Colonists celebrated special days but not in the ways that we do today. Some of the holidays and special days they celebrated were:
May Day was celebrated on the first day of May. They would gather flowers and dance around a may pole. They may pole was a pole that they decorated with ribbon and flowers. They would go "a maying". This is when they would go and pick flowers. The Puritans did not celebrate this holiday. Today we don't celebrate May Day like the colonists did.
Muster Day was a special day for men and boys to practice their marksmanship. Marksmanship was practiced by shooting at a target. There were several Muster Days each year. They were needed to get the militia ready to protect the colony from an attack by Native Americans or other soldiers. They had contests to practice their shooting, marching, foot racing and other athletic games. Special treats like gingerbread, pumpkin bread, and peanuts were sold. Muster Day was an important day to make sure your militia would be ready for war.
All Hallow's Eve was a holiday that we now call Halloween. People gave out sweets because they believed this would keep evil spirits away. They also dressed up in costumes. The Irish colonists carved turnips and pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns. Some colonists had parties and went on hay rides to celebrate the holiday.
Thanksgiving was a celebration of giving thanks for a good harvest or a good supply of crops. In colonial times it wasn't celebrated on the same day each year. Some years they didn't celebrate it at all. Families gathered together for a big feast. The children played games and made dolls out of corncobs and puppets out of vegetables and fruits. The first national Thanksgiving was held in 1777 with prayers of thanks and no festivities. It was much later in time that Thanksgiving became what we know it as now.
St. Nicholas Day was celebrated by Dutch settlers in New Netherland on December 6th. It was also called Sinterklaas Day. A special cookie that looked like St. Nicholas was baked for this day along with other special cookies and cakes. The night before the children put their wooden shoes next to the fireplace. They hoped to find them filled with sweets and not a switch. When they celebrated the night before they spread a sheet by the door. A man with a long white beard and wearing a robe came through the door with a shower of sweets. Today we still celebrate the Christmas season in some of the same ways.
Christmas was celebrated by some colonists during December but not always on the same date. The first colonists did not take time off from work to celebrate Christmas. Later on colonists gave small gifts to their children. They decorated with simple natural things like fruit, popcorn and greens. Sometimes groups of people went caroling. They also went to church. Christmas was a special holiday that the colonists looked forward to just like we do today.
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