A JOLLY, FAT PRO-MILITARY SYMBOL, FRENCH HOOCH, AND FANCY COOKIN' - THE HOLIDAYS, GILDED AGE STYLE

We all remember our kindergarten teacher telling us about the first Thanksgiving as we traced our hands to turn them into turkeys. Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate abundance, to be thankful for what we have. In 1621 the Pilgrims held first Thanksgiving to thank God for shelter and that they didn't die of starvation and disease because the Pilgrims did not know crap about survival and Indigenous People saved their white asses. Thanksgiving was made a national holiday in 1863, but whomever was President fixed the day of celebration, usually anytime between October and January. In the 1940s Thanksgiving became about family and tradition to keep up support for World War II. In 1941 FDR made the fourth Friday in November the official Thanksgiving holiday.

Gilded Age Thanksgiving was a day to say thanks for the millions of dollars in your bank account by showing off your fancy clothes at restaurants and hotel dining rooms. And Gilded Age diners didn't partake of jelly beans, popcorn, and toast like the Peanuts gang. Restaurants like Delmonico's and hotel dining rooms like the Waldorf offered elaborate feasts. The tradition continued until about the 1920s when Prohibition put an end to dining out for the holiday.

Queen Victoria, ruler of all things everywhere, help lock in Christmas traditions by embracing the customs her beloved Prince Albert observed in Germany, like Christmas trees and exchanging greeting cards. Gilded Agers spared no expense on decorations, gifts, and holiday dinners. Decorations and Christmas cards began being mass-produced and ornaments were more easily imported from Europe. No more construction paper angels or popsicle stick nutcracker soldiers. Ornaments were wax and spun glass ; and trees of course had to be lit up by that newfangled electric light.

We of course have Black Friday as our major shopping holiday, but given the rampant wealth of the Gilded Age, everyday was Black Friday. Elevated trains help make shopping easier, and electricity illuminated shop windows and highlighted the wares available for gift giving. Gifts given at Gilded Age Christmas time could be elaborate social statements - proof of extreme wealth. But even more of a statement than the gift inside the wrapping was the wrapping itself. As with decorations and cards, wrapping paper also became mass produced. Gifts were prior wrapped in plain white paper but now with paper in a variety of colors and prints gifts became an elaborate statement of wealth. Of course after exchanging gifts an elaborate dinner was served.  

And the Jolly Fat man who was supposed to be the bringer of those gifts? Have you ever thought about how you know what Santa looks like? Our concept of Santa comes from Harper's Weekly political cartoonist Thomas Nast. Nast brought down corrupt Tammany Hall politician Boss Tweed with his cartoons, and gave America Uncle Sam, and the Republican and Democratic parties their elephant in Donkey symbols. In 1881 in a cartoon titled "Merry Old Santa Claus" Nast drew a rosy cheeked, big bellied Santa, arms laden with gifts.  Citizens back then would have recognized a military sword in his hand in an army backpack on his back. A measure was before the Senate to increase the pay of military soldiers. Nast's cartoon implicates that Santa Claus, an imaginary figure, would be more generous to soldiers and their families than the United States government that paid them to defend the nation.

New Year's Eve was, no surprise, another excuse to show off wealth. Pre-Gilded Age revelers held clock watching parties with light snacks and games. Gilded Age millionaires held extravagant invitation only balls and dinners (with eight courses featuring "delicacies of the season.") Guests traveled from party to party, and would end up in the society pages for their champagne sozzeled antics. Society members also traveled to their vacation homes to throw lavish events, with society page reporters from New York City trekking to Newport to cover these events. Light suppers would be served, party favors given and champagne flowed freely. In fact, Gilded Age New Year's Eve is how champagne became associated with the holiday. As champagne had to be imported from France, champagne represented sophistication and luxury. At midnight party guests would sing Auld Lang Syne a ballad written by poet Robert Burns; this since has become a modern tradition. Also carried over from the Gilded Age into modern New Year's Eve traditions - the ball drop. The first time the ball dropped was a 1905 ; the ball was made of wood and iron and had 100 light bulbs. 

After all that champagne and "delicacies of the season," gilded agers rested up for Mrs Astor's Opera Ball, held the first Monday in January; well, only if they numbered amongst the 400.

SOURCES :

Hanc, John. "When Thanksgiving Meant a Fancy Meal Out on the Town." Smithsonian Magazine, 25 November 2013. 

May, Tam. "Thanksgiving In The Gilded Age." May Tam Author, 5 November 2021. 

Thanksgiving. Wikipedia.

"A Gilded Age Christmas Dinner." Driehaus Museum. 24 December 2011.

Boissoneault, Lorraine. "A Civil War Cartoonist Created the Modern Image of Santa Claus As Union Propaganda." Smithsonian Magazine, 19 December 2018. 

Restad, Penne. "Christmas In 19th Century America." History Today 12 December 1995

May, Tam. "A Gilded Age Christmas." May Tam Author, 25 December 2022. 

"This Is What New York Was Like at Christmas 1882." Ephemeral New York

Thomas Nast. Wikipedia.

"Gilded Age New Year's Traditions : Champagne and Celebrations." Driehaus Museum. 23 November 2017

May, Tam. "A Gilded Age New Year." May Tan Author, 31 December 2021.