Now that the Christmas season is upon us and we’re inundated with commercial advertising, seldom do we think about what Christmas was like before TV, before radio and before North Dakota was a state.
Christmas has been around a long time, our state hasn’t. But, this territory now known as North Dakota, has some Christmas traditions that go back at least to the time of Lewis and Clark and perhaps before when fur traders wandered the prairie.
Nowadays it’s shop-til-you-drop, attend craft shows, see the Holiday Train, open presents, get stuffed and watch football. It hasn’t always been that way and following is a glimpse of what Christmas was like for prior generations.
1.) It is written in the Lewis and Clark journals that on Christmas Day 1804, the men of the expedition, located at Fort Mandan, “celebrated by firing their weapons in the morning, followed by a drink of rum and the raising of the flag. The men then danced, ate their best food and celebrated until 9 o’clock.”
2.) In 1834, the Christmas Eve dinner at Fork Clark consisted of meat pies, bread, fricasseed pheasant, boiled tongues, roast beef and coffee, made by Toussaint Charbonneau. People who shared the fine supper included Native people, Canadians, women and children.
3.) In 1868 at Fort Rice, German soldiers formed a singing group, entertaining on Christmas Eve. In addition to traditional songs, there was a supper and “weak” homemade beer.
4.) In 1872 in what is now Bismarck, with no tree to be found, pioneer Linda Slaughter decorated her husband’s mounted elk horns with ribbons, fringes and gifts. The Slaughters welcomed 11 children into their log home that Christmas Eve for songs and games. The next day, a military officer at Fort McKeen hosted a Christmas dinner of roasted pig with a bottle of catawba, a sweet, fruity wine with hints of grape, pineapple and floral.
5.) In 1917, the Gackle Republican newspaper ran a full-color front page drawing of Santa Claus holding up the earth and passing out gifts to children around the world, children of Allied nations that is, which reminded everyone that the United States was at war.
6.) In 1929, 80 students, parents and visitors attending a Christmas program at Herr School No. 2 in Sheridan County were stranded overnight in the schoolhouse because of a snowstorm. Parents led the group in games and songs amid the storm. Women and children slept on the floor or on desks pushed together.
7.) In 1932, Selvig’s Store in Plaza included the following special prices; 25 cents for a 2-pound jar of peanut butter, $1 for men’s dress shirts and 7 cents a pound for fancy lutefisk. Christmas trees sold for 20 to 65 cents each.
8.) From 1922 to 1955, Harold and Eva Case were congregational missionaries at Elbowoods. Their mission helped eight churches on the Fort Berthold Reservation celebrate Christmas with candles, carols, trees and gifts from Santa Claus.
9.) In 1943, the state Capitol declined to put up a real tree, instead paper was used to shield windows, lit from inside, to create the image of a tree, a tradition that continued for decades.
Because most immigrants to North Dakota were German or Norwegian, some of their traditions continue to this day. As an example, Germans are credited with popularizing the indoor “tennenbaum,” or Christmas tree. Those early trees were decorated with candles, handmade ornaments and treats.
On St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 5, German children would place their boots outside their door to be filled with nuts, candy and small gifts by St. Nicholas.
A special Norwegian tradition that made its way to North Dakota, “Julebukk,” Christmas fooling. Groups of people would dress in masks and costumes, disguising their identities and go house to house in search of treats, drinks and merriment.
Norwegians celebrated “Julaften,” Christmas Eve, with Christmas Day reserved for quiet family time and religious observances. Parties continued until Jan. 13, the 20th day of Christmas.
For both Norwegian and German immigrants, food on Christmas was important. Some of the Norwegian items included lutefisk, lefse and rommegrot, while for Germans it included goose, ham, potato dumplings, red cabbage (rotkohl) and sausage.
