Holidays
Decorating for the holidays, 19th-century style
Monday, December 4th 2023
When it comes to holiday home decor, a lot has changed. When you visit the Robert Mills House and the Hampton-Preston Mansion during our Holiday House Tours, don't expect to find glitz and glam. Compared to our modern displays with bright lights and colored plastic baubles, early 1800s decorations seem...
A Historic Holiday Snapshot
Friday, December 21st 2018
On December 22, 1955, readers of The Columbia Record newspaper met a full-page chronicle of Columbia’s Gross family preparing to ring in the holidays. With husband Albert M. Gross ill and states away in Florida, wife Miriam wrangled her six children, ages 18 months through ten years, as the annual...
#TipTuesday | How to Fold a Bishop's Cap Napkin
Wednesday, December 12th 2018
We're back today with another #TipTuesday! If you're entertaining this holiday season and want to add a touch of history to your party, check out this quick video on the history of the Bishop Cap napkin fold with Historic Columbia's director of historic house museums, Fielding Freed. This kind of...
Historic Holidays Around the World
Wednesday, December 5th 2018
Celebrating the holidays often means taking part in family traditions year after year. Each activity holds meaning and value for a family—from trimming the tree to caroling in the neighborhood. But have you ever wondered where these traditions originated? The staff and volunteers at Historic Columbia love sharing these stories...
Gifts from Historic Holidays
Monday, December 3rd 2018
Diving into the imagination, playing dress up, hosting skits and talent shows for parents and friends – children have been dreaming up different ways to play for hundreds of years. In 2018, it’s easy for a child to find entertainment. Conversely, because they did not have smartphones, video games, or...
A History of Feasting in South Carolina’s Backcountry
Friday, November 23rd 2018
With Thanksgiving behind us and the holidays on the horizon, late November is the time of year to celebrate family, friends, and (most importantly) good food. Every family has traditions of their own, some stricter than others, but what did a traditional meal look like 150 years ago in South...
A Holiday Parade to Remember
Monday, November 19th 2018
With the holiday season picking up pace, it seems a natural thing this time of year to recall people, places, and (in this case) parades that have shaped our memory of Holidays past. Much has been written about Main Street over the years—this corridor has hosted citizens who worked, lived...
2018 Holiday Greenery Sale
Tuesday, September 11th 2018
Historic Columbia, in partnership with the Palmetto Garden Club, is pleased to present the 2018 Holiday Greenery Sale. This is the same high-quality sale that has been presented in previous years, but it now falls under the banner of Historic Columbia. As it has in the past, the sale’s proceeds...
TBT: Santa in a spaceship to 1953
Sunday, January 7th 2018
This is part of a #TBT collaboration with Cola Today