What an "old-fashioned Christmas" really meant

[mafdet]

...was drunken orgy.

I always knew that Christmas was celebrated in winter because of Yule, Saturnalia, and (in Rome) the supposed birth of Mithras. But until I read Stephen Nissenbaum's The Battle for Christmas I never suspected it was quite such a festival as it was! If you wish someone an "old-fashioned merry Christmas" what you are really

Comments

[mafdet]

Of course the original February Lupercalia was also one big orgy, I suppose to make sure there was another crop of shotgun marriages in June (hence June brides?).

The Victorians really did us a disservice by sanitizing all the formerly fun holidays!

[mafdet]

Me neither, especially as I get older and I need the whole next day to recover from partying! I no longer have the resilience of youth. :/

[baranduyn]

But the old-fashioned ones were so much fun...

Until they all sobered up for a minute and looked at the mess... :)

But...I research a lot of old, old recipes and remain always amused by the amount of liquor to be used in everything holiday-ish. In part this is because the alcohol, before it evaporates, is a hell of a preservative but the other part is I think 'we're gonna keep partying and you guys just won't know it'.

Personally, I think any recipe featuring whiskey, brandy or rum has great potential. I have seen an eggnog recipe which, while not vintage, has got to be damn near lethal.

Happy holidays!

[mafdet]

I forget where I read this, but I read somewhere of people in the early 1800's drinking prodigious quantities of hard liquor per person, like three or four pints. You are right, the alcohol must have acted as a preservative in those days before refrigeration. Also, in many areas, water was not safe to drink, nor was milk - so even little kids had tea, coffee or beer. (I bet that punch the Fezziwigs drank in A Christmas Carol would knock your socks off. No wonder they were all so jolly!)

BTW, where are some good sites for old recipes?

[white_jenna]

I used to work at the Nashville zoo. The land was donated by the Croft sisters. Their house was started in the early 1800s, and was inhabited up until the 1970s. My friends were going through the attic (they manage the house and tours, as well as the historic farm w/ the animals) and found a bunch of old recipes. We started trying them out and bringing them to dessert parties. Eventually they became a cookbook (Attic Heirlooms). I've got a copy and can provide you w/ an overview if you want. I imagine copies are still available (I can get you that info too). It's 1800s and 1900s stuff, so not sure how "old" you're looking for.
Thanks for this post, most of this info was new to me. :D

[baranduyn]

There's a good one online: Bartleby's has the 1918 (?) edition of the Boston Cooking School Book online, the last one edited by Fannie Farmer herself: http://www.bartleby.com/people/Farmer-F.html... )

[akashasheiress]

Teehee, my icon is atually a reference to just that custom!

[maple_clef]

Oh, fantastic! Things perhaps haven't really changed that much after all. Instead of wassailing we have teenaged boys singing one line of a Christmas carol and demanding money, and for drunken debauchery there is the office party :D

[salveo_opes]

The old celebrations would be way more fun!