Christmas items from old newspapers remind us of the many holiday seasons that have transpired since New Bern’s founding. The Newbern Weekly Progress notice at right harks back to a day when the “information superhighway” was unpaved.
The New Bern Republican noted on December 25, 1866: “The Episcopal Church has been beautifully trimmed for the services to-day … festoons of evergreens reach from the posts to the ceiling, forming a beautiful arch; the altar is beautified with mottos and green leaves, and the galleries are adorned with wreathes and vines.”
The 1855 weather caught the attention of The Newbern Journal: “Christmas passed off here with as much spirit as could be expected, under the circumstances. The day was cloudy and rainy, and this state of things continued almost without intermission up to Saturday night, when the performance was concluded with a slight sprinkle of snow.”
Still being hawked in The New Bern Journal of January 25, 1856 were a “large assortment of articles suitable for holliday presents, such as Ladies Reticules [that’s a small handbag. We had to look it up.], perfumed baskets, scissors in cases, gold thimbles, Breast Pins, Ear-Rings, Finger-Rings, Watches and Chatalains [you may Google that one], setts of furs, Silk, Fine french-worked collars and sleeves, and every other article desirable for such occasions for sale at Harrison’s.”
“Christmas Cheer” was the Newbern Sentinel headline on January 11, 1823: “The day preceding Christmas, our market presented to view so vast a profusion of good things that the eye of the epicure … might have danced” and noting “a great surplus of Turkies in our market,” so great that several hundred were shipped out by steam brig to New York.
In the Bah! Humbug! Department, the Newbern Sentinel reported in 1831: “One of the Scotch Presbyterians, holding forth against the observance of Christmas, said ‘Ye will say, sirs! Good old yule day; I tell you, good old fool day! You will say it is a brave holiday; I tell you it is a brave belly-day!”
Confession is good for the soul, they say, so the Newbern Spectator came clean on January 5, 1838: “For the first time in nine years, we permitted the Christmas festivities to seduce us from our duty last week. This will account to our subscribers for the non-appearance of the paper at the usual time.”
As for Peace on Earth, the New Bern Republican of December 27, 1868 advised: “It is a remarkable coincidence that yesterday, the day after Christmas, there was not a single fight in the vicinity of the market. One man barely escaping falling off the wharf was all that they had for excitement there during the whole day.”
by Edward Ellis, Special Correspondent
Eddie Ellis is the author of New Bern History 101 and other works about Craven County’s rich heritage. He can be reached at flexspace2@aol.com.
More at edwardellis.com