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| Source: CatholicCompany web site. See link below. |
St. Francis of Assissi had a special devotion to the Child Jesus, and he is credited with creating the first nativity scene on Christmas Eve of the year 1223...
Here is the link about the first nativity scene.
https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/story-francis-assisi-first-navity-scene/
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... Christmas was kept much the same in mid-18th-century Virginia as it was in late 16th-century England.
Englishmen who came to the American colonies brought along their cultural traditions. In dress, manners, and social behavior, Virginia settlers tried to recreate the ambiance they had known back home. Their Christmas, like the English manors', evolved as an interval of leisure to enjoy feasting, visiting, dancing, and games. Even in Virginia's critical early days, the settlers did not forget Christmas. Captain John Smith wrote in 1609 that he kept “Christmas amongst the Salvages: where wee were never more merrie, nor fedde on more plentie of good oysters, fish, flesh, wild fowle, and good bread, nor better fires in England then in the drie warme smokie houses of Kecoughtan.” Kecoughtan is now part of Hampton...
Seashells make good ornaments and decorations. I showed some examples yesterday.
Here is the link for more about Christmas in colonial Virginia.
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... Christmas was kept much the same in mid-18th-century Virginia as it was in late 16th-century England.
Englishmen who came to the American colonies brought along their cultural traditions. In dress, manners, and social behavior, Virginia settlers tried to recreate the ambiance they had known back home. Their Christmas, like the English manors', evolved as an interval of leisure to enjoy feasting, visiting, dancing, and games. Even in Virginia's critical early days, the settlers did not forget Christmas. Captain John Smith wrote in 1609 that he kept “Christmas amongst the Salvages: where wee were never more merrie, nor fedde on more plentie of good oysters, fish, flesh, wild fowle, and good bread, nor better fires in England then in the drie warme smokie houses of Kecoughtan.” Kecoughtan is now part of Hampton...
During the holiday season, Colonial Williamsburg doors and windows are wreathed in arrangements fashioned of natural materials. This boxwood construction is accented with holly, pine, apples, and feathers. Among other popular accents are oranges, pineapples, and seashells...
Seashells make good ornaments and decorations. I showed some examples yesterday.
Here is the link for more about Christmas in colonial Virginia.
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The First American Christmas
The first Christmas celebration in what was later to become the continental United States took place in St. Augustine,Florida, in 1565 (for a list of entries treating American history and customs, see United States of America, Christmas in). Old documents inform us that Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales presided over a Christmas service held at the Nombre de Dios Mission in that year. The Shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Leche now marks this location.The town of St. Augustine boasts of being the oldest settlement founded by Europeans in what is now the United States. Still, residents of Tallahassee, Florida, suspect that an even earlier Christmas celebration may have been held near the site of their town. In 1539 a party of Spanish colonists, led by explorer Hernando de Soto (c. 15001542),camped near the place where Tallahassee now stands. Since the Spaniards stayed from October 1539 to March of the following year, some Floridians speculate that they must have celebrated Christmas there.
But who knows? There might have been others.
Here is that link.
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/America%2C+Christmas+in+Colonial
Of course Florida did not become a part of the United States until 1819.
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This is said to be the first artificial Christmas Tree. 124 years old and still being used.
Here is the link for more about that.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1336110/Worlds-oldest-Christmas-tree-makes-welcome-return--124th-year.html
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I had another post almost done but decided I wanted to do Christmas today.
Merry Christmas,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
