How a Lady's Magazine Shaped Christmas

Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book was an American women's magazine published in Philadelphia from 1830 to 1870 and played an important part in shaping the cultural customs of the 19th century.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godey%27s_Lady%27s_Book

Sarah Josepha Hale, author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” was the editor from 1837 until 1877. When Hale started at Godey's, the magazine had a circulation of ten thousand subscribers.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Josepha_Hale

By 1860, it had 150,000 subscribers and was the most popular journal of its day. Hale used her influence to advocate for the establishment of a national Thanksgiving holiday and other various causes, including advocating for women's education.

https://www.uvm.edu/~hag/godey/images/glb01-59c.jpg

Best known for the fashion plate that appeared at the start of each issue, other articles and editorials helped shape many of the traditions practiced by American families today.


The above picture was based on an image of Queen Victoria and her decorated Christmas tree previously published in The Illustrated London News in December 1848.



A revised version was copied in Godley's in 1850 and removed what was referred to as royal trappings from Victoria's tiara and Prince Albert's mustache to remake the picture into an American scene. It was the first widely circulated picture of a decorated evergreen Christmas tree in America and was reprinted in 1860. By the 1870s, a Christmas tree was common in the United States.


Pioneer families adopted the tradition by decorating their homes with natural materials such as evergreen, holly, pinecones, nuts, and berries. While these efforts may have been modest compared to the articles in Godey's magazine, a Christmas tree was equally festive, decorated with popcorn and homemade decorations, such as cookie dough ornaments, gingerbread men, and cornhusks angels.

 Little House on the Prairie- Season 1, Episode 15

In my upcoming new release, Clementine: Christmas Quilt Brides Book 15, our heroine has relocated to an area where trees can be scarce. Assuming one could find one, it might be considered wasteful to cut down. Even so, pioneers would celebrate the day with a time of feasting. Many women brought out the preserved fruits and vegetables. Beef or ham would have been served, or more likely, fresh game.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKNWWG92

Clementine has nothing to her name but a quilt and some second-hand clothing. She's aged out of the orphanage and can't afford to be choosey. But she is determined to make the best of things. "If it's true that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, surely any minor flaws like my sassiness will fade away with the aroma of fresh bread."

Disappointed in love, Caleb Ellis is content to live a reclusive lifestyle on the outskirts of his family's ranch. But his father had other ideas and left a condition that he must marry to obtain his inheritance. Time is not on his side, so he has arranged to marry a woman he's never met by proxy. "Anyone growing up in an orphanage, desperate enough to apply as a mail-order bride, is bound to be practical, biddable, and self-sufficient. I'll leave her to her own resources, and she should leave me to mine."

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Fans of historical romance set in the late 19th -century will enjoy stories combining, History, Humor, and Romance with an emphasis on Faith, Friends, and Good Clean Fun.


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