Stanley-Whitman Candlelight Tour Brings Historical Christmases to Life

Visitors to the Candlelight Tour Saturday evening were mesmerized by the glimpse of Christmas in early America revealed through skits by costumed interpreters.

Twenty-minute tours were run every half hour from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Groups were led through the rooms of the ancient dwelling, each room depicting a different era from 1720 until 1899.

In the first room, a woman reads a letter she has received from her sister in Cambridge, detailing the preparations of storing food to get through the winter. She reports that it is 20 to 30 degrees in her house and that her husband has suggested they make a tent out of blankets so that they might sit in front of the fire and "read and discuss the Bible and stay close as a family."

In the next room an Anglican couple secretly exchanges simple gifts of a pewter mug, a teapot, a dress, a Bible. They do not want their neighbors to know they are celebrating Christmas for fear they will be branded as Tories.

The next room depicts the more festive, yet simple celebration of foods one might find Dutch settlers sharing. The final room is set in 1848, when the tradition of decorating trees has begun. An older sister reads "The Night Before Christmas" to her younger sister. The children on the tour listen, spellbound by the story and the candlelight.

Begun by then-Board Chairwoman Jean Dapra in 2000, the tour originally included supper for 50-100 visitors over two nights. Executive Director Lisa Johnson said that this year it was decided to lower the admission fee and serve cookies and hot chocolate instead. They also introduced a bus this year to make it easier for all visitors to get back and forth from parking at the Brickwalk.

"This is a signature event for the Stanley-Whitman House – the historic building sparkles and at night the rooms take on a romantic mood," Johnson said. " The dramas are wonderful – and because each tour group is no larger than 10 people, you feel like you are walking into someone's home – 200 years ago. There is an intimate personal feel to the evening."

"Connecticut Puritans did not celebrate Christmas, focusing instead on celebrating bountiful harvests and respite from warfare," Johnson explained. "By mid-18th century, small pockets of Anglicans in Connecticut celebrated modest and quiet Christmas customs.  Their neighbors to the west, the Dutch of the Hudson River Valley, marked the holiday with long-held traditions that included parties and gift-giving.  The true flowering of American Christmas celebrations began in the mid-19th century, with old and new traditions merging into distinctly American celebrations and customs. "

Jane Dalal, Chairwoman of the Stanley-Whitman House Board of Directors, portrayed Phoebe Dunbar, the Anglican wife who secretly shared presents with her husband so their neighbors wouldn't know.

"History is something that should come alive," she said. "When people come in to see us, they will be stepping into the home of an 18th century couple. We created our own script. We try to make it realistic. I talk about what a cold night it is and that I'm worried about my cow."

Asked if she would have preferred to be living in Farmington at that time, Jane replied "After watching a documentary recently I thought that as much as we romanticize what life was like them, it was brutal. People routinely died of influenza, disease was rampant. We romanticize it because we are so far from it. I am very happy I am a 21st century woman. Woman had virtually no political or economic freedom then. So the role of women was very different. We certainly have far more freedom today."

Enjoying hot chocolate and gingerbread after the tour, a family from Avon, who, though fascinated by what they learned about early Farmington on the tour, reflected on how much more fun Christmas celebrations are in 2010.

Visit the museum's website, www.stanleywhitman.org  to learn more about The Stanley-Whitman House.

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