Gilded Age Christmas Gifts: The "Mystery Dollhouse" from FAO Schwarz

Long before children in the 20th century were requesting a Barbie dreamhouse for Christmas, girls in the 1890s had dreams of receiving dollhouses that were no less elaborate than what we might see today! If you visit Staatsburgh during ‘A Gilded Age Christmas’ this year, keep your eyes open for a large dollhouse. The dollhouse was first put on display in 2023 and then again this year as a representation of the type of Christmas gifts one of the Mills daughters may have received.

1890 "Mystery dollhouse," donated by Joseph and Susan Feeks in 2023

Masquerade! Paper Faces on Parade!

The Christmas season is always a grand affair at Staatsburgh!  The site has elaborate decorations that evoke the decadence and over-the-top nature of the Gilded Age. Quite often, the holiday decorations are aligned with a theme and in 2022 that theme was masquerade.  Masks adorned various Christmas trees and tables throughout the mansion and the strains of Phantom of the Opera's 'Masquerade' could be heard in the dining room (hence the borrowed lyric in the title of this essay.)  Masquerade balls evoke a sense of mystery and opulence that was most commonly associated with 16th-century Venice and the Carnival. Since wearing a mask could act as a disguise, there was an element of thrill and intrigue about not knowing the identity of your dance partner.  Although masquerade balls fell out of fashion the following century, they became popular again in 18th-century Europe.  Given that Gilded Age décor frequently copied 18th-century European tastes and styles, it was only natural that masquerade balls were once again part of entertaining .  

Banquet table in the Dining Room, December 2022

Christmas in the 1920s

Christmas as a holiday has continuously evolved over the centuries and decades, but many modern traditions have deeply seated historic roots.  Many Christmas traditions in England and America began during the reign of Queen Victoria who led the British empire from 1837-1901.  After she married Albert of Germany, many German traditions such as decorated Christmas trees became increasingly common in England and soon spread across the ocean to the United States.  Several years ago we wrote about many of the traditions that became stalwarts of Christmas during the Gilded Age (see previous Christmas essays here), but this essay looks forward to the 1920s.  The post WWI world was changing, and new technology brought a new dimension to Christmas celebrations.  But while the United States embraced the new, there was still the tendency to look backward and dream of wholesome Christmases past before the world was torn apart by war.  Christmas was a comfort and communal celebrations of the holiday served as a balm to families (Christian ones, at least) finding their place in a new decade.

On the 1st Day of Christmas...

 ...my true love gave to me...  Are you already singing it in your head?  "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a Christmas carol with a very catchy tune.  This popular and enduring carol cumulatively lists increasingly lavish gifts during each verse from a partridge in a pear tree to twelve drummers drumming.  Even though the version we hear today identifies the gift giver as "my true love," some earlier versions of the song instead used "my mother."  Many different tunes were also used with the lyrics until the current version became the standard in the early 20th century.   

A Nutcracker Christmas at Staatsburgh

This year the mansion was decorated for the holidays with a nutcracker theme.  Visitors walking through the house heard the lovely strains of the famous musical score as they admired the decorations and collection of various sized nutcrackers.  Not only are nutcrackers a popular Christmas decoration, the score from The Nutcracker ballet, composed by Peter Tchaikovsky in 1892 has a lasting association with the Christmas season.  The ballet is performed every year in cities large and small around the world.  Many productions continue to be set in the late 19th century and depict a world similar to the American Gilded Age (at least during the party scene before the fantasy elements begin).

Nutcrackers grace the mantel in Staatsburgh's dining room, Christmas 2019

A Gilded Age Christmas: Christmas Crackers

During the Gilded Age, place settings for Christmas dinner would frequently include a Christmas cracker.  First created in Victorian England, crackers also became very popular in the United States in wealthy and middle class homes.

A Christmas cracker consists of a wrapped cardboard tube with items inside that may include a small trinket or toy, candy, a paper crown, and a motto or joke.  There is also a popper or cracker snap inside, which makes a popping noise when you pull it open.  Christmas crackers are a great addition to traditional Christmas festivities.

Christmas 1900 at Staatsburgh: The First Christmas of a New Century

Christmas 1900

Christmas 1899 must have been an enjoyable occasion because the family spent Christmas 1900 at Staatsburgh as well.  Many wealthy families like the Millses left the city to spend the holiday in a quiet, country location.  Nearby Tuxedo Park was also a popular location for many families.

Wilbur and Orville Wright's Christmas Tree, 1900

Marking the beginning of a new century, 1900 brought a seven-month-long world's fair in Paris.  The 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle celebrated the achievements of the last century and the new developments moving the world forward in the next.  Over 50 million people from around the world visited the fair.  It was an election year in the United States and President William McKinley was re-elected.  He defeated William Jennings Bryan just as he had in 1896, but this time his running mate was none other than New York governor and rising star, Theodore Roosevelt.  The Poughkeepsie Eagle's Christmas day edition makes little mention of Christmas since the holiday had not yet become a mass marketing scheme.  For the Mills family, the holiday was a quiet family affair at their country home.

Christmas 1899 at Staatsburgh

Every year we decorate the mansion for the Christmas season.  We don't merely put up a tree and throw some garland on the railings.  We really deck the halls...Gilded Age style!  There are no fewer than six decorated trees, bows on every sconce, decorations in every room, and an amazing display in the dining room.  We are talking splendor x 100!  The mansion closes for three weeks for all of this work to be done by staff and a highly-skilled cadre of volunteers!  However, the Mills did not leave behind a blueprint or photos of their Christmas decorations.  The only thing we have is a quote from a neighbor who remembers boughs of holly.  Since 100% historical accuracy is out of reach, we decorate in the spirit of the holiday and the spirit of the splendor of the Gilded Age.

Christmas at Staatsburgh, 2016

We also do not have definitive knowledge that the Mills family spent Christmas here.  We know the family spent most of the autumn at Staatsburgh and we assume they did spend at least a few Christmases here over the years.  Thankfully, earlier this year, we received an amazing gift.  The Staatsburgh guestbook used from 1899-1908 was discovered and donated to the site.  The guestbook was signed by visitors when they arrived at Staatsburgh.  It has entries and therefore proof that the family was here for Christmas in both 1899 and 1900.  There are many guests all fall, during the week of Thanksgiving and even two weeks before Christmas, but Christmas, as we will discover, was mainly a family affair at Staatsburgh. Let us first take a look at Christmas 1899...

Gilded Age Christmas Gift Giving: How would you like to be on D.O. Mills' Christmas List?

Victorian Christmas Card

The tradition of gift giving at Christmas time dates back to the biblical story of the three wise men from the East who brought gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh to the newborn baby Jesus.  Christmas gift giving since then has become its own phenomenon and a huge commercial enterprise, but this has not been constant since biblical times.  Waxing and waning in different periods, gift giving became more popular during the Victorian era (1837-1901) and the tradition has continued to grow ever since.

There was a fear that the materialism of gift giving tarnished the holy day celebrating the birth of Jesus, but that idea did not temper the growth of Christmas gift giving.  While merchants in the 1820s-1840s began to notice an increasing number of gifts purchased in the Christmas season, it was not until later that shopkeepers adopted an approach that actively marketed holiday gift giving.  Yet compared to today, Christmas gifts were initially simple and often homemade items like cakes, clothes, and dolls.  Soon manufactured toys began flooding the market and gift giving gradually became more extravagant.  It has developed into an economic engine that drives advertising, marketing, and the economy for much longer than the month of December.

The Lowdown on Boxing Day

Since I was a young child I have always received a calendar for Christmas.  As soon as I opened it I would write in all the birthdays of my friends and family and examine all of the fulls moons, American holidays, Canadian holidays, Australian holidays.  I knew the meaning behind most holidays on the calendar because they were the traditional holidays commonly celebrated here in the US.  One holiday, however, always stuck out to me: Boxing Day.  Every year I would notice that Boxing Day came the day after Christmas and every year I thought to myself, "What is Boxing Day and who actually celebrates it?"  With holiday celebrations still in full swing on December 26th, I wondered what kind of holiday would dare to occur so close to Christmas, the behemoth of all holidays.  After watching the Downton Abbey Christmas special a few seasons ago that showcased a traditional fox hunt on Boxing Day, I thought I would do some research to uncover the mystery behind this lesser known holiday.

A Gilded Age Christmas

It's that time of year again!  During December, Staatsburgh transforms into a festive wonderland of bows, boughs, holly, poinsettias and Christmas trees.  We prepare for the busiest season of the year by spending the month of November decorating the entire house so that we can welcome visitors to admire the Christmas decor, Gilded Age style.  But what was the experience of Christmas during the Gilded Age?  How did the Mills family celebrate Christmas?

Staatsburgh's library, decorated for the holidays