Christmas at the Farm

Discover the traditions of a late 19th-century Vermont Christmas with a visit to the Billings Farm & Museum this holiday season. Christmas at the Farm will be featured December weekends and December 21 – January 1, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (excluding Christmas Day). Tour the authentically decorated farmhouse, visit the dairy farm, and meet our Jersey cows, draft horses, oxen, chickens, and sheep. Learn about 1890’s holiday traditions, make historic Christmas ornaments and crafts, try candle dipping, and view the Academy Award® nominated film, A Place in the Land. Artist-in-Residence and author Kristina Rodanas will be on hand for readings and book signings of Huck’s Way Home, and the Learning Kitchen will feature cooking demonstrations and tastings.

In 1890, Christmas celebrations were much simpler than they would become in the 20th century. Families enjoyed the holiday, but still had cows to milk, ice to cut, and wood to saw. A few gifts, a special meal, and the gathering of friends were noteworthy in an otherwise typical day.                 

In Woodstock, turn-of-the-century businesses advertised their wares for Christmas gifts. Most gifts were useful domestic items: fabric, clothing, umbrellas, linens, crockery, some of which can be found today in our Museum shop.  Most common gifts were homemade, handcrafted items such as fancy mittens, satin bows, and stockings filled with candies, nuts, and raisins.