One of the first documented Christmases in Canada was celebrated in 1604 by explorers De Monts and Champlain on the St Croix River, separating present-day New Brunswick and Maine. Little is known about the earliest seasonal activities, but newspaper archives and other sources provide colourful illumination from the 19th century onward. Forge on, gentle reader.
Cosy yourself up to a hearth and test your learnedness.
One of the first documented Christmases in Canada was celebrated in 1604 by explorers De Monts and Champlain on the St Croix River, separating present-day New Brunswick and Maine. Little is known about the earliest seasonal activities, but newspaper archives and other sources provide colourful illumination from the 19th century onward. Forge on, gentle reader.
Sir Martin Hunter and his wife were stationed in Fredericton in the early part of the 19th century. Missing the Christmas festivities back in England, they decorated the stables with greens, and held lavish feasts. In letters to England, Lady Hunter assured her mother, who wanted to send her a Christmas gift, “we have all the necessities, and even many of what are termed luxuries of life are cheap and abundant.” However, there was one activity in the so-called “gay season” that she detested: the all night “gregorys.” What were these?
A Sleigh rides on the river
B A New Year’s ball
C An early form of karaoke
D Card parties
The answer is D: Gregorys were “…stupid card parties, where you are crammed with tea, coffee, cakes… cold turkey, ham and a profusion of tarts and sweetmeats; punch, wine, porter, liquors… these parties are no joke.”
A Wilkie Collins
B Edgar Allan Poe
C Charles Dickens
D Bram Stoker
C: It was Dickens. He gave a mock speech from the throne at the Parliament Buildings and visited several other public houses. On a trip to America in 1867 he was invited to visit Halifax again, but declined.
Since 1742, when first performed in Dublin, Handel’s Messiah has been a staple of the classical music world for orchestras and choral singers on both sides of the Atlantic. The famed “Hallelujah Chorus” was first performed in Halifax in 1789. What religious observance was it composed for?
A Christmas
B Feast of St. John the Baptist
C Easter
D Thanksgiving
C: It was composed to be performed during Lent or at Easter, although it has become part of the classic Christmas canon.
Lighthouses are an integral part of the Atlantic Canadian landscape, but only one can claim to be a Christmas light. In 1831, after commerce and consequently shipping had increased in Saint John, NB, merchants deemed it necessary to erect a lighthouse. The lightkeeper, Captain Lamb, first lit the lamp on December 24, 1831. Santa then had a bold beam to lead him to the seasonal celebrations at Lamb’s new island home. What was the island’s name?
A Long Island
B Partridge Island
C Brier Island
D Gannet Rock
D: Gannet Rock, which is 10 kilometres south of Grand Manan.
Belcher’s Farmer’s Almanac was described in the Digby Courier in December 1890 as “an old time favourite, appearing as the season comes around.” Halifax bookseller Clement Horton Belcher began publishing it in 1824, and it continued to be a popular Christmas gift until 1930. The 1890 edition was described in the Courier as dealing with “matters connected with trade, commerce, agriculture, shipping.” How much did it cost?
A 12 cents
B 20 cents
C 50 cents
D 99 cents
A: It was 12 cents, at a time when 20 cents was a typical hour’s wage for top tradesmen, although many made half that working a 10-hour day.
In the 1880s, the Newfoundland Legislature had laws prohibiting lotteries, but Christmas Cake Lotteries were so popular that they were an exception: it was “lawful during seasonal general festivity to hold Cake, Bazaars and other lotteries.” Thus, St. Johners could legally flock to the bakeries for their marzipan-decorated cakes, and throw dice to try to win the one they fancied. On December 17, 1885, “Fair Play” wrote to the Evening Telegram complaining about the lotteries. His beef?
A Too thin icing
B No rum in the cakes
C Dirty premises
D Favouritism
D: Very un-Christmas in style, the seller was scooping up the dice before the dots could be counted, and awarding the cake to friends.
The wren was a Boxing Day tradition in Ireland and England that was transferred to Newfoundland. Historically, it entailed hunting a wren, tying it to a pole and parading around town, asking the townspeople for donations to host a dance. At some point there was no actual hunt; the wrens were cardboard effigies fastened to a stick handle. As early as 1842, Lieutenant Colonel Sir Richard Bonnycastle, a Newfoundlander, wrote a poem that children might recite as they went door to door with “wren sticks” and a tin cup, asking for a penny or two to bury the wren. What Newfoundland tradition does this closely compare to?
A Halloween
B Mummering
C Penny Theatre
D Buskering
B: Mummering, another Christmastime house-visiting tradition. People disguise themselves, typically using whatever they have around the house, and visit several neighbours throughout an evening. Once identified, mummers remove their masks and are offered food and drink—the stranger becomes the friend.
Leading up to Christmas in 1885, churches and schools were closed, steamships were quarantined, businesses were shuttered, travellers were detained… and it appeared that Christmas would be cancelled on Prince Edward Island. Merchants reported hard times, given they had stocked up for the season. What was the outbreak?
A Polio
B Diphtheria
C Tuberculosis
D Smallpox
D: Smallpox. Although inoculation against the disease was available, it was widely mistrusted. By December 10th, 88 smallpox cases had been admitted to the Charlottetown hospital and 34 people had died from the virus. By mid December, although there were still new cases being reported and the schools remained closed, the churches began to reopen and shops picked up business. The disease was on the wane.
Robert T. Holman began his merchandising empire in Summerside, PEI, in the middle of the 19th century when store-bought Christmas gifts were becoming popular. He was described in the December 1887 Summerside Journal as having a “simply immense” inventory, and his policy was to “show the goods even if they don’t buy.” Holman’s store took up an entire block of downtown Summerside. However, his staff was not always happy with him because he:
A Paid low wages
B Opened on Sunday
C Had night hours
D Had staff dress as Santa
B: An atheist, Holman opened on Sunday and religious holidays.
It was in 1846 on Coburg Road that Haligonians first saw a decorated Christmas tree in Atlantic Canada, erected by merchant William Pryor to please his German wife, Barbara. Nova Scotians slowly embraced the idea; by 1900, most homes had a tree and farmers began selling the ubiquitous balsam fir to US markets. The most famed tree exported annually graces the plaza of the Prudential Center in what US city?
A Philadelphia
B Las Vegas
C New York
D Boston
D: It’s Boston. Since the early 70s, a 50-foot tree is sent annually as a thank you offering for Bostonian kindness following the Halifax Explosion, in 1917.
On December 18, 1887, New Brunswickers saw a live department store Santa for the first time on Saint John’s King Street. His appearance drew many to the store window, watching as he climbed out of a chimney and filled two stockings. Reports of the incident noted “the street was blocked with an expectant…youthful audience.” Two ladies fainted, and the store had to drop the blinds in order to encourage the crowd to leave. In what store did this happen?
A Scovil Brothers
B Manchester Robertson Allison
C Thorne’s Ltd.
D Turner and Finley
B: Manchester Robertson Allison was one of the first to do this in Canada. It later held the first Eastern Canada Santa Claus Parade, in 1951.
Many Maritime children grew up thinking they were the only recipients of stockings with gifts—such as fruit, nuts and candy—on New Year’s morning. The tradition goes back at least as far as the early 20th century, although it seems to have died out in the current generation. The gifts were believed to have come from a variety of mythical visitors, depending on where you lived: Shealah was the New Year’s Santa in McAdam, NB; Little Nose and Jennifer Duck in Charlottetown; and Johnny New Year in Tide Head, NB. The custom appears to have been more widespread than many realized, especially on New Brunswick’s remote Campobello Island. Who was the gift giver there known as?
A Mother Shipton
B Mother Goose
C Mother Mary
D Mother Goody
D: Mother Goody, which seems to be a Scottish gift giver, though early settlers to the island were typically Welsh.