History of Christmas in Montreal

The Journal has a brief history of the evolution of Christmas in Montreal from the mid‑19th‑century sober Catholic observance celebrated with nothing more than a slightly fancier dinner, to the essentially nonreligious commercial extravaganza of our times.

The Adrien Hébert painting at the top of the story, Magasinage de Noël, has been poorly reproduced. Here’s a better view. And an even better view found by regular reader MarcG.

Radio-Canada tracks down the earliest Christmas tree in Canada. Interestingly, it didn’t come from the British via Prince Albert, but earlier and more directly from the wife of a German baron working here for the British Army.

The item mentions traces of the largely forgotten German presence here, but doesn’t raise the interesting point that François Legault has German ancestry via the Schetagnes.