604 465 4322General Store Site 12294 Harris Road Pitt Meadows, B.C.
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Christmas in Pitt Meadows
Let’s travel back to a Christmas past. Pitt Meadows in 1914 would have looked very different during the holiday season, and we had just become a municipality in our own rights that year!
Today we see the streets lined with lights, and busy with people coming and going. In 1914 it would have been very quiet. Harris Road was a small dirt road (it wasn’t paved until the 1940s!),there wouldn’t have been the hustle and bustle down the street back then. With a population of less than 250 people it was a quiet country Christmas.
Our little farming community would have celebrated the holidays in a small merry way. Trees would have been cut down from ones own property and decorated with items that you could find locally (popcorn, cranberries) or with whatever hand-made ornaments you had. If you were lucky, you would have had some glass ornaments that would adorn the tree every year. There would have been no electric lights on the tree, but it would have been lit up with candles (just watched carefully).
Children still would have been excited for the prospect of time off from school and some small presents. They would have been given things like books, candy, oranges, clothing, smaller items and they would have been lucky to get expensive items like a magic lantern. Kids would also have participated in Christmas plays at school, that parents would have attended.
The Christmas meal would have been a simpler affair. It would be stocked with items that one could get locally, or any small luxuries they were able to purchase from the local General Store. This meant items like a bird (goose, turkey, duck),root vegetables saved from their harvests, and some delicious dessert. People might have invited their neighbours over to enjoy the Christmas meal.
Time moved a lot slower back then, and Christmas was slower too. Perhaps in our modern times we need to take a moment to appreciate the slower moments instead of rushing through our holidays.
Today we see the streets lined with lights, and busy with people coming and going. In 1914 it would have been very quiet. Harris Road was a small dirt road (it wasn’t paved until the 1940s!),there wouldn’t have been the hustle and bustle down the street back then. With a population of less than 250 people it was a quiet country Christmas.
Our little farming community would have celebrated the holidays in a small merry way. Trees would have been cut down from ones own property and decorated with items that you could find locally (popcorn, cranberries) or with whatever hand-made ornaments you had. If you were lucky, you would have had some glass ornaments that would adorn the tree every year. There would have been no electric lights on the tree, but it would have been lit up with candles (just watched carefully).
Children still would have been excited for the prospect of time off from school and some small presents. They would have been given things like books, candy, oranges, clothing, smaller items and they would have been lucky to get expensive items like a magic lantern. Kids would also have participated in Christmas plays at school, that parents would have attended.
The Christmas meal would have been a simpler affair. It would be stocked with items that one could get locally, or any small luxuries they were able to purchase from the local General Store. This meant items like a bird (goose, turkey, duck),root vegetables saved from their harvests, and some delicious dessert. People might have invited their neighbours over to enjoy the Christmas meal.
Time moved a lot slower back then, and Christmas was slower too. Perhaps in our modern times we need to take a moment to appreciate the slower moments instead of rushing through our holidays.
Happy Holidays from all of us at the Pitt Meadows Museum.
