifts were purchased online and everyone felt the need to have the latest thing.
The OCHS will play host to an old-fashioned holiday event at the historic Lindley House on Sunday, Dec. 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. The historic site is located on the western edge of Paoli at 1563 W. Willow Creek Road.
The 170-year-old historic farm home will be decorated in part downstairs to reflect a simple 1860s Christmas past and will be open for informal touring. OCHS volunteers will be on site to share historic tidbits relating to the home site and serve up hot cider and cookies as well.
“While we are aware that traditionally the Lindley family, who were Quakers, would have very likely avoided any efforts of the period to commercialize Christmas, the event simply gives us an occasion just to open up the old farmhouse to our visitor friends one last time at season’s end and share some of the simple holiday traditions of the time period of the home itself.”
– Robert F. Henderson, OCHS President
“While we are aware that traditionally the Lindley family, who were Quakers, would have very likely avoided any efforts of the period to commercialize Christmas, the event simply gives us an occasion just to open up the old farmhouse to our visitor friends one last time at season’s end and share some of the simple holiday traditions of the time period of the home itself,” said OCHS President Robert F. Henderson.
Santa Claus, also sometimes referred to as Father Christmas, Kris Kringle and/or St. Nicholas, is a combination of many different legends and mythical creatures as told through the centuries by a multitude of culture and faiths. The modern image of Santa Claus had not fully solidified in the public’s eye until the latter half of the 19th century, when Thomas Nast’s drawing of the fat jolly elf with a bag full of presents appeared in Harper’s Weekly in the 1870s and 1880s.
Christmas literature of the time included “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” written by Clement Moore in 1822, and Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” which was published in in 1843. Christmas carols of the Lindley House era included “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” written in 1850, and “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” written in 1857.
Decorations during that period would have been very minimal indeed, added Henderson. Garland, holly and evergreen boughs possibly covering the mantle, pictures, lamps and door and window frames, and perhaps a sprig of mistletoe tucked in some opportunistic spot decorated the homes. The poinsettia became a popular decoration in the United States in the 1850s and spring bulbs forced to bloom were also popular.
Then, as now, the holidays were a time for special foods. A typical menu for a special holiday season may have included boned turkey, oysters, venison, biscuits, glazed fruit, fruitcake, citrus fruit, eggnog and hot coffee.
Popular gifts for boys and girls in the mid-19th century included wooden toys, popcorn balls and candy.
Adults often gave each other books, notepaper, pens, fancy perfumes and soaps.
The Lindley House has been restored to reflect the period of late 1850s to the mid-1860s when it was used as a farm home. Listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places since 1985, the house is normally open by appointment.
The Lindley House has been restored to reflect the period of late 1850s to the mid-1860s when it was used as a farm home. Listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places since 1985, the house is normally open by appointment.
There will be no charge to visit the house; however, donations are accepted to help preserve and maintain the home site.
OCHS is also finalizing plans for its upcoming Holiday Open House at the Orange County Historic Museum set for Sunday, Nov. 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. The event is being held in conjunction with the annual Paoli Merchants Christmas Open House being held that same day.
Artifacts and items of historical significance of Orange County’s rich and interesting history can be viewed during the event at the museum located on the northwest corner of the Courthouse Square in Paoli.
Visitors will find a treasure trove of memorabilia from throughout the years, including antique clothing, primitive farm tools and woodworking tools, church records, court records, books and a rare miniature English Tudor dollhouse with furnishings. The museum is in the historic Dr. J.H. Sherrod House, circa 1885.
A one-room schoolhouse has been re-created upstairs at the museum, reflecting the early American period, along with a period doctor’s office. •
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the present-day OCHS. For more information, visit historicorangecounty.org.
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