Christmas was not always a major holiday in America. The early Puritans did not celebrate it, and on the frontiers of northern Michigan, it took a while to catch on.
'Twas the night before Christmas in 1858 ... but you'd never know it by reading the Dec. 24 issue of the Grand Traverse Herald.
Church services, Sunday school pageants, Christmas trees and carols celebrating the birth of the Baby Jesus -- if there were any -- went unreported. And St. Nick, that "right jolly old elf" who made you laugh in spite of yourself, failed to appear in the weekly that year.
Instead, readers could feast their eyes on the astounding attributes of a "large cabbage" grown by Elihu Dewing, of Glen Arbor, that weighed more than 15 pounds and measured 46 inches around with 15 inches of solid head across.
Those less enthralled by vegetables could sift through the Grand Traverse County treasurer's annual report, ponder a sad story about the revival of the slave trade, or learn about the new settlement of Brownstown at the portage of Torch Lake and Grand Traverse Bay.
The closest thing to a Christmas advertisement was a front-page notice from S.A. McClelland of Northport, a dealer in "Dry Goods, Groceries, Yankee Notions, Hardware, Tin Ware, Hats and Caps, Boots and Shoes, Doors Sash, Door Trimmings...and All the Articles Usually Found in a Country Store."
No toys, and very little you'd want to hang on a holiday cabbage leaf. Still scant in the 1860s were Christmas ads, stories or even mention of gift-giving or local observances. They didn't begin to pick up until after the arrival of the city's first railroad in 1872. Those first ads look curiously quaint today.
Hannah, Lay & Co. advertised "Toys, Fancy Candies, Presentation Books, Etc., Etc. for Gifts." The store also offered "Just The Thing" for a Christmas present: A beautiful Lace-Edged Handkerchief and Lace Collar. VERY PRETTY AND CHEAP."
Other Hannah-Lay ads pitched "a large lot of new pork" that just came in on the last boats, flannels, fancy cassimeres (a form of twilled cloth) stoves, buffalo robes and lap robes, horse blankets, sleigh bells and single bells.
Hurlburd Brothers offered print dry goods for 10 cents per yard, adding: "Unscrupulous parties will tell you the Calicos we sell for 10 cents are inferior goods. Don't be deceived but examine for yourselves and compare."
By 1877, the importance of Christmas was solidly evident. A Dec. 27, 1877, story described the holiday trimmings and decorations at the Methodist Church: "The side windows were draped in green and small trees placed in he windows. The rear of the church spanned by an evergreen arch upon which was the motto, 'Merry Christmas' in frosted letters. This was lighted by Chinese lanterns."
"Oysters, Oysters, the Celebrated Diamond Brand" were for sale at Winnie & Stevens grocery store in 1878, while City Drug Store owner E.E. Miller had: "Candy! Candy! Candy!" and "Furs! Furs! Furs!"
The Herald hawked wares, too. "Get a package of those New Year's cards at the Book Store and bring them to the Herald office and have them printed."
That year, too, the Herald's Home Department editor M.E.C. Bates, wife of publisher Thomas Bates, filled her page with tips on making inexpensive presents and ornaments at home. She also reminded readers to remember "the little ones of the poor."
"Christmas is becoming a day of such general observance in the United States that the great city dailies have several columns of dispatches regarding it from all parts of the country," the Herald reported on Dec. 28, 1882.
In that same issue, readers learned about a party at the J.W. Milliken residence for 50 children "who otherwise would have been without any substantial recognition of the day.
"A long table was provided with 50 plates, 50 Christmas candles, 50 cards bearing the names of the children present, and each child was given a dress, or pair of pants as the case might be, shoes, stockings, mittens or some useful article, and all had confectionery, nuts, raisins.... A beautiful tree stood midway of the table trimmed with Christmas gifts...It was a happy crowd of youngsters and it was a good work done."
The first stirrings of Hanukkah may have been felt on Dec. 26, 1883, when the local Hebrew congregation opened its new synagogue doors for a 2 p.m. service for the general public.
By 1885, the Herald was already publishing a Christmas Extra. By 1888, the papers were loaded with ads and news of masquerade balls, Christmas services, a Santa Claus cantata, a Christmas tree at the Baptist church, Christmas carols and holiday stories galore.
The Traverse Bay Eagle, the Herald reported, also increased its usual eight pages to sixteen because of holiday advertising. "Traverse City has not, in many years, gone into the winter with so good a general business feeling as now," the Herald sang. "There is every prospect of a prosperous year during 1889."
By 1890, Christmas had become a firmly established "tradition" in Traverse City.
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