Past Exhibitions
A Family Christmas at the Cannon Ball House
December 1 – 31, 2021
Gilbert Wing of Keeler Tavern Museum
Christmas celebrations in New England changed drastically throughout the centuries after the first European settlers arrived in 1620. It wasn't until the 19th century that Americans widespread embraced Christmas as a holiday—encouraged by writings by popular authors like Washington Irving and Charles Dickens. Over the century, Christmas and winter celebration customs from the many different immigrant groups arriving on America's shores were enfolded into a "traditional" American Christmas.
By the first decades of the 20th century, American Christmas celebrations had begun to solidify into the “traditional” Christmas we know today. While there were differences in what was considered “traditional” in different parts of the United States, influenced by the major immigrant groups that settled in different areas of the country, the typical American Christmas in the 1910s and 1920s was a festive, family-oriented celebration with decorated trees, gift-giving, and Santa Claus.
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