1883-December Part 1

For readers of Hamilton newspapers, Christmas 1883 was fast approaching.

As evidence that Christmas was beginning to become ever more commercialized, in December 1883, both the Hamilton Spectator and the Hamilton Times carried lengthy articles which in prose augmented the paid advertisements which were appearing in paper.

The Spectator opened its article with a cheerful introduction followed by a description of the goods offered by various Hamilton merchants :

“The nearest approach to general happiness which is prophesied to come with the millennium is experienced at Christmas, the jolliest time of the year, when households are reunited, enemies forget differences, and there is peace on earth and good will towards men.

“A happy expression, if aged, is heard where English customs are not yet forgotten : ‘A merry Christmas and a happy New Year; a pocketful of money and a collar full of beer.’

“In this city, the merchants are dressing the windows of their places of business in an attractive manner, giving no less attention to the decoration of the interior of their stores. The display is magnificent and endless in variety. There are gifts small enough to shove into little stockings hanging from mantelpieces, and sufficiently large to place in brown paper wrappers or boxes

“Here is a list of them, and where they can be purchased:

A.  Murray & Co.

“A. Murray & Co. of King street east, have a stock on hand this Christmas, which is equal to any carried outside of New York. In the notion department, there are linen handkerchiefs with hem stitched or plain-colored borders. These handkerchiefs are very attractive. The neck wear embraces an elegant variety, and is suitable for gifts. There are several lines of gloves in the gentlemen’s department which are cheap and good. Ladies breakfast and lace opera shawls, evening dress goods of striped material, silks and brocaded velvets, all displayed in endless variety.

“Upstairs, in the mantle and dress department, elegant costumes are displayed on figures. A magnificent cloaking, surf seal, is worth $22 a yard. There is a large stock of Paisley shawls, an article of wear again in fashion, and all the rage in New York.

          “Another new idea is a fur shawl. A lady, who is now on her way to the old country, purchased three of them recently to use on the ocean voyage. Still another new article of wear is a cloth called seal, and is a splendid imitation of the fur of that name. A. Murray & Co. can suit everybody desiring to purchase Christmas gifts.

          ‘I’ve Got Turkish Hookas

and everything in my line of stock,’ said John Thom, the genial and famous tobacconist to a Spectator reporter today, ‘cigar and cigarette holders and cases, meerschaum, brier, clay and wooden pipes, Havanna cigars, all sorts of cigarettes and tobaccos, cains, and tobacconist sundries.

          “Everything you can think of in my line you can find here, and you can get Christmas presents at prices ranging from one cent to $100. It was only Saturday a young lady came in to buy a cigar case for her lover, and she told me she’d been all over town and my stock was the finest she’d struck yet. Now you can say that Thom’s is the leading place for – ‘ But the reporter was far away.

                   A Nobby Christmas Present

          “What is troubling the inhabitants of this fair city is just now is where to get the best Christmas present for the least possible money. Anyone wishing to maker a present of anything in the dry goods line should call immediately at McIlwraith & McMaster’s . The new departure taken by this enterprising firm has taken the citizens and good people of the surrounding country by storm. Their great discount sale now going on, which will be continued at their store, 12 James street north, affords all the desired opportunity of getting the best goods for the least money. Purchasers of holiday goods will be pleased to know that they can make their selections, receive the discount and so save money on every purchase, made up to Christmas week. The beautiful laces, gloves, ties, shawls and silk handkerchiefs attract the eye of every lady passing the store and call for expressions of delight. Everything in the dry goods line suitable for Christmas gifts is in the store, but the rush of customers is diminishing the supply, therefore go at once and make your selections before it is too late.¹

                ¹ “Christmas Is Coming : And City Merchants Are Prepared For it : A Magnificent, Endless Display of Gifts for Men, Women and Children and Where to Make the Most Profitable Purchases.”

Hamilton Spectator.  December 17, 1883.

That same day, the Hamilton Times carried a similar article, highlighting some of that paper’s advertisers:

 “The holiday trade is now at its height, and as a consequence a marked improvement in nearly all kinds of business is noted. Every day, thousands of people visit the stores where the most attractive goods are displayed, and, from the present time until Christmas, the crush at the most popular establishments will continue.

“People are learning the advisability of doing their shopping early, and the result is that the majority are doing it now, before the most desirable articles for presents have disappeared.

“On Saturday afternoon and night, the merchants appeared to be doing a rushing business. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers all appeared to be abroad, one and all purchasing appropriate gifts which will be kept in some secret corners until the morning of the 25^th, when they will be brought out to gladden the hearts of their loved ones. Recognizing the importance of the fact that every one should not just

There can be no such hesitation in naming such establishments as that of

                   Messrs. A. Murray & Co.

King street, as a central emporium where such articles can be procured in a variety and at such prices to suit the most fastidious as well as the most economical purchasers. This reliable old establishment is so well known and its importations so often advertised in the Times that it is hardly necessary to do more than advise the readers to call early and secure the more than usually large and attractive assortments of holiday goods now on exhibition by the firm. But it may be mentioned that special consignments of new and fashionable articles have been arriving daily in every department specially for the holiday trade, that prices for all desirable goods never have been so low, that unprecedented reductions have been made in dress goods, silks, manties and millinery, and that the house has never been more resolved than now to maintain its old reputation for first class goods at the lowest possible cash prices. In millinery and mantle goods many attractive seasonable articles are being offered at literally half their value. In the dress goods, such desirable material as all-wool camel’s hair serges are offered at 25 cents a yard; a good black silk at $1 a yard, and rich-colored silks at 90 cents and under. In the lace goods department, among many lovely and cheap things, are shown 25 dozen pure linen handkerchiefs, with colored borders, at 15 cents each or $1.65 per dozen; 75 dozen of same, with colored and black borders, handstitched, at 18 cents each or $2 per dozen; beautiful silk ties from 35 to 70 cents each. A grand assortment of general lace goods for ladies’ and misses’ wear has just been received direct from New York specially for the Christmas trade. But further detail is needless. It may be assumed that a large holiday trade at Messrs. A. Murray & Co.’s is assured, and that no house better deserves it.

                   Messrs. Finch Bros.

          “The young and enterprising members of this firm (who do business at  No. 18 King street west)  advertise a great sale all this week and next, at which they promise their customers the best of bargains in every line of goods. The Messrs. Finch, with true business instincts, believe in being their own importers, for which purpose one of other visit the English markets twice a year. By this means they are able to purchase at the best advantage the exact description of goods suited to the requirements of their trade, and consequently are in a position to offer their customers the freshest of goods in the latest and most fashionable styles. To meet the holiday rush, they have their immense stock of goods conveniently displayed for the inspection of visitors; and not only so, but the pruning knife has been at work slaughtering many of the prices. It has cut deep into the prices of the fine line of black silks, which are being sold off at greatly reduced prices. The velveteens are the best manufactured, are warranted fast pile, and are guaranteed to give the best of satisfaction. The laces, lace ties and lace Oriental fichus are all superb goods and deserve the inspection of the ladies of Hamilton. In corsets, the firm make a large display, having in stock these articles in English, American and Canadian manufacture. In the shape of gloves, every novelty is on hand (this is neither a joke nor a pun) for the season’s wear, including lined and unlined kids, as well as mitts of all kinds. Piano and table covers, of which a large variety is shown, have also been reduced in price, and those in need of such could not do better than see their stock. Something new in ladies’ fancy aprons have just been imported. A large lot of them has been received, as they are regarded as among the novelties of the season, for which there will be a brisk demand. Ladies’ black fur capes have also been imported. These are superior goods and no doubt will meet with a ready sale. Blankets and flannels and every description of stable goods are here to be found in every variety and at the lowest of prices. The assortment of ladies’ and gentleman’s silk handkerchiefs deserve special mention. It is a healthy sign to note that Finch Bros. have found it necessary to enlarge their premises. The store is now one of the best lighted in the city. Those in quest of holiday goods couldn’t do better than give this firm a call.

                   Drugs and Perfumery

          “Messrs. Calder & Co.’s drug store, on the corner of York and Merrick streets, contains a very neat assortment of goods usually kept by druggists in addition to the ordinary line of drugs. The proprietors have displayed them to the best advantage, and holiday purchasers will find many things here suitable for Christmas gifts. They keep in stock a fine of brushes of all kinds, whisks, feather dusters, every description of perfume and toilet soaps, combs, jewel stands and cases, vases, ladies’ toilet sets, odor cases and ornamental work baskets. All the different patent medicines are to be had here. Nothing but the purest of drugs, it is guaranteed by Mr. Calder, are sold by them, and prescriptions are obtainable night and day, made up by a practical dispenser of twenty years’ experience. Telephone connection is established with the store, which is a convenient arrangement for parties doing business with the firm.

                   Messrs. J. & B. Kilgour

          “This is not only an organ manufacturing firm; Messrs. Kilgour are also agents for some of the best pianos made, such as the New York Weber, the Boston Miller, the Toronto Heintzman & Newcomb, and the German Rombildt. They are also importers of band instruments and musical merchandise. The factory is Nos. 63 and 65 Hughson street south, and the warerooms at No. 64 John street south. Mr. T. J. Bain has charge of the retail department, and is always to be seen at the warerooms, where all the fine instruments of which the Messrs. Kilgour are placed for inspection.

                   Some Handsome Jewelry

          “Mr. F. Claringbowl, Copp’s Block, has some beautiful goods from which Christmas gifts can easily be selected. Among the many great articles of beauty and elegance expressed in the show cases are gem and band rings of many patterns and sizes, a well-assorted `stock of watches, a very handsome list of imported silverware, colored gold sets, elegant watch-chains, neat and attractive clocks etc. Mr. Claringbowl makes a specialty of spectacles and eyeglasses, with gold, steel and silver frames, which are made to order at his establishment. He also takes special pride in the workmanlike repairing of all kinds that is done under his direction.

                   Messrs. G. Eastwood & Co.

          “Christmas is peculiarly the season for giving and receiving gifts, whether it be a trifle or costly offering, the fitness of the gift and the feeling which goes with it make it an important symbol. The probably is the reason why bookstores are so largely patronized at this time of year, for here you are sure to find something suited to the tastes of all. There is no more popular store and none more largely patronized by all classes than that of Messrs. J. Eastwood & Co. This firm, for twenty-five years, have catered to the citizens of Hamilton at the Xmas season, and have been constantly advertisers of this paper since its first issues. They have a large and varied stock to offer their customers. In their showcases are fine displays of albums, from the most reliable makers in rich plush, Russia, calf and morocco leathers; ladies’ and gents’ pocketbooks; purses and card cases; ladies’ hand satchels; a very large and beautiful line of church sets of prayer books and hymns (Ancient and Modern), the finest ever imported. Bibles, the Oxford, Cambridge and Bagster editions in inexpensive as well as rich Levant morocco, kid-lined bindings. Family Bibles ranging in all prices. The book department is very attractive, and a make a mong books none are more pleasing, varied or interesting than the juvenile holiday books. Messrs. Eastwood & Co. make a specialty of children’s books, and here you will find stacks of ‘Chatterbox,’ ‘Wide Awake,’ “Babyland,” and all the popular annual volumes, as well as a great many others, the latest arrival being Marcus Ward’s new color picture book, ‘London Town,’ a companion book to the celebrated “At Home,’ and ‘Abroad,’ published in previous years. Hey have also sets of Thackery, Kingsley, George Macdonald, Dickens, Waverley, Charlotte M. Yonge and other popular standard authors, and a large display of birthday text books, in new and pleasing bindings. In writing desks, there are some handsome inlaid and finely-pointed styles of wood and a neat and good line of leather goods. The Christmas cards have been selected from all the celebrated publishers. Among the novelties of the season are the ivory tablets with beautiful etchings of Scotch and English places of note. Many other things are worthy of mention but Messrs. Eastwood & Co. extend a hearty invitation to call and see their stock. The store is kept open in the evening during the holiday season for the convenience of those who cannot call during the day, and the Times is sure that those going to Messrs. J. Eastwood & Co.’s, 16 King street east, will find many pleasing things to purchase for holiday gifts. Henry Ward Beecher says: ‘A book is not merely so much printed paper and the binding. Right  books are the epitome of men’s lives. They are the grain; straw and chaff driven away. The best moods, the final learning, the inspiration of the noblest hours of men with whom the world has dealt as a furnace deals with ore; they are the treasury in which men have heaped the golden ingots, seven times refined. Books outlive empires; they fly without wings; walk without feet; houses of supply are they, that without money or price feed men suffering from soul. They feed thousands without diminishing the supply; they give and yet keep. Leaves that increase as they are broken, and after feeding thousands are ready for thousands more.’

                   Messrs. Joseph Mills & Son.

          “The strange, mild weather that prevailed up to Saturday made folks forget that such a thing as fur is a desirable commodity in a Canadian winter; but the recent cold snap has had the effect of bringing about a strong realization of that undeniable fact. The stores of the furriers are now well-patronized by those who feel the necessity of ‘thatching’ their bodies against the polar air. No establishment is no more numerously visited than that of Joseph Mills & Son, 7 James street north. For nearly half a century this firm has supplied the people of Hamilton with furs of all Kinds, and no more liable firm can be found in the city. Messrs. Mills & Son’s present stock is large and well-made.  They are always sure of their goods, for they make up all their best furs from imported skins. The seal saques and dolmans that are shown by them are extremely elegant as well as comfortable-looking, and are sufficient to strike terror to the heart of a man who knows that his wife has set her affections upon a sealskin saque, lest the garment chance to meet her eye. Sea otter and Persian lamb caps are to be seen here made up in many different styles, and a specialty seems to be made of children’s fancy furs, which are exhibited in great variety. Though we have not enjoyed much sleighing recently, it is well to provide for what must come, and those who wish to get sleigh robes could not do better than to inspect Messrs. Mills’ bear, raccoon, and musk ox-robes, of which they have a large stock. It is unnecessary to mention their well-selected and extensive assortment of American and English hats, for all the latest styles are kept at their establishment at all times. Useful as well as ornamental Christmas gifts can be purchased here.

                   Mr. W. Farmer

          “Lovers of the beautiful and the fine arts will hardly miss paying a visit to Mr. Farmer’s photographic rooms, corner of King and Macnab streets, while making their Christmas rounds. Here are to be found every facility for the perfect production of everything in the photographic line from the smallest carte to the biggest thing in enlargements attempted in the city. Mr. Farmer prides himself on the lightning rapidity with which, with the aid of Old Sol, he can duplicate the figures and visages of his patrons, and little wonder, when it is considered that a Times reporter was shown by him four little babies in a row, the features and forms of which had been transferred with life-like perfection to the card before they even had time to wink. His statuette photographs must be seen to be properly appreciated. They are exceedingly beautiful and an actual representation in statuette form of the party photographed. His illuminated cartes make excellent Christmas cards. Mr. Farmer has recently enlarged his premises and added a picture framing department to his business. There are eleven artists employed in his establishment, but no apprentices, so that all work is gotten up in the highest style of art. Mr. Farmer’s windows will be well worth seeing during the holidays.

                   Messrs. J. A. Barr & Co.

          “The proprietors of this neatly arranged and centrally located store, on the corner of York and Macnab streets, have put forth special efforts this season to provide every requisite in their line for the holiday season, with the result that the store is stocked with an assortment of the finest goods appropriate for Christmas and New Year gifts, many of which are especially suitable for presentation to the juvenile portion of the community. Besides the usual standard goods, the firm show plush and satin goods of various handsome designs, in perfume cases, ornaments, covered bottles and ladies’ and gents’ dressing cases, shaving mugs, ladies’ work baskets, jewel caskets, handkerchief and glove boxes, French, English and American perfumery, vases, toilet sets, hair brushes and combs in stock form a strong temptation to purchasers to call at the store. Mr. Barr attributes the success of the firm to the fact that none but the purest of drugs are kept on and, and that the prices are such as to place the goods within reach of all.

                   Canadian Musical Instruments

          “Canadians have no longer to depend on foreign manufacturers for their musical instruments. In a vast number of Canadian homes are to be found organs and pianos of native manufacture which are capable of expressing, powerfully and sweetly, the sublimest compositions of the masters of music. Messrs. Hutchison & Pilkey, of No. 10 King street east, make a specialty of these Canadian instruments. In their establishment can be found the Rainer piano, which has been manufactured at Guelph for twenty-five years, and has taken first prizes at a myriad of exhibitions since its manufacture was commenced; the Heintzman piano, made in Toronto, a very fine instrument, of which more are made, perhaps, than any other in the country; the Dominion organ, manufactured at Bowmanville; and the Bell organ, manufactured in Guelph, the oldest organ factory in the Dominion. All these instruments are a credit to the country, and it is safe to say that they give better value for the money than any imported American instruments.

                   Mr. A. Hunter’s

          “store, 52 James street north, is one of those establishments which are almost wholly devoted, at this season of the year, to the Christmas trade. For here, nearly all the goods are Christmas goods – that is, nearly all are peculiarly adapted for Christmas presents. To give a list of the beautiful things that Mr. Hunter has to show that would be appropriate as Christmas gifts would be to give an inventory of his establishment; but special notice might be made of the fine collection of family Bibles, ranging in price from $4 to $15; the splendid editions of Dickens, Cooper, and other novelists at reasonable prices; the handsome editions of the poets; the books of engravings, in which nature in all her aspects is pictured to the life; the immense array of books, specially prepared for the Christmas trade; then the numberless articles of useful bric-a-brac, such as handkerchief and gloves, ornamental inkstands, gold pens and pencils, card cases, ladies’ dressing cases, photograph albums, stereoscopes, etc. etc. All the Christmas annuals are kept here, and, of course, a large assortment of Christmas cards to suit all tastes and purposes. Mr. Hunter’s store is one of the best patronized establishments in the city at the present time.

                   Mrs. Hinman

          “This lady’s establishment – No. 4 King William street – is a perfect little repository for all those classes of goods that ladies most love to buy. She deals in many lines of fancy articles besides articles of wear and ornament – jewelry of gold, silver, jet, etc; feathers, pompoms, birds and millinery ornaments; knitted goods of all kinds; children’s jackets made up and to order; evening fans, card cases, and many other nice little articles appropriate for presents. Mrs. Hinman announces that for the balance of this month she will allow 25 per cent off on sales of trimmed and untrimmed millinery and woolen goods, and that she will sell ostrich plumes, birds’ wings and pompoms at wholesale rates. Those who done business with Mrs. Hinman will know that these terms offered by her are genuine, and will be faithfully carried out.”²

                ² “Holiday Presents : Where They Can Be Obtained at a Bargain : Unusual Variety in Christmas Goods : A Glimpse of the Gorgeous Displays in Some Well-Known Stores”

Hamilton Times.  December 17, 1883.

With an innovative promotion, one Hamilton merchant went all out in his strategy to attract customers:

 “The inducements held out to purchasers now-a-days are absolutely wonderful. It can hardly be said that if one buys a set of furniture, a house and lot will be thrown in.; but it is a literal fact that in Hamilton and Toronto, one may buy a suit of clothes and have a watch thrown in. This is done at the stores known in each city as Oak Hall. Whosoever at either of these places of business buys a suit of clothes, valued at $12, will be presented with a very neat silver-plated, stem-winding watch. The watches are really very nice articles, and keep excellent time. They are made by the Waterbury, Conn. Watch company, which turns out a thousand watches every working day in the year, so great is the demand. The cases are made of nickle, silver-plated; and when the plating wears away, as it will in time, the cases still look white and clean. Every watch is carefully tested before leaving the factory, and run for six days in varying positions.

“Business has been so brisk at the two houses named, and sales have been so satisfactory that the enterprising proprietors have decided to make a Christmas present of one of these really beautiful watches to each purchaser during the holidays. Of course, it is purely a business speculation on their part; for, although, they cannot afford to make so valuable a present out of the narrow margin of profit realized on a suit of clothes, they hope that the standing advertisement which each watch will prove to be, will in time repay them for the present outlay by bringing many new and permanent customers to them, till the name Oak Hall becomes a household word throughout the country. The proprietors of the two Oak Halls have been liberal advertisers in the past; their advertising has attracted hosts of customers to them, and those customers have been retained by reasonableness of price and excellence of goods. The belief is that each new customer secured by the present of a watch will more than repay the donors through future business. In that expectation, the first consignment of watches to Oak Hall in this city was received on Monday, each neatly set in a satin-lined box. They are known as the Waterbury watches, series C. A complete collection of the various parts is sold by the company, so that there will be no difficulty in having repairs made at a trifling cost.

“If, during the holidays, a tremendous crowd should be observed on James street, in this city, it will not be a meeting of electors listening to the pleadings of civic statesmen; it will be a throng seeking admission to Oak Hall, intending to buy a suit of clothes and to receive a present of a nickel-cased, silver-plated, stem-winder watch.”³

³ “Giving Away Watches : Time is an Element in this Contract”

Hamilton Spectator.  December 19, 1883.

It had been an unusually mild December in 1883 until the middle part of the month when temperatures began to drop:

          “The Times’ correspondent writes : ‘Skating is in vogue, and accidents on the ice as well, but there have been few yet. On Sunday, two or three broke through in the creek, but got off with a light ducking. A couple of youths came up over the canal from the direction of Hamilton but had not courage to return, as they found the ice rather shaky.”⁴

          ⁴“Dundas Notes”

December 17, 1883.

Both Hamilton newspapers carried daily columns containing brief observations, news notes and other short items of interest. The Spectator’s such effort was called The Diurnal Epitome, while the Hamilton Times’ version was called Tea Table Gossip.

Here is the Tea Table Gossip entry for December 20, 1883:

 “No more school till after the New Year.

“Christmas is too near, alas! For many an impecunious husband and father.

“The Comus Pleasure Club will give a ball and supper in the Pythian Armory on Christmas Eve, the 24^th.

“This is first-rate weather for remembering the poor, and it is best to do so before Christmas.

“This would be a good time to begin on your New Year’s resolutions. It will give almost a fortnight’s margin for slips.

“When you meet a man these days with a care-worn expression on his customary happy face, do not misjudge him by concluding that his business nor domestic affairs are in a bad state. He is simply wondering what on earth he shall buy for Christmas presents this year.

“Catherine Murphy and Elizabeth Curry, two old reprobates, were before the Magistrate this morning. The first was charged with drunkenness, and was allowed to go on promising to take the pledge; old Mrs. Curry was up on the old charge of vagrancy, and was sent back for six months to her home in jail.”⁵

⁵ “Tea Table Gossip”

Hamilton Times.  December 20, 1883.

There was a scam being perpetrated on unsuspecting Hamiltonians feeling the generous Christmas spirit common to the season:

“The guileless and unsophisticated mind of the small boy of Hamilton is something positively paralyzing for the average intellect to contemplate with any degree of complacency. The gentle street arab of the Ambitious city is simple and innocent to a fault. He is mild and unassuming in manner, and the bland smile with which he gazes upon you is sufficient in itself to make you almost ready to swear that all he needs is a pair of wings, a crown and golden harp to become at once the bloomingest of all blooming cherubs. But there is one small boy in this city who has a head that will make him one day either a bank president or superintendent of a Sunday school. It is presumed that the small boy in question lives in the northeast part of the city, for the reason that he always selects that portion of town to work in. On Friday evening, a gentleman who lives on Wellington street north, while going to his home shortly after six o’clock, was arrested on the corner of Cathcart and Cannon streets by hearing the crying of a child on the opposite side of the street. Going over, he found a small boy, poorly-dressed, who was weeping as if his heart would break. The gentleman interrogated the lad who, after struggling with his grief, finally sobbed out the information that he dropped half a dollar in the snow, and if he didn’t find it, he’d get thrashed till he was black and blue when he got home. Then he commenced crying again. Others passing by were attracted to the place, and in a very few minutes quite a crowd had gathered. An American gentleman with a little boy was among them, and while two or three were searching through the snow, he put his hand in his pocket and handed the boy a quarter. Then he went away, but returned in a couple of minutes afterwards saying his little boy had said that the quarter was an American one, and would only pass for 20 cents in Canada. The crying urchin looked at the coin, found that it was an American one, and told the gentleman so, who thereupon gave him five cents more and walked away again. The gentleman who had met the child originally waited a few minutes longer, and as there were no signs of finding the money, and the boy’s distress continued unabated, he gave him the other quarter and went away.

“Saturday evening he was walking down Wellington street to his home, when he was again attracted by a child’s crying and found the same lad in an agonized state on the corner of Rebecca street. This time the boy had lost a dollar, and as the gentleman stopped for a moment, he heard the same elegant fairy tale of the previous night being reeled off. He didn’t wait to hear the end of it. He felt sad and weary. He batted his head against a brick wall on the way down, and told himself that he would never do anything for the cause of charity as long as he lived.”⁶

⁶ “A Great Scheme : A Small Boy Who Works an Old Basket, and Makes Money”

Hamilton Spectator.  December 19, 1883.

On December 20, 1883, the Spectator informed its readers about some of the upcoming efforts to provide a cheerful Christmas to many Hamiltonians in less than ideal circumstances:

 “The inmates of the charitable institutions of this city will understand the meaning of the beautiful phrase, Peace on Earth, Good will towards men, on Christmas day. The manner in which the festive occasion will be kept will be varied, yet all tending to bring a more or less amount of happiness to those who are rescued from a life of misery and poverty by charitably-disposed people and corporations.

“The Asylum for the Insane is being decorated with evergreens and appropriate mottoes. The attendants vie with each other in the work, and expect to have it completed on Monday. On Christmas day, the patients will be treated to a dinner, specially prepared. In the evening, a Christmas tree will precede an entertainment arranged by the officers of the institution.

“Plum duff will be served the prisoners in the county jail.

“The city hospital will be redolent with evergreens, and the decorations are now going on. An excellent dinner will be provided the patients on Christmas day, and many ladies of the city have contributed towards the spread.

“The inmates of the Orphan asylum and the Old Women’s home will have an excellent turkey dinner on Christmas and New Year’s. On the former day, the ladies’ management committee meets at 8 o’clock and distribute gifts among all the children.

“In the boys’ home, the Christmas bags have been sent in well-filled, and the boys will reap the benefits of the people’s liberality. A number of Christmas cards have been sent.

“For many weeks, the children of St. Mary’s orphan asylum have been looking forward to Christmas time, and wondering what it would bring them. There is some talk of getting up a Christmas tree, and besides this, there will be the regular private gifts from the nuns, but the Christmas tree idea is not settled yet. If it is got up, there will be probably be some entertainment in connection with it.”⁷

⁷“Charitable Work : Decorations, Dinners and Entertainments on Christmas Day”

Hamilton Spectator.  December 21, 1883.

The Hamilton Times also addressed the theme of charitable efforts in the Christmas season :

 “There are circumstances connected with the advent of the Christmas season of 1883 which will render it less enjoyable to not a few of our readers than many which have preceded it. To numbers, the times are hard, work scarce and the outlook by no means bright. A knowledge of these facts will not add to the zest with which the hard-working fathers and mothers of our industrial population enter upon Christmastide.

“But there are redeeming features in this as in every other public holiday. It is a time, when, by mutual consent, people make up their minds to keep out of social life whatever may tend to mar the harmony that has for ages been supposed to form an essential requisite of the Savior’s natal day. To the vast majority of people, Christmas in these later days has, like the Presbyterian Fast Day, become more of a public holiday than a religious festival. Some may regret the revolution but it cannot be said that the masses are any the worse for the change. It is one of the few weekdays in the year when the hard workers in the world’s industrial hive enjoy a breathing spell, and when those reunions which have so beneficial an effect on the family relationship can take place with something like ease. So many of our lives, too, are spent on the rush that an occasional rest is not only to be desired, but is highly necessary if a sound mind in a sound body is to be maintained.

“It is well that the spirit of ‘goodwill toward all men,’ which we have been told was first proclaimed on Bethlehem’s plains about this time of year, should be inculcated. We are all by nature selfish enough, and the practice of self-denial for the benefit of our friends – a virtue specially requiring cultivation just now – cannot have other than a beneficial effect.

“Present giving may be carried too far, but there is no need for that. The storekeepers who advertise in the Times are enabled, through the multitudinous channels now open to them, to present to their customers an array of goods to suit either long or  short purses. It is well it should be so, for human nature is the same in every walk of life, and the boy or girl whose lot it is to live in the humblest cot in the city craves just as much for recognition at the hands of Santa Claus as the child born and reared in the millionaire’s ‘brown-stone front,’ Let the little hearts be made glad, at however small a cost. Children are not apt to pause to consider the value of a gift. Sufficient for them that the little old man from Fairyland has not forgotten to give of his plenty to swell their tiny stockings.

“Always remember that pleasure that comes unlooked for is thrice welcome. This is the reason why the little ones enjoy beyond measure any surprise the old folks can have in store for them. It operates, in a measure, in the case of the materfamilias and paterfamilias as well. The former has the hardest work in the world to daily from her liege lord the dainty pair of slippers or pretty smoking cap with her own fingers she has embroidered, while he in turn almost racks his brains to discover how he shall get into the house and conceal to Christmas morn the gift he has chosen for his loving mate. A season and a custom that gives rise to so much that tones down the acerbities of life, and cements the family tie, deserve perpetuation.

“Let us all do something to make our homes and our surroundings pleasant during the closing week of the year; and during the closing week of the year; and we shall be the better able to keep the resolves with which we may begin the coming twelve months. We can rejoice with all our hearts in our homes; and endeavor to make everyone as happy as can be

“But there are few among us who cannot do a little more. ‘The poor ye always have with you,’ is a saying as true today as when it was uttered nearly 1900 years ago. Bearing this remembrance, we can take to some desolate home a little of the Christmas cheer with which we have been blessed, and deprive that pleasure which only they who give without hope of receiving in return can enjoy.”⁸

⁸ “The Season of Goodwill”

Hamilton Times.  December 22, 1883.