Arizona’s rich history of Christmas celebrations began in the mid 1800s when early settlers brought their European traditions to the Southwest.

For these settlers, Christmas time was often spent in covered wagons with Christmas dinners usually consisting of a pot of beans. Their children would hang stockings from the bows of wagons, and when they awoke in the morning they would find them filled with nuts, corn and candy sticks along with hand knit mittens and socks.

After these families settled into villages and towns, the children would receive homemade candy, which included rock candy crystals on strings, brown sugar taffy and cactus candy. Children also might receive toys like carved wagons, toy guns, rubber balls or spinning tops.

In 1865, Mr. J.N. Rodenburg was the first person in Prescott, and possibly the state, to display a Christmas tree in his home. The women in town provided the decorations, which included bits of ribbon and candles tied to branches. Men made toys for the town children, and one man provided music on his fiddle, playing and singing the only song he knew, The Arkansas Traveler.

That same year, Prescott served as the capital of Arizona Territory, and Governor John Goodwin opened his home on Christmas day to celebrate with the families in town. He hosted a barbecue in his back yard and served venison, antelope, turkey and beef.

In 1872, the Tucson Citizen reported, “Christmas was treated as a holiday by most people in Tucson. The principal business houses were closed at noon. Professional gamblers [hired] a wagon and [loaded] it with food and gifts, which they distributed with gold pieces to poor families. After the wagon was empty, the gamblers stood on the wagon and tossed handfuls of coins to the children. The grandest entertainment came off at the residence of William Zeckendorf, a pioneer Jewish merchant who [played] the part of Santa Claus.”

Almost all the towns in Arizona boasted glee club and band performances during the Christmas season. These musicians often traveled on wagons into the countryside where they played their fiddles, guitars and banjos for Christmas night dances.

Horse races were the principal Christmas afternoon events. The horses would line up facing away from the course, and one man standing in front of the horses would bang three times on a pan. On the third stroke, the horses would whirl around and begin the race.

In 1906, the Tombstone Prospector described a startling new Christmas innovation — an artificial Christmas tree. “The imitation is so exact a production of the real article that it is difficult to tell the difference between the two.”

Today, various Christmas traditions continue to be celebrated throughout the state. In Tucson, an El Nacimiento —an elaborate Mexican nativity scene — is on display at the Tucson Museum of Art until April 2, 2006. The Nacimiento exhibit, created by Maria Luisa Tena, combines the early European Christmas traditions with those of Mexico’s rural people.

Sources: Arizona Weekly Star, Tucson Citizen, Arizona Republic, Phoenix Gazette.

-Jane Eppinga. Photo courtesy Arizona State Archives.