The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-24
YULETIDE THEN And NOW.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Talks Of the
Christmas Of Old.

| oOANGS anu 4neiE HuT5SS buying
Presents for the Wealthy and Un-
wholesome Sweetmeats for Their
Children-A Day to Be Dreaded, Not
Enjoyed.
Copyright, 1898.
| Inc poet or artist, desiring a model
! from which to incarnate Christmas past
and present, would never find better one
than Elizabeth Cady Stanton sitting in
| her study this evening surrounded by
works of art, books and the thousand and
one things which intellectual people gather
| about them.
Though woman of more than four
| score years, she begins her work each
morning with the freshness of youth, and
each evening sees the lamps lighted over
hsr desk to enable her to finish the liter
| airy and philanthropic labors of the day.
When | entered she was finishing an
| appeal TO the women of New York city
and state, urging them to unite in one
| great movement looking to the enfran-
chisement of the sex. When l asked her
| how the Christmas of to-day compared
| with that of the early part of the century
she said: The Christmas of long ago
was simple, joyful, exceedingly pictur-
| esque, quoting, and a magnificent festal
| tide. Christmas was the time of all the
| homecomings, of lovemakings, OF betroth-
| ais and of marriages. 1t was great re-
| nglouS day, when pardohs were granted,
| prayers offered up for those far away
| upon the sea or in distant lands.
There was a heroic simplicity about
! the way in which the old-time housewife
| prepared for Christmas. 1t was not so
| much that she must give and receive
| gifts, listen to and create batteries, dance
and sing the hours away, as it was that
| for the space of one whole day everybody
| belonging to her was content. The
| Christmas of the past was full of asso-
| Citations. The Christmas of the present
full of expectations.
II do not think the change is for the
| better. No one recognizes Improvement
more than do, and bearing this in mind
must confess that the celebration of
| Christmas like that of marriages and
| funerals has been run into the ground
| when / was girl lived in Johns
| town, n. Y. We had a great kitchen, so
large that it made capital playroom for
the children, and where a colored man
servant used to play the fiddle for us to
| dance. Christmas eve we tidied up the
| room, hung our stockings upon the man
tel and went to bed. In the morning we
| opened them with great hurrah and de-
| voured their contents. These were usual
! ly some candies, few raisins and a rosy
| checked apple.
"Often there would be three or four
bright new pennies in the stocking, and
| oOliSVllllSSi Du1 Idrelyj pOllSneu ulne or
| quarter Of dollar. During the morn
ing we would get up little presents of food
| for the neighbors who were in distressed
| circumstances and would take them
around and deliver them in person. In
the middle of the day we had the dinner,
| which was almost always a great roast
| turkey, well stuffed, potatoes sweet DO
| tatoes and half dozen other vegetables,
| pumpkin pies and occasionally mince pies
/ Thnpp littln cnnpia1 ropefvg, &c,
| the day and there was none of the present
| interm1nable system of making presents
| We might give our father and mother one
| but made none outside of the family. The
idea of giving anything to wealthy friends
was unheard Of We went to bed early
Christmas night, after, it might be,
| games and little dancing, and woke up
the next morning with bright eyes and
| clear heads.
''The modern method involves alto
| gether too much labor and thought and
| expense. spent considerable time last
year in winter sanitarium, and, to my
surprise, found that nearly all of the
inmates who were there for their health
were working themselves sick making
| holiday presents. They were embroider-
| ing, crocheting, knitting, lacking, cary
| ing, sketching, painting and only good
| ness knows what not in the kniclx-knack
| and bric-a- brac line l spoke to them
about it and every one assured me that it
| had to be done, and that, although tired
| out and exhausted with the labor, they
wouldn't dare to pass Christmas without
making some present to everybody upon
| their list
"Then / notice that the cost of presents
| has increased inOrdinately When, for
| example, Christmas cards first appeared
they were a very pretty and economic
novelty. They cost few cents apiece and
enabled person TO send a seasonable
| message to a score of friends at no great
| outlay. To-day Christmas cards have be-
| come works of art in themselves and cost,
in ma cases, s. and so each. The
Christians dinner has grown until it is
meal large enough to kill an ordinary
human being. 1t is so bad that almost
| everybody know the day after Christ
| mas is miserable and ailing from an in
| jured stomach .t
"The worst Of all is the extravaganza
which has been growing yearly all over
the land just before Christmas. | was in
large dry goods store and right near me
was young and handsome married cou-
| pie. They were doing their Christmas
| shopping and apparently had been TO
| other stores before they had met me-
The young wife said: Here's something
we must buy and the husband answered,
My dear, we limited ourselves to IS in
| tOLuiLtS AiGO bulo place. anu udNG Already
spent $50 myself, really we can't
J afford to buy anything else' The wife
pouted and responded: we can't bear to
be stingy and mean we are going to get
so many presents ourselves The hus-
band made reply: Yes, the people who
give them are very wealthy and we can
never compete with them in expenditure
and the wife with true feminine pertinac.
ity said: Yes, dear, Wen buy it and
then Wen economist next month" The
husband yielded and the last glimpse /
had of him, he was still buying things
under the wifes directions.
I'm the olden times such things did not
occur. If a husband and wife went out it
was to buy few things for the children,
which cost but little, and some simple
presents for household servants or other
members of the family. What leisure
time they would have they would devote
to arranging for a dance, lot of indoor
games, sleighing party or straw ride,
and all Of these festivities were marked
by great simplicity. There was usually
one musician, fiddler, who played old
fashioned dance music. There was no
fashionable costuming and the refresh
ments were simple.
II view with dislike the way in which
parents, who ought to know better, treat
their children nowadays Candies a no