Dining Under Difficulties in a Civil War Stockade
A Lincoln era reminiscence recalls a Thanksgiving 1864 spent in a Florence South Carolina stockade. Three men save six spoonfuls daily for a Christmas feast using gookas and corn meal, cooking in a improvised gunboat over a primitive fire. The tale ends with a rare meal and lingering hunger thoughts. Also notes Santa Claus and New York Christmas observances with charitable giving.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John
Florence
South Carolina
Electric Illuminator Christmas Spirit In Harper's Drawer
Charles Dudley Warner argues Christmas warms December despite London fogs and English literature. He praises December’s glow, festive charity, and the Drawer’s aim to spread goodwill year round, condemning post holiday bills and urging continued generosity.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Charles Dudley Warner
Harper's Drawer
Pilgrim Fathers
England
London
Germany
Ghost story cliche critique urges original chills
The ghost tale critique urges writers of Christmas ghost stories to avoid overused lines. It laments a familiar waking in a haunted room and calls for fresh, original features rather than cliché exchanges and creaking stairs.
Do Oxen Knee on Christmas Eve in England and Canada
The piece notes a southwest England belief that oxen kneel in stalls at midnight on Christmas Eve, linked to early paintings of the Nativity. It cites a Cornish observer from 1790 and a Canada anecdote about an Indian at midnight signaling quiet to witness deer kneeling to the Great Spirit on Christmas night.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
England
Brand
Howison
Upper Canada
Christmas in New York and Dutch origins of the feast
The piece traces Manhattan Christmas to Dutch settlers and New Amsterdam, noting cherished foods like crullers and doughnuts as essential, and mentions St Lucia as part of the celebration.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Manhattan
New York
Orst
Manhattan Island
New Amsterdam
Lue Weriuy
Mark Twain on Santa Claus and the Hermit Saint
Mark Twain reflects on Santa Claus in Switzerland noting St. Nicholas as a friend to children but not to his own ten offspring. He recounts legends of Pilate and Nicholas, mentions Nicholas bones in Sachseln, and describes the saint’s hermit life with monthly communion and daily fasting.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mark Twain
Switzerland
Santa Claus
St. Nicholas
Pilate
Pilatus
Sachseln
Christmas memories on the plantation from a Southern lady
A Southern narrator recalls Christmas on the plantation in slave days, describing dawn singing, festive rituals, and present-making. She notes the contrast between the joyous holiday and the surrounding darkness of slavery, yet highlights Christmas as a bright memory etched in history.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Christ
Peter
James
John
Freeaman
Mistletoe and Mythic Kisses Across Christmas Lore
A professor discusses how mistletoe, ivy, and holly link to ancient rites and Dionysian symbols. The article notes kissing under mistletoe, legends of Eden, and the plant’s festive display in English homes, ending with a plea for lasting, fear-free romance beyond Christmas.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bacchus
Eden
England
Jane
Christmas carols and the old English Waits tradition
The article explains how Christmas carols are named in various languages and recalls the historical English custom of Waits, bands that sang carols on Christmas Eve, rang church bells, and received nut brown ale or small fees. It notes the practice persists in some villages and in a New England town with a mill.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Germany
France
England
New England
Origin and Early Celebration of the Day
The article traces Christmas origins from pagan Saturnalia and German Twelve Nights, noting how early Christians fixed December as the season. It describes Yule peace customs, festive license, and cross-cultural adaptations across Scandinavia, Italy, England, Scotland, and Germany, with tales of gifts, misrule, and seasonal rites. It highlights mistletoe, holly, Yule log, and various country practices, along with Christmas meals and social duties for messengers and officials.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Julius I
Rome
Christ
England
Devonshire
Swabia
Europe
Poland
Christmas pasts and festive feasts across old world
A nostalgic survey traces Christmas customs from England to Jamaica and the New World, noting feasting dishes, Yule traditions, and the spread of trees and Santa. It recalls how festive masks and plays linked to conspiracies and medieval escapes, with histories of notable plots and warriors exploiting the season’s revelry.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Wille
Cornwall
Gloucestershire
Case
New World
Jamaica
Germany
Holland
Belgium
France
Chatel
Henri Quatre
Richard II
Bolingbroke
Henry III
Guise
Henry V
Cesar Borgia
Orsini
Fiesco
Uguesolins
Douglasses
Mannys
St Nicholas Santa Claus Patron of Children worldwide
The article traces St Nicholas as patron saint of children from Myra in Lycia to Western reverence since the tenth century, detailing legends, miracles, feast day on December 6, and how he is depicted in Europe. It covers Amsterdam’s Dutch traditions, the role of the bishop in rediscussing gifts, and widespread customs across Holland Belgium and neighboring regions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Nicholas
Santa Claus
New York
Old Amsterdam
England
Charles Dickens
Amsterdam
Nicholas
Myra
Lycia
Constantine the Great
Europe
Russia
Holland
Switzerland
Germany
Netherlands
William of Orange
Sunder Klaas
Belgium
Sue
Boson
Katy
Milly
Hill of Galilee
Manger
Bethlehem
Scotland
Santa Claus Ball and Toyland Welfare Night
A Harriman Harpers Weekly inspired Santa Claus ball in Toyland scenes a northern lights venue with dolls and reins, mothers, a Zouave, and a witch. Dolls recount neglect and overstudy of children, urging mothers to support play and family time while Santa pledges to defend their needs and restore balance to holiday joys.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Santa Claus
Harpers
Toyland
Mount Hecla
Hecla
Velles
American
Lapland
Jack Frost
Boreas
Sapa
Christmas Verses and Carols From Historic Poets
A collage of Christmas poetry and carol lines by T Buchanan Read Charles Mackay Leigh Hunt Harriet McEwen Kimball and others. The fragment highlights festive imagery, moral reflections, and the theme of sharing bread between rich and poor during the Christmas season.
Christmas Bells and Dickens Christmas Thoughts
A reflective Christmas passage exhorts joy, charity, and communal spirit through ancient feasts and Dickens quotes. It recalls old customs, shared meals, and the timeless wish to keep Christmas in the heart year round, highlighting warmth, generosity, and universal goodwill.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dickens
Christmas Chant Yells Of Sacred Morning
A festive verse notes Christmastide with lights aglow and panels ringing. Children sing as all creatures hail the morning of the holy birth.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Christ
Also Mentioned on This Page
Shebang
Kentucky
Otto
New Yorks
Nick
Sweden
Senate
Italy
Scott
Bess
Asses
Austria
America
Polly
Mary
Kate
Mamma
Sophia
Bell
Mama
Tommy
Izzie
Betty
Charlie
Molly
Josephine
Bois de Boulogne
Zouave
Vell
Doris
Coonel Ellsworth
Erly
Ellsworth
Claus
Peter Parlegians
Biddy
Dinah
Papa
Eer
Cock Robin
Manesea
Manesea and Davies
Jack the Giant Killer
Dumas
de Stael
Mother Goose
Watts
Cock-Crow
Dr. Holland
Christendom
Shackerap
Tennyson
Prince of Peace
St. Stephen's Day
Firs
Thomas Miller
T. Buchanan
Charles Mackay
Leigh Hont
iHarriet McEwen Kimball
The
Kingdom of the Child
F. L. Mace
John G. Whittier
Charles Kingsley
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Nazareth
N. W. Chadwick
Sudbury
W. Parsons
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!