The New Year celebration far outstripped the celebration of Christmas in New England.
Tag: wassailing
CONNECTIONS: Christmas — as we know it — began in Stockbridge
Christmas as we know it—the trees and wreaths, bells and caroling, gifts and good food—is a 19th-century invention. The authors, literally, of the modern celebration were a Stockbridge spinster and a German immigrant: Catharine Sedgwick and Charles Follen.
CONNECTIONS: Puritans banned Christmas, Stockbridge restored it
The road from outlawing the celebration of Christmas to Christmas as we know it was a long one: 207 years from 1659 to 1856.