For decades and centuries, the holidays have been feted in surprising ways here in the Old Pueblo.
Party like it’s 1801 at A Frontier Christmas, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson Museum, 196 N. Court Avenue.
The event covers 18th century Spanish Fort to the 19th century American Territorial through 1912, the year of Arizona’s statehood.
Holiday activities are aplenty, so Kate Avalos, interpretive programming director, wanted to do something different.
“I thought this year, because we’re doing a Frontier Christmas, we would take advantage of all the different time periods and countries that the Presidio covers,” she said. “It gave us the chance to do a Spanish frontier, the Mexican period and the American Territorial period. We take activities and traditions from all three to cover so many different decades and centuries of traditional holiday celebrations.”
The experiences travel back to the 1500s, to cover the Mexican period.
“We’re going as far back as the Virgen de Guadalupe, because the visions (of Juan Diego of La Virgen) occurred in 1531,” Avalos added.
“We are actually having someone who will be telling people about that and what the visions were and why she is the patron saint of Mexico… (The narrator will) talk about what happened and the image and how that relates to the symbolism of the image.”
The talk takes place at 11:30 a.m. and it’s included with admission to the museum.
That’s just one of the activities planned for the day. The museum staff is working hard to present the tasks and tastes of the times. This event is larger than the museum’s traditional programs, according to April Bourie, marketing and sales director.
Guests can enjoy many other activities, including creating paper Victorian ornaments.
“That’s where we have the American/English/German influence coming in,” Avalos said. “These are always handmade ornaments. They tend to be paper ornaments that people can either take home with them or hang on our Christmas tree.”
Another education program is on the Territorial patio, where interpreters will discuss how the wives of Fort Lowell soldiers celebrated the holidays.
“In the late 1800s, Tucson is celebrating a lot of the stuff we already know,” Avalos said. “For example, that’s why we have Santa Claus coming. As far back as the 1870s, in Territorial papers, I was seeing where Santa Claus at all the Tucson celebrations or at the forts in Arizona.”
Because of that, Avalos has found a period-looking Santa, who will be available for photos. Food items include tortillas made by women at a comal, the fried Christmas treat buñuelos and hot chocolate. Families can check out musket and cannon work. Avalos said this is a combination of living history and a Christmas celebration.
“I think people will really enjoy this,” Bourie said. “This one is really unique because it focuses on historic Christmas.”
A Frontier Christmas
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14
WHERE: Presidio San Agustin del Tucson Museum, 196 N. Court Avenue
COSTS: Adults, $9; children ages 6 to 13, $6; $3 discounts are available to members of the military (with ID), seniors (65 and older) and Pima County residents; free for Presidio Museum Members and children ages 5 and younger
INFO: tucsonpresidio.com
The activities will take place at the following times:
10:15 a.m. and 1 p.m.: Docent-led tours
10:30 a.m., noon and 1:15 p.m.: Musket demonstrations
10:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.: Readings of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” in Spanish and English
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Santa in period-appropriate clothing will be available for photos
11:15 a.m. and 1:50 p.m.: A cannon will be fired
11:30 a.m.: A talk about the story of the appearances of la Virgen de Guadalupe to Juan Diego in December 1531.
