Christmas Traditions in Billings as Frontier Town Grows
Historian recalls early Montana Christmas customs in Billings from 1880s to 1890s. Churches hosted services and festive concerts while stores staged raffles, sleds, and dances. Accounts describe a first Christmas with weather and social gatherings, a fatal incident among railroad workers, and communal charity as the town expanded toward 1,000 residents.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jeremiah Cokely
Patrick Dwyer
Billings
the Post
Montana
Billings Gazette
Mercury
Raffles
William Losekamp
Peyce
Sam Wilde
Coulson
Congregational Church
Christmas season in Billings highlights and ranch tales
The piece recalls a Billings Christmas with a four-masted ship on stage delivering candy and fruit, a courthouse service by Rev. Alfred Brown, a 40-couple dance at McKee’s Opera House, and abundant meals. It notes carol singing, gift trends, and home made candles on a Montana ranch. It mentions Meeteetse hospitality and a Meeteetse cattle camp Christmas with large feasts and music.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Alfred Brown
Episcopal Church
McKee
Tropical Fruit Store
Malaga
Florida
Baltimore
Key West
Billings
Harry M. Allen
George M. Hays
Coombs Brothers
Charles Burton
Montana
R. B. Crampton
Yellowstone
Ithac, M
New York
Meeteetse
Wyo
Otto Franc
Wyoming
Billings Herald
John Gleaver
George Marquette
Duncan McDonald
William Clark
Idaho
Joseph
Indian Territory
Clark
Nathaniel Pitt Langford
St. Paul
Granville Stuart
Historical Society of Montans
Captain Clark
Historical Society of Montana
Journal of
Lewis and Clark
C. A. Zimmerman
Metropolitan Opera House
The
Great Falls
15 Ways to a Man's Heart Recipes Advertised
A newspaper blurb promotes Gold Medal flour with a marketing line about wives cooking and a request offer. It touts the book 15 Ways to a Man's Heart as part of the promotion and notes ten cents request to the Gold Medal Flour company in Minneapolis.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gold Medal Flour Company
Minneapolis
Telephone Co expands Montana system upgrades
J N Whittinghill Montana manager says Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph completes 1932 construction program by January 1933. Projects include Missoula to Plains copper circuit 77 miles, Ravalli to Paradise pole line 34 miles, Thompson Falls to state line 52 miles, Helena area cable work, and toll circuits linking Shelby Glacier Park and Billings. Labor costs about half of expenditures. service quality improving with faster long distance connections and widespread interconnection.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Telephone Company
J. N. Whittinghill
Montana
Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company
Missoula
Thompson Falls
Plains
Ravalli
Paradise
Montana-Idaho State Line
Helena
United States Veterans’ Hospital
Fort Harrison
Glasgow
Red Lodge
Shelby
Cut Bank
Glacier Park
Billings
Forsyth
Basin
Butte-Helena
Savage
Crane
Glendive-Fort Union
Wolf Creek
Helena-Calgary
Butte
Anaconda
Deer Lodge
Lewistown
Bridger
Stevensville
Ryegate
White Sulphur Springs
Saco
Great Falls
Fort Benton
Hinsdale
Whittinghill
Whittinghild
Also Mentioned on This Page
Territory
W. H. Banfill
Kriss Kringle
Northwest
Billings Post
Mary A. Newman
John R. King
Miss Newman
O. N. Newman
Yellowstone Valley
W. J. Scott
Yellowstone County
California
Montana In
Rotogravure
U. S
Glacier
Last Chance
Alder
Grasshopper Glacier
Beartooths
Gate of Mountains
Robbers’ Roost
Virginia City
Beaverhead
Bonner
Polson
Kalispell
Boulder River
Mystic Lake
Eagle's Nest
Livingston
Gallatin Valley
Roundup
Alhambra
Drummond
Shining Mountains
Newman
Louis Newman
Havre
Charles M. Russell
University Club
San Francisco
Ass’n
Mont
Carson
Mr. Russell
Paul Danielson
Washington
D-B
Porkem
M. A
Stenferd
Deen
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!