Candles, cider and carols: Revisiting Canada’s Victorian Christmas traditions

The festive season in Victorian-era Saskatchewan may have looked different from the modern-day celebrations.

But it was no less magical, marked by a blend of old-world traditions and the pioneering spirit.

Saskatoon’s schoolhouse

During the Victorian period of approximately 1820 to 1914, Saskatchewan wasn’t even a province yet.

Which is why Victoria School, now known as the Little Stone Schoolhouse (LSS), has a different province name marking its doors.

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

“It was built in 1887 so you can see on the door, it says Northwest Territories,” Heritage Interpreter for the Diefenbaker Canada Centre Brooke Slusar pointed out. “We were part of the Northwest Territories until 1905, when we became a province.”

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The one-room schoolhouse was Saskatoon’s first school and public building, located originally on Broadway Avenue.

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

“This schoolhouse ran between 1887 and 1905 and then they built a bigger two room schoolhouse,” elaborated Autumn Pinto, the Heritage Education Technician for the Diefenbaker Canada Centre. “In 1911 they decided, we don’t really need the one room schoolhouse. Let’s preserve it. So they took it down.”

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

The structure was taken down, brick by brick, and moved to the University of Saskatchewan campus in 1911, which had just been established as as an agricultural college in 1907.

“Until (almost) the ‘70’s, it was just used for storage. And then, they decided, let’s restore it to the original purpose,” Slursar said.

In 1967, the Saskatoon Council of Women raised money to renovate the building and officially opened the LSS as a museum.

The U of S took over the operation of the building in 1981 and the Diefenbaker Canada Centre has continued its care and appreciation since then.

What was Christmas like when the school was in operation?

The one-room school house is nestled in the snow on the U of S campus, and the first thing you’ll notice is how chilly it is inside.

But Slusar and Pinto have made use of the large stove in the centre of the room.

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

“The teacher would have to come in early and light the stove to get it going for the day,” Slusar explained. “The kids would bring their own logs from home.”

“I believe that they could have fit 60 kids in this room, which looking around does not seem possible,” laughs Pinto. “There would have been kids from so many different ages, that there would have been the family structures within the school room.”

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Students would trek from all around the area to make it in for the school day.

“Students were getting to school (by) walking, or taking a horse and sleigh. It would have been a journey, for sure, but back then, they really prioritized education,” Slusar said.

“Sometimes students would actually sleep over at the school because of blizzards. The conditions were too bad to leave.”

The school room features three rows of wooden desks, a pump organ used for hymns and Christmas carols, and a large Christmas tree at the front of the room.

“They absolutely would have had a Christmas tree, and they would have decorated it like we have, with our handmade paper chains and ornaments to to make it more festive,” said Pinto, admiring the colourful paper decorations adorning the branches.

Brooke Slusar (left) and Autumn Pinto decorate a Christmas tree with paper chains, like children would back in the Victorian times at the Little Stone School. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

“The schoolhouse, as well as being a school, was also a community centre. People would have had dances here. They would have had Christmas parties. It would have been a location for the broader community to be able to come and celebrate,” Pinto continued.

The pump organ is also at the front of the room, beside the blackboard, and features sheet music for Christmas carols like “Jingle Bells”, “O Holy Night”, and “Good King Wenceslas”.

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

“People traveled to different houses and sang outside, in exchange for food and hot drinks like apple cider,” Slusar said. “The goal was to spread joy about the holiday, and acknowledge Christian beliefs in their songs”.

Christmas traditions with German origins

The Victorian period is named after Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901.

“Victorian Christmas was actually really due to Prince Albert,” explained Pinto.

“Christmas was far more of a religious observance. It was less of a party. And so Prince Albert brought in a bunch of German traditions, which included Christmas trees, so we really have him to thank for that.”

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

The practice of sending Christmas cards also began during this time, as well as exchanging presents.

“These practices came over with British settlers, and probably German as well, and spread pretty quickly,” Pinto added.

Electric Christmas trees wouldn’t become popular until 1903, so Christmas trees were illuminated with candles.

“Definitely a fire hazard back then, and I’m glad we don’t do that anymore,” laughed Slusar.

“Typically today, we see the gifts under the tree. But back then, they would have actually hung their gifts on the tree,” she added.

As the world became more industrial, and people became wealthier, the gifts grew from being able to be hung from the branches, to stuffed under the tree.

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

But on the prairies, gifting remained a simple affair.

“Here on the prairies, like while there was a lot of commercialization that was easily accessible in the bigger cities, they were probably continuing those practices in a more handmade way, just due to accessibility,” Pinto contended.

“Things that are easy to ship or purchase, or that you could make yourself, would probably have been a big thing, especially if you were ordering it in to the prairies,” she added, with toys like paper dolls or wooden animals.

The Victorians in Canada would have also seen this as a time of indulgence.

“Back in the day, most people were having to preserve fruit,” said Pinto. “The fact that you could possibly get a fresh orange on Christmas Day would have been a huge deal.”

Slusar added, “Hand-me-downs, things with patches. You know, you’d get your siblings Christmas jacket from last year, but it would be new to you.”

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

Warmth and community

Christmas in Victorian Canada was often spent with family, neighbors, and those within walking distance.

“As people started to celebrate Christmas more and more festively, we start to see a huge upsurge in things such as Christmas carols, a more popularized form of say, the traditional hymns,” explained Slusar. “People were celebrating in a new way by creating, at the time, more modern music.”

For many, the most coveted ingredient was sugar, an expensive luxury in the remote communities of Saskatchewan.

But on Christmas, it was carefully rationed to sweeten the holiday desserts and treats, like gingerbread and plum cake.

For those living in more isolated areas, people relied on one another for support and companionship through the harsh winter months.

“You could totally get lost in a blizzard, just trying to go to the outhouse bathroom,” said Pinto, incredulously. “There are some kids that did not survive going to the bathroom.”

Even getting water for the schoolhouse would have been a laborious affair.

“They would go out and scoop the snow, and there was just one bucket with one little laddle for them to drink out of,” said Slusar, approaching the stove. “They’d have to put it on the stove to melt it, so it’d take a long time to get water, and everyone had to share it.”

In the face of the bitter cold and short daylight hours, Christmas in Saskatchewan was a reminder of survival and endurance.

A festive flourish

In the larger communities like Saskatoon or Regina, Christmas celebrations took on a slightly more festive tone.

Local business owners would set up modest decorations in their shops, and the town squares would sometimes be adorned with a pine tree or holly.

On Christmas Day, the streets might see the occasional horse-drawn sleigh carrying families to visit friends or relatives.

“There would have been tons of different influences and people celebrating different ways,” admitted Pinto. “We also have to recognize that it wasn’t just settlers who were here. Métis culture also had a lot of strong Christmas traditions by this time, and Métis New Years was a huge thing as well.”

Many of the Christmas traditions of the Victorian period have made their way into modern Christmas celebrations.

Which means that next time you receive a Christmas card in the mail or find a Christmas carol replaying in your head, you have the Victorians to thank.

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

“Christmas was far more of a religious observance, and was less of a party,” said Pinto, referring to the time before the Victorian period. “Christmas is still a religious observance, but we definitely like to have fun and be merry nowadays.”

“It really became the more modern idea of a holiday, I think, during the Victorian period,” she added.

The Little Stone Schoolhouse and the Diefenbaker Canada Centre will close over the Christmas break, and reopen to the public on Wednesday January 1, 2025.

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