Many of our American society’s most enduring Christmas traditions come from the Victorian era. Our idea of Santa Claus, the giver of gifts, was completely imagined in the 19th century. From the middle of the last century we got Dickens’s London, with its top hats and coats, Christmas dinner and Tiny Tim. From Scrooge, Marley and the ghosts we had the quintessential example of greed and avarice turned into charity and giving through the miracle of love, family and friends. Our European Christmas traditions continue with carols, music and decorated Christmas trees, a German tradition made popular by Queen Victoria and her German-born Prince Albert. And then we added some American traditions of our own.
The last Christmas in Brooklyn in the 19th century was typical of the time and not all that different from today. Modern people from the 21st century would feel completely at home there, because our society is in every respect, at least until recently, very similar to that of the late 19th century. Brooklyn was now part of the greater New York City, and New York City then, as now, was a society of haves and have-nots. Some people did very well, and their children enjoyed a Christmas full of beautiful clothes, expensive gifts, lots of food, and a grand and gracious life. While they lived just a few blocks away or a neighborhood away, other children grew up far too early because they were concerned not with toys but with survival. Many had no family and depended on the charity of others for their livelihood. Others were the only means of support for their families. Christmas 1899 was, like most Christmases, a tale of two cities.
On Christmas Eve in Park Slope, Santa had trouble with his sleigh. He was on his way to the swanky Riding and Driving Club on Plaza Street, near Grand Army Plaza, to give presents to a group of happy children who were part of the junior riding school. The Riding and Driving Club was Brooklyn’s most exclusive equestrian club, with a membership list that read like a Who’s Who of Brooklyn’s elite. Santa Claus, who was in reality the club’s riding master, Harry Taylor, sat at the reins of a double sleigh pulled by four beautiful horses decorated with sleigh bells. The horses were dressed in red coats with white trim, and Santa himself also wore a long, long, red wool coat trimmed with white fur. He had a long white beard and long hair.
When his sled approached the Manege, he got stuck in the sand in front of the entrance. When Santa and his helpers tried to pull the sleigh out, it got stuck in the mud and broke. Literal. The sleigh fell apart, forcing Santa to transfer his bag of goodies, as well as a red coat and the sleigh bells, to one of the horses in the stable. He drove into the club’s riding arena, full of kids who looked more like Wild Bill Hickok than Santa Claus, but the kids loved it.
Several of his helpers brought in most of the bags and baskets of presents, but Santa thrilled the crowd by riding around the ring a few times and then dismounting to hand out presents. All children who participated in the special program that day received special gifts. The girls each received a silver mounted tortoiseshell comb and the boys each received a solid silver key ring. All the children in the room received boxes of candy. After Santa was done, the rest of the afternoon was spent playing games on horseback, as well as on foot. Everyone had a great time and the kids left exhausted, but full of holiday spirit. Most of the horses were owned by the club, but a number of children had their own horse, which was stabled at the club. All horses also received a special festive treat.
Across town, a special holiday treat was enjoyed on Christmas Day by a very different group of children, many of whom would have been happy to have lived as well as the Riding School’s horses. More than 4,000 children filled the drill hall of the old 13th Armory at Hanson Place and Flatbush Avenue for the annual Christmas dinner, sponsored by Mrs. Sittig’s Christmas Tree Club, one of the most respected and well-supported charities in Brooklyn.
Mrs. Lena Sittig, the wife of a successful wholesaler, founded the Brooklyn Christmas Tree Club in 1892 to deliver Christmas to poor children who would otherwise have nothing. She was quite active in Brooklyn’s social life and also had a successful career as a writer and correspondent. Mrs. Sittig was an accomplished musician and friends with all the important musicians and artists in the city. The infant death of one of her two children had inspired her to help less fortunate children at Christmas, the time of year when poverty was most felt by children and adults.
She recruited her wealthy friends, both men and women, to donate money, and her music and theater friends to donate their services and talents, and they put on an all-day Christmas show for a large group of children, followed by a multi-course meal, during which the children were told they could eat anything they wanted. At the end of the day, each child received a toy and a bag with an orange, some candy and other goodies to take home. Many children also received hats, gloves, scarves and other clothing.
The first Christmas Tree Club in 1892 was a great success, and each year thereafter the committee planned an increasingly larger event to serve more children. In 1899 there were two entertainment venues in addition to the meal. The event that year was so big that the drill hall of the former armory building was needed to hold everyone.
The club had grown to the point where they partnered with other organizations to provide all the services for the party. That year, the Salvation Army was responsible for cooking the meal that would feed thousands of people. Many of the children were orphans and lived in Brooklyn’s orphanages and shelters, such as the Newsboy’s Home, run by the Children’s Aid Society. Many of these children spent their days selling newspapers, running errands, selling matches and flowers, or working in factories.
Some were actually orphans; Others had parents who could not afford to care for them, or were themselves in prison or on the streets. Some of the children at this event still lived with their parent or parents, but were desperately poor and in some cases were the sole breadwinners of the family. But that day they were just children. First the children were entertained with shows with skits, clowns, trained monkeys and singing and dancing. The entertainment took place in the Grand Opera House and the Park Theater before the meal in the Armory.
The armory could accommodate 1,800 children per seat. The children stood there in amazement at the sight of tables groaning under the weight of trays of food, bowls of fruit and baskets of bread. They stood there and stared at it until they were encouraged to sit down and get whatever they wanted. They cleaned up and many tucked more than one treat under their shirts and aprons for later, or to give to family. Then they left and the next group of 1,800 children sat down.
When the children left the dining room, they gathered in another room where each girl was given a doll and each boy was given a toy. The dolls all had clothing specially made by Mrs. Sittig’s doll committee, which had been committed to this day all year long, and the toys were also specially made or donated by private individuals. Children were also given the gift of clothing, mainly scarves, hats and jackets, which were collected by the committee throughout the year. The parents or guardians of the exhausted and burdened children then happily took them home for the day.
Mrs. Sittig had appealed to the best of Brooklyn’s generous nature. The transport was donated by the tram and railway companies, and the children and their adult companions all received free rides that day. Many Brooklyn hotels had donated space for the club’s meetings during the year. Food and treats were donated and purchased, and even the tea towels used that day were donated.
All performers, including Santa Claus, donated their time and talents. Santa Claus was often one of New York’s leading actors, and that year Mr. Frank Sittig, Lena’s husband and a devoted member of the club, was also one of the Santas. Printers donated paper and printing services for the day’s program, and some also offered their services to the club free of charge during the year. Whatever the need, Mrs. Sittig or one of her club members had persuaded someone to meet it.
As a new century approached, at least for one day, the children of Brooklyn all went home and lay cozy in their beds, with visions of sugar plums, turkey with all the trimmings, cookies, cakes, baskets of bread, toys, clothes and, for some, silver key chains dancing in their heads. May the spirit of Mrs. Lena Sittig, her Christmas Tree Club, and all those who long ago spent their days thinking of others, remain with us and inspire us to do in kind. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.
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