^^The Salemite^^
Vol.LXVin No. 6
December 1988
A Salem Christmas Memory
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by Johanna Metzgar
Christmas is one of the most beautiful
and exciting times at Salem. Despite
the anxiety about upcoming exams and
the mad scramble to complete term
papers, book reviews, and final tests,
students and faculty alike find time to
participate in and enjoy the many
wonderful Christmas traditions that
make Salem special. But Christmas at
Salem is only the beginning. Most
Salem students take for granted that
they will go home for Christmas with
their families following the festivities
(and exams) at Salem. However, Salem
students have not always had the luxury
of going home for the holidays.
During the late nineteenth century
Salem was a thriving female academy
for young women from all over the
country. Without the modern modes
of transportation that we all take for
granted today, however, traveling home
for Christmas was often impractical and
unaffordable. Thus, many Salem
students (close to one hundred in any
given year!) stayed on campus for the
holidays.
The Christmas season at Salem
Female Academy began on the day
after recitations ended (the nineteenth
century equivalent to final exams).
Recititations were usually over on or
about December 21. During the
following few days, Salem students and
their teachers busily made last minute
holiday preparations. They quickly
completed hand made gifts for family
and friends, and they decorated their
living quarters, transforming study
parlors with Christmas trees, mistletoe,
and boughs of holly.
On Christmas Eve students attended
the Love Feast at Home Moravian
Church. This church service must have
been one of the most beautiful services
of the year. The church was decorated
with holiday greenery and everyone
was given a lighted candle to hold. The
students and teachers listened with the
other residents of the Salem
community to the story of the birth of
Christ.
Following the Christmas Eve service,
the students and their teachers made
their way back to their rooms. As the
students settled in for the night, the
teachers arranged packages from
friends and family on long tables in the
beautifully decorated study parlors.
Christmas morning was, no doubt,
unlike any other morning at Salem.
Students (for a change) probably
jumped out of bed in great anticipation.
The morning was spent opening gifts
and enjoying nuts, candy, cakes, and
other treats sent to the students by the
principal in celebration of the holiday.
Later in the morning the students
and their teachers attended the
Christmas morning service at Home
Moravian Church.
After the Christmas service, the
students anxiously awaited the bell that,
would call them to dinner. Christmas
dinner at Salem in the nineteenth
century was a special feast, enjoyed by
students and teachers alike. The tables
- in the dining hall were arranged in the
shape of a star, and a lighted candle
was placed at each plate. The whole
room must have glowed. Dinner
consisted of turkey, cranberry sauce,
and mincemeat pie.
When the students had eaten all they
could at Christmas dinner, they made
their way to the principal's house where
they spent the rest of the afternoon
playing games and admiring the
Christmas putz.
Christmas day was brought to a close
with the Home Moravian Sunday
School Christmas Concert, but the
holiday spirit lingered on. The students
spent the week following Christmas
relaxing and admiring their new
treasures.
On New Year’s day the students once
again enjoyed the company of their
principal and his family at the annual
New Year's reception held in the Dining
hall. The students, teachers, trustees,
and other special guests year that had
passed. The evening was topped off
with a New Year's buffet of oysters,
olives, and relishes.
But just as all good things must come
to an end, on January second the
holiday festivities at Salem ended and
the students who had traveled home
returned. The study parlors were
stripped of their holiday disguises and
the class rooms at Salem were once
again the centers of activity.
We still enjoy variations of many of
the old Salem traditions, and over the
years we have added a few new ones.
The big difference is that Christmas at
Salem comes a lot earlier than it used to
. This is a busy time of year, but I hope
that everyone will make time to take
part in the Christmas celebration at
Salem. It's an old tradition worth
hanging on to. Happy Holidays!