The Public Face of Christmas


2nd Maine regiment at Christmas, 1861

2nd Maine regiment at Christmas, 1861
Item 5202   info
Maine Historical Society

This photograph, the original of which is at the National Archives, shows the 2nd Maine regiment (1861-1863) encamped on Christmas day, 1861. The encampment was at Hall's Hill across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

The 2nd Maine was part of Martindale's Brigade of the Fifth Corps.

Christmas supplement announcement, Wiscasset, ca. 1872

Christmas supplement announcement, Wiscasset, ca. 1872
Item 20154   info
Maine Historical Society

A broadside announced the publication of the Seaside Oracle's Christmas supplement in about 1872.

Joseph Wood, a Wiscasset printer, published the newspaper from January 1869 until September 1876, when he moved it to Bath. He later became editor of the Maine Coast Cottager.

Santa Claus and his reindeer, Portland, 1926

Santa Claus and his reindeer, Portland, 1926
Item 18347   info
Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media

The caption for this photo in the Saturday, December 11, 1926 Portland Evening Express read, "The Evening Express Santa Claus with his reindeer team will come to town Monday. A staff photographer today met the jovial saint some distance to the North and snapped his picture for the hundreds of Portland children who will soon see him."

Santa and his four reindeer drove up and down Congress Street in daytime hours once a day for a week to meet children and hear their Christmas wishes.

Santa and children, Portland, 1926

Santa and children, Portland, 1926
Item 18346   info
Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media

This photograph of Santa Claus and several children appeared in the Portland Evening Express on December 15, 1926 as part of a plea for readers to assist the Evening Express Christmas Happiness Campaign.

Portland letter carriers, December 1926

Portland letter carriers, December 1926
Item 18343   info
Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media

Letter carriers from the Portland Post Office with their Christmas loads.

The carriers are, from left, George M. Fernald, William P. Prinn, John E. Reidy, and Arthur L. Huff.

Mail truck, Portland, 1926

Mail truck, Portland, 1926
Item 20317   info
Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media

A U.S. Post Office mail delivery truck, loaded with holiday mail at Christmas time in 1926 in Portland.

Santa Claus headquarters, Portland, 1926

Santa Claus headquarters, Portland, 1926
Item 18345   info
Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media

Santa Claus headquarters, outside the Portland YWCA at 120 Free Street in Portland in 1926.

Portland Police officers help Santa, 1926

Portland Police officers help Santa, 1926
Item 18348   info
Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media

Portland Police officers, from left, Charles Dolan, Sgt. William F. Long, William Skerrett, and Thomas Bruns, help the Evening Express Christmas Happiness Campaign for needy children in Portland in 1926.

Baptist Church interior decorated for Christmas, Stockholm, c. 1935

Baptist Church interior decorated for Christmas, Stockholm, c. 1935
Item 20518   info
Stockholm Historical Society

View of interior of the Baptist Church in Stockholm decorated for Christmas.

Bar Harbor Fire Department toy collection, 1942

Bar Harbor Fire Department toy collection, 1942
Item 17219   info
Bar Harbor Fire Department

The Bar Harbor Fire Department collected refurbished toys to distribute at Christmastime.

Christmas decorations, Presque Isle, ca. 1950

Christmas decorations, Presque Isle, ca. 1950
Item 9408   info
Presque Isle Fire Department

The photograph was taken in December in the early 1950s with both the Presque Isle Police and Fire stations decorated.

Christmas season on Market Square, Houlton, ca. 1954

Christmas season on Market Square, Houlton, ca. 1954
Item 20724   info
Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum

Nighttime view of Market Square in Houlton lit for the holidays.

The Houlton and Temple theaters are visible. The 1951 Betty Grable movie, "Meet Me at the Show," was at the Houlton Theater.

White House Christmas Tree, Presque Isle, 1959

White House Christmas Tree, Presque Isle, 1959
Item 17350   info
Oakfield Historical Society

!n 1959, the first national Christmas tree to come from east of the Mississippi River was shipped from Presque Isle on two Bangor and Aroostook Railroad flat cars.

Seventy feet tall and weighing approximately three tons, the tree traveled to Washington by courtesy of the Bangor and Aroostook, Maine Central, Boston and Maine, Delaware and Hudson, and Pennsylvania railroads.

President Eisenhower lit the tree on the south lawn of the White House on December 23, 1959.
Bangor and Aroostook Railroad's magazine, "Maine Line," v. 8 #1, pp. 9-10.

White House Christmas Tree from Maine, 1959

White House Christmas Tree from Maine, 1959
Item 17346   info
Presque Isle Historical Society

Photograph shows a Christmas tree at the White House in Washington, D.C., that was obtained from the Alice Kimball property on the Parsons Road in Presque Isle. The 70-foot white pine was decorated with 3,800 lights.

Maine Farmers Exchange holiday potato bag, Presque Isle, ca. 1975

Maine Farmers Exchange holiday potato bag, Presque Isle, ca. 1975
Item 16062   info
Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum

Maine Farmers Exchange 10-pound holiday potato bag.

In the 1940s potato farmers started packaging their potatoes in distinctive bags. The wide variety of bags illustrates the strong interest in distinctive marketing efforts that is still evident today.

Giant wreath, Franklin, 1982

Giant wreath, Franklin, 1982
Item 11448   info
Maine Historical Society

Workers Bruce Grass, left, and Joey Smith, right, at the Noyes Tree Farm in Franklin helped truck driver Marshall Pryce of Mattapoisette, Massachusetts, load a specially made 72-inch Christmas wreath onto his truck. The wreath was to be used by the New Bedford Library, Massachusetts, in a cable TV Mitch Miller sing-along Christmas program. The wreath was specially ordered by the New Bedford Institution of Savings for the library program.

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