"Old Fashioned Christmas" at the 1803 House December 5, 2020 from 10am to 2pm [Flyer]: This year because of Covid-19, our event will be held outside at the 1803 House homestead. We have adjusted our event offering: free ornament kits for the children to craft at home; our annual sale of natural homemade Douglas Fir wreaths and/or wreath kits to decorate at home; holiday items and church baby sale. There will be a demonstration on how holiday wreaths were decorated back in 1803. We are adding something new this year, a drive by "Merrie Wine Pull". Please stop by for a visit. In the past visitors enjoyed the fire in open hearth baking gingerbread or beef stew, warm cider, holiday treats, Christmas tree with colonial decorations, window sills decorated by members of the Emmaus Garden Club, scale Emmaus building models built by Andre Fatula, children's craft, "1803 House Church Baby" sale, annual homemade wreath sales and holiday tours of the 1803 House. Morning Call Article; Holiday Photo Summary;
For the Christmas Holidays colonialists decorated their homes with fruit. In the picture below a green round fruit that surrounds Christmas Tree. It is "Osage Orange". The Osage orange tree and the green fruits which were eaten by the prehistoric Giant Sloth. When the Sloths became extinct a long, long time ago, so did the Osage Orange Tree. But fate and some very ambitious Indians interceded and the Osage orange tree became the most planted tree of the 19th century. The Indians used the tree's wood to make bows since it was very strong, flexible, durable and did not rot. The wood shavings were also used to make golden yellow or mossy green dyes. The branches were thorny and the animals did not want to tangle with it. So, the colonists planted the tree around their house for protection. The fruit however, was not eaten by any animal or human, so the colonists used it for decorations.
1803 House Church Babies/Angels for Holiday Season