Go and do:

What: Norlands Christmas Festival

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6

Where: Washburn-Norlands Living History Center, Norlands Road, Livermore

Admission: Free

Simpler Christmases to be highlighted

LIVERMORE – Christmas in the 1870s was simple, with hardly any mention in historical diaries and journals.

Decorations were nearly nonexistent and if there was a tree, it was erected at a special place, such as a church.

Volunteers sitting at a table Tuesday at the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center were looking for information about items used for Christmas decorations in rural Maine in the late 19th century.

They found precious little.

One journal entry by Herbert Tucker of Fayette mentioned attending school on Dec. 25, 1883, but in another entry, the day was declared a holiday in North Auburn that year. The following year, Rosa Stevens of Turner wrote that there was no school on Christmas Day and Santa visited.

Samuel B. Washburn’s journal entry stated that Dec. 25, 1871, was not so merry and a similar message was repeated over the years. But on Dec. 25, 1878, his family had a fat turkey for dinner.

The group on Tuesday was planning the annual Norlands Christmas Festival to take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6, at the center on Norlands Road.

“This is the year Norlands is giving back to the community,” trustee Nancey Drinkwine said. Admission to the event is free.

Though the celebration won’t be as grand as in past years, the mansion has been cleaned from top to bottom. Visitors will get to see the ladies’ parlor, Gramp’s room, also known as Israel Washburn’s parlor, the dining room, foyer and kitchen. All other rooms are off limits for now.

Most of the historical furniture, paintings and other items were removed after an April 28 fire that destroyed the barn and farmer’s cottage that were attached to the mansion. The fire was ignited by a heat lamp used to warm piglets in the barn.

Interpreters plan to try to tap into visitors’ imaginations as they retell happenings of more than a century ago.

Trustees plan to rebuild the barn and cottage and have had plans developed to do so. An update on those plans will be given during the festival.

Among the activities planned are Christmas caroling with Jerry Ellis on piano, stories and games. Visitors will have a chance to sip hot cocoa and eat cookies in the main kitchen, which now has plaster back on its walls.

Drinkwine said staff will no longer bring live greens into the mansion for the holiday because the curator is concerned about the potential for an infestation of insects. Any decorations will be outside, along with a live Christmas tree on the porch.

“I’m at peace knowing that we can’t have nature in the house. I knew it was going to come,” said Willi Irish, director of interpretation. She noted that in the 1870s, if there was any decorating at all done, it didn’t happen until the day before Christmas.

Visitors will receive oranges this year and learn the significance of such a gift, which in the 1870s was considered a rare and special treat, Irish said.