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Sunday, December 6th, the Pierre Menard State Historic Site will be celebrating the Christmas season with a Christmas Open House from 1-4pm.
The home will be decked out in all of it’s finery with the sights and scents of an old fashioned mid-19th Century French Christmas. Greenery, from boxwood, holly, cedar and magnolia leaves will festoon the outside of the home. In addition the home will be colorfully decorated with brightly colored fruits including; apples, pears and pineapples as candles will brighten one of the shortest days of the year.
Inside the home you will find more fruit, greenery and candles as well as a nativity scene occupying the parlor with all of the traditional elements that can be found with this symbol of the Christmas season.
However one thing you will not find is a Christmas tree decorating the home. A Christmas tree inside the home can be traced back to 16th Century Germany and there were Christmas trees in this country, with Hessian Troops during the Revolutionary War and with the Moravian’s in their settlements in the east and south, but Christmas trees in general did not make an appearance in this country until they appeared in the 1850 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book. After their appearance in that December issue there was no stopping the progression of this now widely recognized symbol of Christmas.
As is tradition with the French American’s in this country, the celebration of the Christmas season will be bright, warm, scented with wonderful smells, but subdued. However you can expect the Friends of the Menard Home will be on hand, dressed in 19th Century historic clothing to welcome everyone to the Menard Home with a cup of warm cider and something sweet to eat as they show visitors through the home of the first Lt. Governor of the State of Illinois.
The home will be decked out in all of it’s finery with the sights and scents of an old fashioned mid-19th Century French Christmas. Greenery, from boxwood, holly, cedar and magnolia leaves will festoon the outside of the home. In addition the home will be colorfully decorated with brightly colored fruits including; apples, pears and pineapples as candles will brighten one of the shortest days of the year.
Inside the home you will find more fruit, greenery and candles as well as a nativity scene occupying the parlor with all of the traditional elements that can be found with this symbol of the Christmas season.
However one thing you will not find is a Christmas tree decorating the home. A Christmas tree inside the home can be traced back to 16th Century Germany and there were Christmas trees in this country, with Hessian Troops during the Revolutionary War and with the Moravian’s in their settlements in the east and south, but Christmas trees in general did not make an appearance in this country until they appeared in the 1850 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book. After their appearance in that December issue there was no stopping the progression of this now widely recognized symbol of Christmas.
As is tradition with the French American’s in this country, the celebration of the Christmas season will be bright, warm, scented with wonderful smells, but subdued. However you can expect the Friends of the Menard Home will be on hand, dressed in 19th Century historic clothing to welcome everyone to the Menard Home with a cup of warm cider and something sweet to eat as they show visitors through the home of the first Lt. Governor of the State of Illinois.
