Virginia Vignettes

At least as early as the 1850s, many German residents of the Valley of Virginia celebrated the Christmas season with the unique custom of “belsnickeling.” The tradition’s origins are murky but the name comes from the Germans of the Palatinate region where Belznickel, or Saint Nicholas, brought small gifts for good children. In [...]

In the ante-bellum South, no one looked forward to Christmas more than the slaves. The coming of the Christmas season meant increased freedom, a minimum of a three-day holiday and extra provisions. Slaves held their own worship services and celebrated the season with song and dance, story-telling, ring games, jump rope and dances [...]

In 1686, a French Huguenot named Durand was traveling through the colonies, recording his observances in a journal. Shortly before Christmas, he stopped at the home of Colonel William Fitzhugh, “whose houses stand along the banks of the great Pethomak river,” where he was treated to a lavish celebration. William Fitzhugh was one [...]

The first Virginia Christmas found the English adventurers far from home and far from merry. Although it was spring when the three English ships landed in the New World, the men neglected the fundamentals of survival in their rush to find gold and silver, and winter found them – like the grasshopper in Aesop’s [...]