War of 1812 Discovery Series (#7)

by Judi McWilliams

Over the past few years the Festival Nomad and I have had wonderful experiences visiting War of 1812 Re-enactments around Ontario. We find these re-enactments amazing and extremely interesting! In this NEW War of 1812 Discovery Series, I want to share with you some of our experiences, while attempting to shed some light into the actual historic.

Christmas 1812 Style... (Part One)
As the snow falls in Ontario one week before Christmas, I am well aware how fortunate our community is to be miraculously by-passed by the over 100 cm of snow that literally caused a “State of Emergency” in many parts of Ontario! We have no accumulation of snow in Cobourg, even though the temperatures are averaging minus 10 degrees even before the chilly gusty winds are taken into consideration! I feel extremely fortunate to have a goose-down filled jacket and warm attire. Recently I volunteered at Lang Pioneer Village during their “Christmas by Candlelight”. This is a re-enactment of early 19th century Christmas in rural Ontario. From my research, it appeared to be difficult to function during the cold winter months and at Christmas, during this period of time, especially compared with the modern day conveniences we enjoy today! If we forget to gather a gift for our friends and family, we can just go “on-line” and purchase a “gift card”! A lot of us feel so stressed and rushed in today’s society, that I believe we forget to recognize the simple pleasures in life and perhaps the true meaning of Christmas. As I have been writing about the War of 1812 and the re-enactments of that period of time, I wondered what Christmas, during the period would be like. The hardships that we “think” we experience today, like crowded parking lots, long line-ups at convenient stores, options and choices galore, seem minimal compared to the hardships during the War! Did they even celebrate Christmas?

(To be continued)