Graphic: The Christmas Box

Posted on 22 December, 2010 by Janice Brown

Posted in History | Leave a comment

The Christmas Box

Posted on 22 December, 2010 by Janice Brown

Come, let us, like our jovial fires of old,
With gambels and mince-pie, our Christmas hold.
from New-Hampshire Gazette newspaper, published 3 January 1766

In the 18th and 19th centuries the “Christmas Box” was an honorable custom used to reward both household servants, and merchants who provided excellent service, or perhaps to encourage them to do so into the future.  The custom possibly evolved from the Christian church's practice of collecting alms in a locked iron box for the poor and then distributing it  as “the dole of the Christmas box.”  So when you offer a holiday gift to your hairdresser or mailman, keep in mind that your action has a ancient European precedent.

In the latter part of the 19th century, the original metal or sealed clay boxes and containers were replaced with paper, and were probably the forerunners of our current day habit of wrapping gifts in colorful boxes. The 19th century Christmas Boxes, however, received contributions not only of coin, but of letters from friends and associates offering warm wishes, and playful poetry or verses. 

And so in the spirit of the Christmas Box, I offer glimpses of Christmases past.
–Great Posts of Christmas Past and Present–

I invite you, my readers, to add something to my Christmas box–a verse, warm wishes, whatever-you-please. 

Related Subjects:
— Colonial Gambling (i.e. gambel)
— Colonial Mince Pie
— Boxing Day
— Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, 1882

Drawing above from:  “The Christmas Box, an Annual Present to Young Persons,” edited by T. Crofton Croker, Esq., London: John Ebers and Co., Philadelphia, 1899

Posted in History, New Hampshire Glossary | Leave a comment

1786 Poem: "The Grumbling Clown"

Posted on 25 August, 2008 by Janice Brown
Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "The famous Dutch woman." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1711.

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. “The famous Dutch woman.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1711.

Beneath an oak a rustick clown
Lay lounging in the shade,
Complaining loud of Fortune’s gifts,
And call’d her — partial jade.

The works of Providence were wrong,
And bad was all in sight;
He knew some things were wrong contriv’d
And he could set them right.

“For instance,” cries the grumbling churl,
“Behold this sturdy tree;
“Remark the little things it bears,
“And what disparity!

“Again–observe yon pumpkins grow,
“And see! the stalks show small!
“Unable to support their fruit,
“So bulky are they all!

“Now, I, if I had power to do’t,
“Would alter thus the case:
“That this large tree should pumpkins bear,
“And acorns take their place.”

He spoke; and, rising on his breech,
Strait from the tree fell down
An acorn of the smaller size,
And pitch’d upon his crown.

“Now,” says a trav’ller, who had heard
“The whole the clown had said,
“Suppose the tree had pumpkins borne,
“What would have sav’d thy head?”

Source: New-Hampshire Gazette, Portsmouth NH; page 4, issue 1528; published January 27, 1786

Posted in Humor, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Madison, New Hampshire: Home to New England’s Largest "Lost Rock"

Posted on 23 August, 2008 by Janice Brown

Well, the Madison Boulder is not exactly lost.

Hundreds if not thousands of people take a gander at this 5,000 (plus) ton wonder each year. This huge granite rock measures about 83 feet in length, 23 feet in height above the ground, and 37 feet in width.  A part of this roughly rectangular block of stone is buried to a depth of ten to twelve feet. Roadside America calls it “America’s Largest Glacial Traveler.”

In geology terms this prominence is considered an “erractic“–a stone moved from its parent source to another spot by a glacier or its streams. These stones are sometimes called “lost rock,” or “foundlings.” The make-up of this rock would then be very different from the ground on which it sits. The Native Peoples of North America regarded these erratics as medicine or spirit stones.

Some feel that the Madison Boulder is the largest erratic in New England, and possibly in the world. Erratics such as the Madison Boulder, and the Pennichuck Boulder in Merrimack New Hampshire, are often used to track the path that an ancient glacier traveled.

The exact parent source of the Madison Boulder is debated. Initially it was believed to have come from Albany only a few miles away. Today other authorities believe it originated at the Whitton or White ledges 12.5 and 4 miles respectively, to the northwest. Others say the boulder is similar to the ones forming Mount Willard in Crawford Notch, twenty-four miles to the nothwest.

If you would like to take a look for yourself, the Madison Boulder is located at a 17-acre site off route 113 in Madison New Hampshire.  This site was acquired by the state of N.H. in 1946. In 1970 Madison Boulder was designated a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior because the enormous erratic, “is an outstanding illustration of the power of an ice sheet to pluck out very large blocks of fractured bedrock and move them substantial distances.”

Phone: 603-323-2087
Open: Mid-May to Mid-November

Janice

*Additional Reading*

–Madison Boulder Natural Area-

– History of the Madison Boulder (video)

–Madison Boulder Video–

-Chamber’s Encyclopedia: Erratic Boulder–

-Wikipedia–Madison NH–

Posted in Boulders and Profiles, History, Structures | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

New Hampshire Glossary: Saleratus & Other Baking Terms

Posted on 21 August, 2008 by Janice Brown

Old time cooking terms, not usually heard today, can be gleaned from old New Hampshire recipes.

Photograph of a typical colonial fireplace used for cooking.

Photograph of a typical colonial fireplace used for cooking.Hampshire newspapers.

A few of them include:

. chafing dish = a non-flammable container used to hold burning fuel; used to heat anything placed on top of it.

. gill = 1/4 of a pint or 5 fluid oz (0.142 litre).

. hogshead = a large barrel or cask containing liquid, usually about 63 gallons

. Indian meal = cornmeal

. noggin = usually the same measurement as a gill

. saleratus = baking soda

. sweet milk = fresh milk (not spoiled, sour, or scalded). Whole milk

Please let me know if you have more to add.

Janice

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment