I’m a huge fan of the holidays and this time of year always inspires a bit of reflection and a look back at our history. While I may be partial to Thanksgiving over Christmas myself, the stories I’ve researched and written about Xmas remain among my favorites.
Here are some of the top Christmas-themed history stories from the blog over the years. Enjoy – and let us know of any future holiday history you’d like us to explore in the comments below.
On December 24, 1944, Lieutenant Harry Welsh of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania was severely wounded by a German mortar round on the outskirts of Bastogne, Belgium. Welsh served with the famed “Band of Brothers,” Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne and were holding the line as the Battle of the Bulge raged. Welsh’s wounding was portrayed in the HBO miniseries, “Band of Brothers.”
Christmas Eve in Pottsville | December 24, 1902
The bells of trolley rang out as the heavily-laden cars rolled through the streets of Pottsville, Pennsylvania on December 24, 1902. All through the city’s shopping district at the base of Sharp Mountain people excitedly milled about and passed through doorways into shops making their final sales before Christmas.
Christmas in a Coal Region ‘patch town’
“Now about Christmas,” wrote the Kalmia correspondent for the West Schuylkill Press on December 31, 1877, just after detailing the latest mining accidents in the village’s coal mine. The author, writing under the pseudonym “Uno,” went on to detail how a simple Christmas was honored in the “patch town” of Kalmia, on the southwestern border of Schuylkill County.
A ‘wet’ Christmas in the Coal Region during Prohibition
They called it the “wettest part” of Pennsylvania and in the holiday season of 1926, the Anthracite Coal Region did not disappoint.
An enterprising reporter for the The Plain Speaker from Hazleton decided to survey the illicit alcohol trade in the Coal Region. His article, “Lots of Booze for Christmas,” highlights how the alcohol trade worked during the Prohibition era.
Four Christmases – Holiday excerpts from Henry Keiser’s Civil War diary
We’ve written quite a few articles about Henry Keiser, a Civil War soldier from Wiconisco Township. These posts examined his varying Christmas experiences while serving with the 95th and 96th Pennsylvania regiments during the Civil War. Keiser served from 1861 to 1865 and experienced four holiday seasons in the US Army. The accounts are taken from Keiser’s remarkable war-time diary.
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