Tidings of Comfort and Joy

"The Road Winter", Currier and Ives

'Tis the season to be jolly! I want to take a moment and say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you! I love this time of year and Christmas is so quintessentially Victorian that it always puts me in a historic mood. I want to be out enjoying a sleigh ride with a cup of hot mulled wine and a roaring fire afterwards!

Christmas 1863, Harpers Weekly

 I hope this holiday season and Christmastide finds you surrounded with love and comfort. I personally have been very busy - by day, I work on the leadership team of a customer service call center. We have been very busy making sure our customers have a very happy holiday! I am also part of a choral group and we had two concerts this season - the highlight of which was learning "Stille Nacht" and "O Tannenbaum" in German. I felt like I was connecting with my German ancestors, who immigrated to the United States in the 1840s.

Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Family with Christmas Tree

 It has also been very, very cold here - one of the coldest Decembers in two centuries in Minnesota. If it's cold where you are (or colder than you are used to) or if the season has maybe left you a little cold in other ways, I hope you can find some comfort and good cheer and warmth.

"Comfort" from the collections of the NYPL

I just wanted to take a moment, as the year closes, to thank you for following along with my historic exploits, for sharing in my love of history, and to wish you all a very happy new year.

"Christmas Eve", WC Bauer

PS: Now that the holiday season is drawing to a close, expect more posts. I haven't forgotten about the post I'd promised on our immersion luncheon, and will be posting that soon! Thanks to everyone for your patience!

PPS: What do you think of the new background? Shoutout to Background Fairy for the pretties!