Christmas in an Infant Queen City
19th century Christmas in Cincinnati
Cincinnati is a town of tradition. You can see it in our buildings, our churches, our bridges and our sports teams. And along with that sense of tradition is deep nostalgia and celebration. We have parades for baseball, cherish our one-of-a-kind food scene and launch fireworks for Labor Day. That’s why I find it so fitting that the very existence of our fair city can be traced back to perhaps America’s most beloved tradition: The holiday season. The Queen City literally grew up alongside the birth and devlopment of what has become Christmas.
On Christmas Eve 1788, 24 settlers, give or take a few, left the Maysville, KY area on keel boats and barges, weaving westward through icy patches along the mighty Ohio River. By December 28, the weary group set up camp at what would become the foot of Sycamore St. and Yeatman’s Cove. The rest as they say, is history.
Christmas as we have come to know it didn’t really take off until the late 19th century, but Cincinnatians definitely celebrated the season not only religiously, but with food, family and dancing in those early years. In fact, one of the first “advertisements” to mention Christmas in Cincinnati came in 1830 when Mr. Neighbours and Mr. Jaquess, occupying stalls 1,2 and 3 at the Lower Market (Pearl Street Market or what is now the Great American Ball Park area), had a fine ox and lamb to offer.
Christmas of 1830 was also apparently quite the holiday season for those who loved music and dance. On Christmas Eve, a dance party was held at Trollope’s Bazaar (a building located on the south side of E. 3rd St. between Broadway and Sycamore St., or today, the Great American Insurance Tower). Tickets for this party were $1.50 and according to those in attendance, the dancing went well into the wee hours of Christmas morning. It was so intense that some dancers passed out from the effects of an overcrowded ballroom and as the legend of this night grew, it became known as one of the greatest dancing events of the 19th century in Cincinnati.
According to the Cincinnati City Directory of 1829, The Bazaar building was a splendid structure:
Above the Bazaar is a magnificent ballroom, the front of which
looking upon the street, will receive the rays of the sun, or emit rival
splendors of its gas-illumined walls, by three ample arabesque windows,
which give an unrivalled lightness and grace to the festive hall. The
walls and the arched and lofty ceiling of this delectable apartment are
to be decorated by the powerful pencil of Mr. Hervieu. The rear of the
room is occupied by an orchestral gallery whence dulcet music will guide
the light fantastic toe in the mazes of the giddy dance.
In this spacious ballroom, "the magic violin of Jose Tosso dig-
nified the quadrille without degrading musical art."
The 1830 Christmas Eve shindig was the project of renowned musician/composer/professor Joseph Tosso , along with his brother-in-law and dance instructor Henry Guibert .
(For the record, there will be an entire newsletter dedicated to the brilliance and significance of Mr. Tosso in the future.)
It is interesting to note that Christmas as a legal holiday didn’t happen in Ohio until 1857. And it is of course no coincidence that soon after, with the establishment of department stores, the commercialism of the holiday season soon followed.
By the 1880s, one couldn’t walk a city block without coming into contact with street merchants selling Christmas goods, including cookies and pies. With Santa Claus entering into the popular culture, department stores like Knost Bos. and Co. promoted the jolly old soul. And Mabley and Carew captured the attention of shoppers by constructing a stage for Christmas pantomimes that packed the esplanade of Fountain Square.
Our traditions may have changed over the years from, but the heart and soul of the holiday spirit remains.
Great first post, Cam!
Just goes to show that Santa’s been a big draw for a very long time! Nothing like Christmas in the River Cities!