TIME MACHINE ... Christmas Eve, 1897

(Reader-friendly viewing of newspaper archives material)

　

　

ACROSS THE USA

It appears from this article that more than a century ago it was Christmas eve that was the most anticipated time for holiday shopping.

　

December 24, 1897

(Woodland Daily Democrat- Woodland, California)

CHRISTMAS EVE

Children Will Catch A Glimpse Of Fairyland

People With Christmas Memories In Their Minds And Christmas Cheer In Their Hearts

Those who have had the opportunity to watch the people surge up and down the street this afternoon know is has been a busy day for the merchants, and without the use of the calendar they could easily determine the date. Indeed, if a resident of one of the planets could drop in on us unannounced he would know it was the day before Christmas on account of the industrious manner in which people are picking up odds and ends to fill the toe and heel of the Christmas stocking and add to the happiness of Santa Claus' day.

And this holiday rush will continue far into the evening because Christmas Eve is everybody's evening. It is the evening when all take the evening off from the ordinary occupations of their ordinary existences and spend that evening down town in the interests of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is the evening when the day laborer and the capitalist rejoice together in common cause that work is over, at least for a brief season. It is the evening when the best girl shares the pleasure of the best young man. It is the evening when whole families of young children get their first glimpse of the fairyland of Christmas and of the treasures piled high behind protecting windows, and of the white-whiskered and mysterious old man who shakes their hands, takes their names and promises them on the fairth of a Santa Claus a present of a doll or a drum on Christmas morning.

This evening being Christmas eve the electric lights on the streets, the electric lights over the store entrances, the electric lights that mist fantastically across the facade of tall buildings will flare their brightest radiance for the benefit and happiness of the passing throng. Windows will blaze with twinkling jets and reflect the shades of tinted glows upon the colors of the goods below. Light and darkness will chase each other up and down a continuous chain decorating the edge of our tallest structures. Lights will flicker from the branches of the Christmas trees and gladden the hearts of the children.

Christmas eve is the night when the green foliage of Christmas brings a breath of spring, and this evening it will be a cheerful spectacle to see the bright holly leaves, shining with the seasons good will, the hollie berries, red as the season's charity, the mistletoe hinting at furture pleasures and the joys of future frolics, the evergreens filling the streets with Christmas odors and the minds of the passing throng with Christmas memories and their hearts with Christmas cheer. This evening windows will blaze with light and glow with color. Pavements will resound with noisy clamor. Stores that are filled with a bewildering wealth of holiday treasures will be thronged with eager, admiring purchasers. But after all it will be the people who give life and animation to the spectable that will make the scene worth seeing, and the night worth living. It will be a crowd to watch and mingle in, to become part of it in the pleasure, in contentment, in wonder and in that satisfactory feeling of accomplished work and anticipated rest.

　

　

　

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