A roasted goose rests on the table. A Christmas tree, adorned with candles and strings of cranberries, takes up a full corner of the room.
Stockings hang from the hearth, stuffed with presents.
When Dec. 25 rolled around in the colonial 1600s and 1700s, most Long Islanders did what they did on any other day of the year. Women cooked or spent the day catching up on the wash. Men worked in the barns or, if weather permitted, in the fields preparing for the next growing season. If anyone was caught observing Christmas by drinking, partying or song, they were fined five shillings. December was a slow month for farmers and other laborers of the day.