Fireworks and Fruit: Memories of Old Kentucky Christmases

As a native Kentuckian, I’m fascinated by stories of life in my state before I was born. The books I’m writing now are set in the western part of the state not far from where I grew up, in a region then known as “Between the Rivers,” which now makes up a federal area called Land Between the Lakes.

While researching early 20th Century life in this area, I found interesting memories of former residents about the Christmases of their childhood, from 1900 to World War II.

Nearly everyone recalled getting a fresh orange, either in their stocking if the family followed that tradition, or among their other presents. One woman named Rebecca, whose family did not have a mantel, recalled placing a “special chair” for Santa to leave her presents.

The holiday season was the only time oranges and other tropical fruits were available. One year, her father obtained a full stalk of bananas, which the family hung in a corner of the living room as part of the Christmas decorations.

Firecrackers were another typical present for the children, something that would be frowned on by most parents today. Rebecca said she and her siblings would rise around 4 a.m. on Christmas morning, take a shovel of hot coals from the wood stove, and go outside to light and shoot off the firecrackers.

While snow was not common in

in western Kentucky, and rarely

was there a white Christmas, children

and adults took advantage of it when

it did arrive. In this photo from winter

1951, young Tom Nickell perched atop

a huge snowman, supported from

behind by his hidden father. 

A man named Ted remembered his grandfather’s tradition of “blowing the anvil” on Christmas Day. His grandpa, a blacksmith, would take an anvil with a hole in it, fill the hole with gunpowder, run a fuse a good distance away, then ignite the fuse. When the fuse ignited the gunpowder, the resulting explosion would blow the anvil “as high as a man’s head.”

Ted’s cousin Sallie described a similar Christmas Eve tradition, where Grandpa would take the family to his blacksmith shop, put gunpowder into the forge fire and pump the bellows to set off a mini-explosion, showering the entire shop with sparks.

The adults also made torches by wrapping worn-out stockings around long sticks and soaking them in coal oil. An array of these torches would be set in the ground in the front yard and then lit.

For the most part, this region did not have electricity until the 1940s, but the people sure knew how to light up their Christmas celebrations!

Parents had to be creative when it came to gifts, too. One year, Rebecca received a toy wagon made by her daddy and uncle from white oak, crafted exactly like a real wagon. Mothers often knitted the Christmas stockings and made other presents, such as dolls or doll clothing, as well as new clothing for the children.

The Shirley Temple doll topped the
1935 Christmas wish list for many
Kentucky girls.

The first doll Gertrude received was one called a “Limber Jim,” made of material stuffed with sawdust. When money was available, she said, there might be a pistol for the boys and a small china doll for the girls, maybe a little red wagon or “a small, square box with a jump-up Santa in it”—what we know as a jack-in-the box.

Typically, Christmas Day activities included a trip to grandparents’ house for dinner. Food included, Rebecca said, “real” country ham and gravy, chicken and dressing, beans, potato salad, sweet potatoes, hoop cheese, and fruit salad. Dessert consisted of cakes of various flavors, including orange, banana, chocolate, and fresh coconut. Her favorite was an orange cake with fresh orange slices in the icing.

After dinner, a hunting party would form for squirrels or rabbits, with the men using dogs and guns, boys using rocks and sticks. Rebecca remembered one Christmas when the boys brought back more game than the men.

Then, as now, celebrating Christmas meant gathering with family, sharing a meal, presents for the children, and special traditions. The traditions may change but the reason for celebrating the birth of Jesus remains the same over the years.

What are some of your family’s Christmas traditions, and how far back did they begin?

Source:

Between the Rivers magazine, formerly published in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, Winter 1999-2000, Summer 2000, and Holiday 2000 editions. Information taken from articles written by Doyle Marshall, Gertrude Savells Wilson, and Rebecca Byrd.

Multi-award-winning author Marie Wells Coutu finds beauty in surprising places, like undiscovered treasures, old houses, and gnarly trees. All three books in her Mended Vessels series, contemporary stories based on the lives of biblical women, have won awards in multiple contests. She is currently working on historical romances set in her native western Kentucky in the 1930s and ‘40s. An unpublished novel, Shifting Currents, which takes place during construction of Kentucky Dam, placed third in Inspirational Romance in the nationally recognized Maggie Awards, and second in Historical Christian Romance in the Touched By Love Awards.

When the bright lights of Broadway dim, the glow of home in western Kentucky beckons. This historical short story, “All That Glistens,” was included in the 2023 Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction collection and is now available free when you sign up for Marie's newsletter here. In her newsletter, she shares about her writing, historical tidbits, recommended books, and sometimes vintage recipes.

Fireworks in the early 1900s

by Susan G Mathis

Who doesn’t love a good fireworks display? We know they were invented in China to fend off evil spirits and celebrate cultural events. But how did they make it to the West and become so extravagant?

Marco Polo is credited for bringing fireworks from Asia to Europe in 1295. The rich quickly grasped onto the pyrotechnic wonders and tasked their jesters to use fireworks to entertain their people and to celebrate everything from the birth of a baby to holidays and to tout successful conquests.

In medieval England, Henry VII celebrated his wedding day with fireworks in 1486, and thus began a tradition of using fireworks to commemorate royal events. In 1685, King James II’s coronation was so spectacular that the fire master received knighthood for his efforts. In Russia, Czar Peter the Great celebrated his son’s birth with a five-hour fireworks extravaganza.

Pyrotechnic schools arose during the Renaissance, and fireworks became more complicated and elaborate as they invented new ways of creating and shooting off the fireworks.

Yet, until the 1800s, fireworks were basically orange. But then the Italians started working with various chemicals to create new colors. When sodium nitrate is heated, electrons in the sodium atoms absorb the energy and get excited. They release their energy of yellow light. Orange is created with calcium salts and calcium chloride. Reds are made with strontium salts, strontium carbonate and lithium salts. Purple is made with a mix of blue-producing copper compounds and red-producing strontium compounds. Blues are made with copper-chloride compounds. Green is made with barium chloride and other barium compounds.

In America, fireworks commemorated the first Independence Day celebration on July 4, 1777, and pyrotechnic displays became an annual tradition from then on. In the Thousand Islands, fireworks have been on grand display since the 1800s. And today, if you visit Disneyland, fireworks are a nightly event.

Fireworks has a fascinating history, science, and social connection of sights, sounds, smells, and even taste. While you read my latest novel about a girl who is tasked to put on a fireworks display, or when you enjoy your next fireworks show, consider how they came to be, and be inspired.

About Peyton's Promise
Book 3 of the Thousand Islands Gilded Age series

Summer 1902
Peyton Quinn is tasked with preparing the grand Calumet Castle ballroom for a spectacular two-hundred-guest summer gala. As she works in a male-dominated position of upholsterer and fights for women’s equality, she’s persecuted for her unorthodox ways. But when her pyrotechnics-engineer father is seriously hurt, she takes over the plans for the fireworks display despite being socially ostracized.

Patrick Taylor, Calumet’s carpenter and Peyton’s childhood chum, hopes to win her heart, but her unconventional undertakings cause a rift. Peyton has to ignore the prejudices and persevere or she could lose her job, forfeit Patrick’s love and respect, and forever become the talk of local gossips.

About Susan:

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands, her childhood stomping ground in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than twenty times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books.

Her first two books of The Thousand Islands Gilded Age series, Devyn’s Dilemma, and Katelyn’s Choice have each won multiple awards, and book three, Peyton’s Promise, comes out May 2022 with Rachel’s Reunion in November. The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, Christmas Charity, and Sara’s Surprise, and Reagan’s Reward, are also award winners.

Susan is also a published author of two premarital books, stories in a dozen compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan lives in Colorado Springs and enjoys traveling the world. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com for more.

Thousand Island's Calumet Castle

by Susan G Mathis

During the Gilded Age, majestic Calumet Castle once graced the entry point to the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario. It was one of the first castles that the ocean-going ships saw as they traveled downriver from Lake Ontario through the Thousand Islands to the sea. And its story is fascinating.

New York City tycoon Charles G. Emery was a friend of George and Louise Boldt, who built Boldt Castle, still a major Thousand Islands tourist attraction today. Emery attended the couple’s wedding and the two men were members of the New York City yacht club, along with George Pullman.

As one of the pioneer developers of the Thousand Islands area, Emery purchased Powder Horn Island in 1882. Since the island reflected the shape of a peace pipe, he changed the name of the island to Calumet, a French word for the Native American ceremonial peace pipe.

Emery was impressed with George Pullman’s Castle Rest, the seven-story castle built on Pullman Island in 1888, about ten miles downriver. So, Emery wanted to create an equally imposing castle. The castle on Calumet Island was among the first such grand structures in the Thousand Islands region, predating the still-standing Boldt Castle.

Construction of Calumet Castle began in 1893 and was finished the following year. The completed castle had thirty room, including the largest private ballroom in New York. Several out buildings included a water tower, the caretakers home, a guesthouse, a boathouse, a men’s dormitory, and an ice house. My latest novel, Peyton’s Promise is set here.

Emery had a lagoon dredged out deep enough for his steam yachts and dozens of other boats. When there was a storm, the islanders knew they were free to seek shelter in its harbor.

Guests to Calumet Island arrive at the main dock and ascend a long walkway through the woods rising to the castle. At the castle’s massive stone paved terrace, guests can view the expansive verandas leading to the main entrance. On the veranda high above the river and treetops, guests could see the elaborate gardens and manicured lawns below as well as the village of Clayton. To the Northeast, they could catch a glimpse of the massive white Frontenac Hotel downriver.

In 1956, the castle burned to the ground, leaving only rubble and the outbuildings intact. Today, the owners live in the caretaker’s cottage and host a multitude of guests, still leaving the harbor available for those who seek shelter from the summer storms.

About Peyton’s Promise:
book 3 of the Thousand Islands Gilded Age series

Summer 1902

Peyton Quinn is tasked with preparing the grand Calumet Castle ballroom for a spectacular two-hundred-guest summer gala. As she works in a male-dominated position of upholsterer and fights for women’s equality, she’s persecuted for her unorthodox ways. But when her pyrotechnics-engineer father is seriously hurt, she takes over the plans for the fireworks display despite being socially ostracized.

Patrick Taylor, Calumet’s carpenter and Peyton’s childhood chum, hopes to win her heart, but her unconventional undertakings cause a rift. Peyton has to ignore the prejudices and persevere or she could lose her job, forfeit Patrick’s love and respect, and forever become the talk of local gossips.

About Susan:

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands, her childhood stomping ground in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than twenty times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books.

Her first two books of The Thousand Islands Gilded Age series, Devyn’s Dilemma, and Katelyn’s Choice have each won multiple awards, and book three, Peyton’s Promise, comes out May 2022 with Rachel’s Reunion in November. The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, Christmas Charity, and Sara’s Surprise, and Reagan’s Reward, are also award winners.


Susan is also a published author of two premarital books, stories in a dozen compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan lives in Colorado Springs and enjoys traveling the world. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com for more.

History of Fireworks in the United States

 

Blogger: Amber Schamel

 Happy early Independence Day, everyone! To honor the celebration, I thought we would take a historical dive into one of the most iconic elements of this holiday: fireworks.

Fun fact: The official name for "fireworks" is actually "pyrotechnics."

An illustration of a fireworks display from the 1628-1643
edition of the Ming dynasty book Jin Ping Mei.
Public Domain

The first known fireworks originated in China. Most historians believe during the Song dynasty, around 950 AD. The first versions of this incredible invention placed an early form of gunpowder inside a hollow bamboo rod.  Pyrotechnicians in China were respected for their work, and the development of such low-level explosives became an independent profession included in many displays and celebrations. 

Fireworks were introduced to the Europeans by Marco Polo in the thirteenth century, so by the time the pilgrims came to the United States, they brought with them a love of fireworks. They were used in numerous celebrations before Independence Day. So what made them so iconic with July 4th?

 

An etching of the Royal Fireworks display -1749.
Public Domain

Fun fact: Americans spend around $1 Billion dollars on fireworks each July 4th.    

Well, fireworks seemed to be in the plan from the very beginning. John Adams, when writing to his wife about the adoption of the Declaration said this:

"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." (Emphasis mine.)

 Apparently when John Adams envisioned Independence Day anniversaries, he saw fireworks in his mind's eye. Not surprising then, is that the very first July 4 celebration included a large display of fireworks, along with salutes from cannons. The cannons were phased out, however the fireworks stuck. By 1898 a reporter noted that “the American Fourth of July is the greatest event the maker of firecrackers knows.” 

Fun Fact: Pyrotechnicians did not develop colored fireworks until the 1830's.

The development of fireworks is not only a profession and art, but also a science. If you're curious about how fireworks get their colors, this invention was made by Italian pyrotechnicians in 1930. Here's a Youtube Video explaining the science behind firework colors.

Fireworks behind the Washington Monument
Public Domain

 Not-So-Fun-Fact: Did you know that Cherry Bombs were first used as weapons during the American Civil War? They were banned in 1966, however Keith Moon weaponized them again  by using illegal cherry bombs to blow up toilets in hotels.

Fireworks are amazing fun, and a wonderful way to celebrate Independence Day! But please also remember to be very careful. In 2019, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 10,000 injuries from July 4th fireworks. 36% of those were children under the age of 15. So PLEASE, make sure you and your children are safe while celebrating this year. 

*****

Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction, Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  

She lives in Colorado Springs near her favorite mountain, in a small “castle” with her prince charming. Between enjoying life as a new mom, and spinning stories out of soap bubbles, Amber loves to connect with readers and hang out on Goodreads with other bookish peoples.

Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at www.AmberSchamel.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!