We step into history every year at this time, looking at Christmas a century ago to see what is the same and what has changed.
The Christmas season in 1924 was, unfortunately, very much like this year’s Christmas season.
Times were tight. Unemployment was high. The rough economic times were reflected in reports in the two daily newspapers.
“We offer the hand of good fellowship, we speak in the voice of friendship, we say in all warmth and sincerity of heart that we hope the spirit of Christmas will visit every human habitation in Victoria, throughout 91原创 Island, as well as elsewhere today,” the Daily 91原创 said in its Christmas Day editorial.
The Victoria Daily Times said that the desperate unemployment situation was being reflected in activity in stores. “The distribution of many hampers among the needy has led to much heavier buying by the many philanthropic organizations and their supporters this Christmas,” it said.
The City of Victoria’s unemployment committee was tasked with finding work for unemployed men, and one of the major projects of the day was clearing Robert Porter Park on Fairfield Road.
Eighty men were given Christmas dinner at the Salvation Army headquarters on Johnson Street, while 60 men were treated to Christmas dinner around the corner at Stranger’s Rest, where Alice Field had been offering meals and beds to men in need since 1911.
At the Red Cross offices in Belmont House, volunteers prepared about 50 hampers and parcels for the families of sick soldiers.
The 91原创 reported that kindly hosts throughout the community were able to absorb “a great many of the lonely folk” into family gatherings.
Not all were so lucky. Five men received Christmas dinner in the city jail.
There were many special events for children throughout Christmas week.
The Army and Navy Veterans Association on Fort Street offered Christmas entertainment for children, the James Bay Methodist Church presented Pageant of Bethlehem, and Santa Claus visited the children who were living at the B.C. Protestant Orphans’ Home.
The Rotary Club ensured that Santa Claus brought gifts to 600 needy children. The Great War Veterans Association held a party for 200 children. The Foul Bay Athletic Association had a party for 100 children at Margaret Jenkins School.
There was plenty to do. The Kiwanis Club had a Christmas potlatch, and civil servants had a carnival ball on Boxing Day. Beauty and the Beast was the Christmas pantomime at the Royal Victoria Theatre, courtesy Reginald Hincks.
These activities were indoors, which was good. It was unusually cold in December 1924.
So cold, in fact, that people could skate outdoors. The most popular location was the frozen pond at Beacon Hill Park, but there were reports of skating at Portage Inlet, Beaver Lake, Swan Lake, Glen Lake, and on flooded fields in Colwood.
The Times said the two big department stores, David Spencer’s and the Hudson’s Bay Company, had been busy in the days leading up to Christmas.
“While it is true that the first two days of cold snap kept people at home attending to furnaces and watching over the water-pipes, housewives soon accustomed themselves to the climate change and bent their thoughts to Christmas shopping,” the newspaper said.
“Since then, the real Christmas rush has been in progress and the warmth of the larger stores has resulted in the more general purchasing under one roof, perhaps, than hitherto.”
But still, times were tough. The Times also noted that shoppers were choosing utilitarian, useful gifts “instead of the rather inane gifts which was the practice for so many years.”
The report mentioned the work of SPUG — the Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving — which had been founded in New York a dozen years earlier to fight rampant consumerism.
“This year father is more likely to receive sensible socks or shirts rather than the impossible tie or the useless gift of a few years ago.”
The big craze in late 1924 was a newfangled way to pass the time, the crossword puzzle. The 91原创 printed its first crossword on Nov. 20, and the Daily Times followed with its own puzzle on Dec. 16.
Both newspapers included full instructions, explaining that each white space represented a letter, and each number represented the beginning of a word, either horizontally or vertically.
“We cannot emphasize too strongly the following point: Do not waste too much time over the large words, get the small words and you will have plenty of clues for the big ones,” the 91原创 said when it published its first puzzle.
Victoria was still a major port, so many famous people passed through. One celebrity of note in December 1924 was Efrem Zimbalist, the noted violinist, who was on his way back to New York from a concert tour of Asia.
His arrival warranted a mention in the Times. The story mentioned Zimbalist’s wife, but not his six-year-old son, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., who claimed his own fame as an actor in the 1950s and 1960s.
What were lawmakers doing just before Christmas in 1924?
B.C. drivers had a wild weekend after the provincial legislature abolished speed limits on a Saturday morning, but brought them back the following Monday, citing concerns about safety.
In Ottawa, members of Parliament were discussing Senate reform.
While 1924 had been a tough year in Victoria, there was optimism about what the new year would bring. With the Crystal Garden under construction, the city could look forward to more tourism.
A new drydock in Esquimalt was due to open in 1925 — that deadline, sad to say, was missed by a couple of years — and a new grain elevator was planned for Ogden Point.
The biggest news of 1925 was to come in March, and a hint of it came on Christmas Day.
At the Willows Arena in Oak Bay, the Victoria Cougars played their first home game of the season, beating the 91原创 Maroons 4-2.
The game was a family affair, of sorts. Lester Patrick owned the Cougars and his brother Frank Patrick owned the Maroons.
Two days after Christmas, the Cougars beat the Regina Capitals 5-0. As the Times reported, the Cougars were the team to beat for the championship. That prediction proved to be correct.
Thanks to the Cougars, 1925 really was a happy new year in Victoria.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and the best of the season to everyone.
