Wilton’s holiday traditions are documented as far back as the 1840s, when Christmas was mainly observed at home and had little to do with church. In fact, more conservative sorts disapproved of the festivities, like Bald Hill carpenter Lockwood Keeler Ferris, who noted his abstention in his diary, and some of his acquaintances’ participation.
Thirty years later, Christmas trees, stockings, and pageants had become ubiquitous. In the Rev. Samuel J. M. Merwin’s household, they “ornamented the rooms with running pine and moss.” Merwin filled stockings and hid his wife’s present – a flower stand – in the barn. Their son received books and a “Round the World” boardgame. In the evening, they attended a concert at the Congregational Church, where Merwin was pastor. Rather than carols, they sang “Swanee River,” “My Ain Countrie,” and various hymns. Other local denominations – notably the Methodists in Georgetown – put on similar entertainments.
In the early 20th century, Christmas at Ambler Farm featured a locally sourced tree and stockings on the mantle. By the 1950s, they decorated their tree with tinsel and glass ornaments, and kept a plastic Santa in front of the fireplace. Later, Betty Ambler and her mother had a small silver-colored imitation tree covered in miniature Santas, birds, and other ornaments. Christmases on the farm also included Santa Claus (a hired hand named Harry), who distributed cookies and posed for photos.
One of the town’s best known traditions, the Wilton Center creche, began in 1951 and quickly became a victim of holiday hijinks. In 1967, Joseph was stolen. He remains AWOL to this day, though a substitute was quickly produced. Thieves struck again in 1999, this time targeting the Baby Jesus. A “replacement” was procured second-hand at the annual Minks to Sinks sale. It mysteriously disappeared in 2001 only to be returned a few hours later. Finally, in 2010, “Joseph lost his head” in a storm.
For all that, Wilton’s original creche was also a work of art, faith, and community spirit. The PTA sponsored it and local businesses donated supplies. Dozens helped build the structures, and sculpted, painted, and clothed the figures.
Local artist Alexander Ross, a well-known magazine illustrator, was primary among them. McCall’s and American
Home later published Ross’s painting of the creche. Wilton’s Kiwanis Club maintains the creche today.
As for Hanukkah, its first mention in the Wilton Bulletin dates to the 1960s, when photographer Sybil Shackman of Old Highway submitted a description of the holiday’s origins along with a portrait of her daughter with a menorah. By the early 1980s, the Wilton Library offered a puppet show retelling the Hanukkah story, while children from Temple B’Nai Chaim (established in the 1970s) were putting on Hanukkah shows. Since 2010, annual menorah lightings have been held on the Town Green, accompanied by “live music, latkes, donuts, gelt and dreidels for all.”
Local institutions like the Wilton Library have long participated in the holiday spirit with festive programming and seasonal decorations. Before moving into their current home in the early 1970s, library staff focused their efforts on a Beaux-Arts fireplace. One year they adorned the mantle after the old Connecticut fashion with candles and club moss, set off by an apparently marooned Santa, legs dangling from the flue.
The Wilton Historical Society has held its popular annual Great Trains Show since 1998. Yet, for the Society’s first twenty-five years, they offered little in the way of Christmas programming. There were occasional “Christmas” lectures on various themes, including “Music From the Attic, A Talk on Old Instruments” (1965). They also fundraised for several years by selling Christmas cards with custom illustrations by local artists, including Steven Donahos and Ben Prins, both prolific illustrators for the Saturday Evening Post.
Soon after opening their own museum, the Society expanded their holiday offerings to include mulled wine and madrigals. By the early 1970’s they were putting on festive exhibits of vintage and antique toys. These evolved into Dollhouse Village shows, which were a staple of Wilton life for over a decade. One 1979 miniature showed several children and a spaniel gathered around a Christmas tree in a one-room schoolhouse. There’s a wreath on the door, presents (and a mouse) on the floor, and – at the front of the classroom – a chalkboard, map, clock, alphabet chart, and an American flag.
Whatever the traditions observed today – and they will only have grown more varied and creative with Wilton’s changing population since the mid-20th century – we can be sure that Wiltonians know how to enjoy the holidays! •