Christmas in New Brunswick: A Conversation with David Goss

This episode is a conversation with David Goss, a well-known author and storyteller from Saint John.  He gives some information about some of the developing traditions of Christmas in New Brunswick.  Following are some of the things that David said: I think a lot of Christmas celebrations in New Brunswick are homogenized. They are pretty much the same for everybody in every area of the province.  Although when I did my first book on Christmas, the Acadian Christmas was quite different. Their Christmas was more based on the baby Jesus and the Nativity story than the Anglophone Christmas was.  They told me they didn't celebrate Christmas, but what they meant is they didn't celebrate Christmas the way the Anglophone population did, which was mostly based on Santa Claus, after about 1880. But before that, the first Christmas that I was able to get records of was Lady Hunter in Fredericton in 1804 to 1808. She was here with her husband, Sir Martin Hunter, and they came from England. He was the Governor General of the province, representing England. And they were with the military in Fredericton, and she wrote letters back to England, several letters over the years, 1804 four to 1808.  And in those, she just described the Christmas that they were enjoying in New Brunswick.  By that time, English Christmases were quite well established, but among the New Brunswickers, there was probably very people were just getting by, living very frugal existences. But Sir Martin Hunter had the wherewithal to have lavish parties and balls, and have the military involved in them.  So, they skated on the river, and they had sleigh rides, and they had the barracks all decorated with greenery, which nobody else was doing at the time. And Queen Mab.was the gift giver. Santa Claus hadn't come on the scene yet.  Although Clement Moore had written the famous “Twas the Night Before Christmas”, it wasn’t until 1821 or 1822 that it was written.  So, they were before the era of Santa Claus, but there was still a gift giver and it was Queen Mab.  And there were still stockings hung. So that was a tradition even before Clement Moore's time.  So that was the first time I ran across any great collection of information about Christmas in New Brunswick, and there's not much more until about the 1850s.  In 1848, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's image appears with a Christmas tree in the Illustrated London News, and that's the first appearance of a Christmas tree idea in the United Kingdom.  In the 1850s, 1860s, and 70s, maybe 10 percent of New Brunswickers had trees. By 1900, 90% had trees in their house. So that tradition grew slowly over a period of 50 years.  As far as public trees go, the first public tree in Saint John was not until 1923, and it was in King Square. Then the Irving’s began that tradition in 1980 of lighting a large Christmas tree during the time that Canada was celebrating its bicentennial.  So, during the bicentennial years, which was 1983-85, the tree grew to be a massive 66-foot tree with over 5, 000 lights.  It was known as the most beautiful tree in Canada at that time.  And then, the tree blew down one year. Broke in two. And they, they now reduced it down to about a 30-foot tree. But it's still a magnificent sight, for sure. David is offering his newest book Cottage and Campfire Chillers as a Christmas special.  A signed copy directly from the author for $12.00, or two for $20.00.  Mailed anywhere in Canada for $15.00.  Contact [email protected] or call (506) 672-8601. Mark J Brewer, Host