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[Audio] What Christmas was Like for Farm Families in 1850

Matt Markgraf, WKMS

This holiday season, many families will decorate Christmas trees and front yards with dazzling electric lights, travel long-distance, maybe hundreds of miles to visit relatives, or turn up the central heat and do some online shopping for gifts. A lot has changed about how we celebrate and survive the winter months over the past 160 years. On Sounds Good, Matt Markgraf speaks with Land Between the Lakes Homeplace Lead Interpreter Cindy Earls about how farm families celebrated Christmas in 1850.

Christmas in 1850

Christmas trees were small and often propped up on tabletops. They had simple, homemade decorations and strings of popcorn. There'd be greens on the mantle decorated in ribbons and bows. The controversy at the time was whether Santa put presents on the tree or in the stocking. Young men would get knives to start their lifelong work with wood. Young ladies would get a doll or ribbon. A husband may give his wife some pins and needles for her sewing. Women would make socks, mittens and hats for their family, using raw material like sheep wool.

Oranges and other types of fresh fruit would have been a rare treat for families in the winter. Cindy Earls says that when children visit their Christmas event at the Homeplace, Santa gives them oranges, which she says surprises her that the kids today are enthusiastic to receive one.

Winter Months on the 1850s Farm

In the winter months, animals grew out their winter coats. Mules and oxen get fluffy, heavy coats. They're comfortable grazing during the winter. When it snows, they'd go in the barn. At the Homeplace, the animals are kept at a modern facility during these months. But on the farm, they would have taken care of themselves.

The dress of the period was several layer of clothes. Earls says it would have been harder in the summer to stay cool than in the winter staying warm. Where you might have worn cotton and linens, in the winter you'd add a layer of wool. Since there wouldn't be any bathing in the winter, they didn't have to worry about getting wet and catching a cold.

In the winter months, men would take on other occupations. When there's no crops to tend, they might be woodworkers. Earls recalls historical documents where one man made chairs in the winter months and sold them in the spring. For women, there's always work, such as washing clothes for the family when it's 30 degrees outside and trying to get everything dry without freezing. They'd also work on hand sewing quilt tops for bed coverings.

Land Between the Lakes website

Matt Markgraf joined the WKMS team as a student in January 2007. He's served in a variety of roles over the years: as News Director March 2016-September 2019 and previously as the New Media & Promotions Coordinator beginning in 2011. Prior to that, he was a graduate and undergraduate assistant. He is currently the host of the international music show Imported on Sunday nights at 10 p.m.
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