Christmas in Connecticut… Cliché, but True

Christmas has always been an enchanting time of year; the carols, elaborate decorations, and endless celebration all come to mind when thinking of this holiday. In the Nutmeg State, Christmas has influenced many serenades, poems and well wishes for the season. Lydia Sigourney’s Christmas Hymn and Louisa Bushnell’s The Watcher’s Carol are just a couple of examples that have highlighted the reason for the season.

Christmas Morning, 1867.

The Bee Hive Christmas Offering, 1867. (The Bee Hive was a dry goods store that also handled dress making and millinery. The store was located on 380 Main Street in Hartford, Conn. A poem (partially wiped out) is inscribed on the back of the lithograph. (Please see eMuseum record for the reverse image.)

The Connecticut Historical Society has many collection items in honor of Christmas, including photographs, broadside posters, greeting cards, and original manuscripts. You can view and learn more about selections of each at Connecticut History Online, eMuseum, and HistoryCat. Of them, we could not pick just one, so instead we say to you:

 Kinde frende, a

greeting warm we sende

for both ye years

beginning & its ende

And pray ye joys of

Merrie Christmasse-tyde

through Spring & Summer

Fall & Winter bide.

Christmas lights at Constitution Plaza.

Sierra Dixon is a Research & Collections Associate at the Connecticut Historical Society