A Rangiora Christmas in the 1880s

It’s Christmas! Those of us with children were woken up at the crack of dawn… People are rushing to prepare for lunch, and realising the supermarkets are closed. And historians are busy trying to convince their families to play weird Christmas games from the past.

But what was Christmas like for our small-town ancestors back in the Victorian era?

In this Christmas Day blog I’m looking at what a typical Christmas was like in my local town, Rangiora, for the typical Victorian house wife in the 1880s!

The 1880s was a bustling time for Rangiora. The town had established itself as the main market town for North Canterbury. The railways saw a steady stream of logs coming from Oxford, ready to be moved on to Christchurch or Amberly. And farmers from throughout the area brought their stock to market in the fields around the Red Lion.

Almost all the buildings on High Street were made of wood, and the street was a lot less densely packed than it is today – with a fair amount of open space. Purpose built shops had flat fronts that sat right against the footpath. These were two storey and had sash windows (that opened up and down) on both floors, although larger fixed panel display windows had also begun appearing on the ground floors.

There were also houses on High Street, many of which had been converted into shops. These had rounded “bull nose” verandas that extended out to the road and were supported by posts. These were being slowly replaced by purpose-built shops and were mostly gone by the 1890s.

The two main churches were the Anglican St John the Baptist, headed by Archdeacon Benjamin Dudley (after which Dudley Park is named), and the Catholic St Mary and St Francis de Sales at St Joseph’s School on Victoria Street.

Looking down the street the buildings that would have really stood out were the Junction Hotel (which at the time had an impressive high standing parapet), the Red Lion Hotel (which had its elaborate verandas), and the brand-new white plastered post office which opened 1887.

Women were in charge of the running of the household. This meant cooking, cleaning, shopping, and raising the children. They also had control over the finances and the families money. But this meant that Christmas was a very busy time of year for a woman!

Looking back at your own childhood in the 1860s you remember Christmas presents being a lot simpler – fruits, nuts, perhaps a wooden toy. But kids these days are absolutely spoilt by a flood of affordable quality metal and porcelain toys coming out of England. A particular favourite for boys are tin soldiers, while small porcelain dolls are popular with girls. And books are always well received.

You just wish the children would spend more time playing outside rather than lost in their imaginations playing with these distractions! Children these days are glued to their books and toys. Back in the good old day’s children were expected to occupy themselves constructively! But oh well.

You notice a newspaper advertisement that W. Gardiner has Christmas presents for sale in Rangiora! You remember the fight he had with old man Bathingthwaite back in the 70s and give a small chuckle. But Gardiner’s place would certainly be a good place to start shopping.

Although Christchurch has some really good toy sales advertised. Perhaps it would be worth taking the train into town?

And you really do need more decorations for the Christmas tree.

And it would be nice to get some fancy Chinese tea for Christmas Day from one of those exciting new tea rooms in the city. And you absolutely should sample it first… And perhaps you could try that other new drink – coffee is it called? They say it gives you all the energy you could ever need.

Yes, a trip to Christchurch with the ladies is absolutely necessary!

The week before Christmas is a time of celebrations. The Anglican and Catholic churches usually put on a fete (party) the week before Christmas. The Anglican fete of 1888 was amazing!

They had a large tent showing off the handcrafts of the ladies, all for sale of course. Another tent dispensed strawberries and other refreshments. There were carnival games, including a shooting gallery where a penny got you three shots at winning a cocoa nut! There was a display of fine arts, and a Ripley’s style museum of strange artefacts and spooky curiosities. And music was provided by the Rangiora Brass Band!

One of the trees next to the church was made into a “well stocked” Christmas tree by Misses Blackett and Wycherley, packed with all the decorations imaginable!

Grab a copy of the paper for the details! Lyttelton Times 19/12/1888: 6.

(This fete probably took place either in Dudley Park or the block around Park Street, both of which were owned by the Church in the 19th century).

On that note – many of the shops around the town have also decorated the trees on their properties as Christmas trees. They are absolutely marvellously packed with all sorts of small toys, and are amazing to behold. The children have demanded that they be taken to see every last one of them…

And, of course, you absolutely must attend the Rangiora Philharmonic Society’s Christmas concert! A fabulous rendition of Handel’s ‘The Massiah’. (The Philharmonic Society was led by Mr. Johnston, who built the Johnston Building on the corner of High and Victoria Streets – now Coffee Culture).

And you mustn’t forget that the days before Christmas are when the fruiters finally began stocking delicious Christmas fruits! These aren’t available year round – like they are today- you either had to wait for the right season or for a grocer to import them.

At Christmas fruits and spices from across the British Empire were finally made available – figs, dates, raisins, sultanas, almonds. And allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and star anise. Everything you need for baking gingerbread, fruit mince tarts, fancy biscuits, and other Christmas treats.

The shopping and the baking are both jobs for the lady of the house, so you had better get onto it before they are sold out!

Things you couldn’t buy in Rangiora (or missed out on buying because of the crowds) could be ordered from Taylor, Papps & Co. who had a representative on Victoria Street – although this certainly wasn’t cheap!

They also stocked chocolates in fancy tins, something else that wasn’t always available in rural Rangiora!

Which reminds you – you had better start making the Christmas pudding! This family favourite is going to take several hours of boiling over a hot stove… And you also need to bake all the other treats for Christmas… And the treats you plan to give out as gifts… And Christmas is in a few days! So there is probably a day, perhaps two, of baking ahead of you…. And that on top of everything else you have to do!

Oh, and lets not forget that the week before Christmas is when the Christmas tree goes up! Must remember to tell the children to be careful around the lit candles…

And you need to take the children to see Santa! You remember in your childhood in the 1860s that Santa would wear a green suit. But now he always wears red.

Christmas Eve is the last shopping day before the shops close for the Christmas break! Nothing is open Christmas or Boxing Day.

In a time before refrigeration fresh meat had to be bought the day before you wanted to eat it, perhaps a couple of days in a pinch.

The butchers had a tradition of highly decorating their shop fronts for Christmas Eve with flowers and “evergreens” – ivy, holy, mosses, and ferns – and elaborate displays of Christmas meats. Legs of lamb and roast beef, sometimes entire sides of animals, hung in the windows and outside of the shops. Platers of fine cuts were also made. All the meat being provided by local farmers.

In Rangiora Cone’s butchery, on the corner of High and Cone Streets, was known for always putting on the best decorations!

As the housekeeper it was the wife’s job to visit the butcher and choose the cuts she wanted to prepare for the family on Christmas day. This must have been a very bustling time with all the women of the town descending on the butchers to get the best cuts before they were sold!

Every year in the 19th century there was a Christmas Eve festival on High Street. It was a bustling time with the street absolutely full of people.

Many of the shops along High Street would have been decorated with flowers, evergreens, window transparencies, and brightly coloured Chinese lanterns. The Junction Hotel (now Sushi Ya) was known for putting on an amazing display lit with lanterns.

A brass band played on Mr. Johnson’s corner (corner High and Victoria Streets – where Coffee Culture is now), or sometimes it was on the Junction Hotel’s balcony. There were carollers, and people played games – probably including blind man’s bluff and find the slipper. As it got dark the Chinese lanterns on the shops would be lit, giving the street a warm colourful glow.

The party continued well into the evening. At about 10pm fireworks would be let off from the Junction Hotel.

Following this many people would go home, perhaps to play a round of snapdragon before going to bed!

Although others would head to the midnight church service, usually starting around 11pm. The inside of the churches were tastefully decorated with flowers and evergreens. A job undertaken by the women of the Parish, of course.

And through all of this we also had to find time to open presents!

Christmas Eve was traditionally the time that the family presents were opened. But some people have begun waiting to open the family gifts on Christmas Day instead! Can you imagine!

Christmas Day would probably start with the children rushing to the fireplace to see if Santa had left anything in their stockings. Which had been carefully hung above the fireplace. Assuming there wasn’t a lump of coal!

Then everyone went off to church. This would be in your Sunday best – which for an 1880s woman probably included a corset, bustle, fancy feathered hat, and a flowing dress that went down to the ankles – which had probably also been your wedding dress.

But there was no time to waste! Straight after church it was home to cook Christmas lunch! Locally grown vegetables (perhaps from your own garden) with the meats and fruits you had been busy buying the previous days. As the matron of the house, that would easily take up the rest of the morning!

You might have Christmas crackers, complete with paper hats. And with any luck you would be serving the traditional Christmas pudding, lit on fire with brandy, that you started making days ago. Christmas tarts, biscuits, candied fruits, Christmas cake – all things that you made yourself in the day’s prior.

Then after the lunch you have a choice.

Many Rangiora locals are spending the afternoon at Sumner beach – a favourite Christmas day activity for many Cantabrians! Additional return trains are being run at 11pm and midnight to accomodate all the people.

But it is always so crowded.

Otherwise, there is a Christmas party being hosted on the grounds of The Plough. Almost certainly there will be music and games of blind man’s bluff!

Boxing day is usually a day of rest. There is an annual bicycle race on in Christchurch starting at Lancaster Park. Locally there will be cricket and picnics.

It’s understood that boxing day is when the servants of the rich folk open the presents from their employers, but that’s of no concern to us rural folk.

(The featured image at the top of this post is the first commercial Christmas card – printed 1843).