When my children were young, we would watch It's A Wonderful Life every Christmas. My youngest daughter and I still watch it. I started thinking about how my characters might have celebrated their holidays in the 1880s in Texas. Here are a few of my favorite images, drawn from both history and the frontier families in my books.
Tucked-Away Christmas Trees and Homemade Decor
Christmas trees weren’t common in every frontier home until the late 1800s, but when families had one, it was often a scrub cedar or pine, tucked in a corner to save space. Decorations came from what was on hand: strings of popcorn or cranberries, yarn, homemade paper chains, cookies, and sometimes dried fruit or nuts—pecans especially, if the harvest was good. No glittering glass baubles, but plenty of charm and ingenuity.
Gift-Giving and Stockings
Gifts were simple, heartfelt, and practical: maybe a handmade doll, a knitted scarf, a tin cup, a cake, or—if you were truly lucky—a shiny new penny in your stocking. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about receiving just a tin cup, a peppermint stick, and a heart-shaped cake—and feeling wealthy indeed. In my stories, I love depicting children’s delight over small treasures, and the tenderness of parents who made every morsel of Christmas magic from scratch.
Community Feasts and Gatherings
No frontier holiday was complete without music, laughter, and a hearty meal—even if it wasn’t extravagant. Game, cornbread, beans, dried fruits, and pies (vinegar pie was a prairie staple) filled plates. Cowboys and settlers would sometimes gather at the largest home, or even in a barn or blacksmith shop, for public celebrations, swapping songs played on fiddles, mouth organs, and singing carols late into the night. Special dances, like the famed Cowboy Christmas Ball in Anson, Texas, remind us how cherished these moments were.
Holiday Worship and Reflection
On the prairie, Christmas Day often started at church or with a prayer at home. Gratitude, hope, and togetherness were what people focused on, reflecting on the year that had passed and the bonds that held them close—no matter storms, drought, or uncertain futures.
Resilience and Joy
Frontier families knew how to make do—turning hardship into opportunity, and scarcity into celebration. Their holidays glowed with warmth, community spirit, and a belief that together, they could face anything. The scenes I write—whether candlelit gatherings, children at their first real Christmas tree, or couples sharing precious moments beside a roaring fire—are my tribute to the enduring joy and hope found on the Texas frontier.
Share your favorite historical holiday memory, or let me know which frontier scene you’d most like to step into!
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