Celebrating the 12 days of Christmas in the Newfoundland of yesteryear

The village of Epworth, Newfoundland, on Placentia Bay, during the 1920s. The fish flakes for drying cod are built out over the water of the small harbour.

My parents immigrated from Newfoundland to Toronto in the 1920s, in the days prior to Confederation. As a child, I heard tales of the Christmas celebrations in Burin Peninsula, where my parents and grandparents were born. My mother was born in Epworth (seen in the picture above) and my father was born in Burin Bay. I grew up in Toronto during the 1940s, and marvelled at their stories. One of the traditions of Christmas that fascinated me was “mummering.” The villagers dressed up in handmade costumes, and after dark, visited the homes of the community in disguise to play tricks and perform music in exchange for treats. The other tradition that interested me was the “soup supper”, a fund-raiser sponsored by the church. Each family brought a different kind of soup to the church hall and competed to see who could consume the most.

Dressing up in costume to go “mummering” during the twelve days of Christmas

https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/12/08/the-christmas-tradition-of-mumming-mummering-in-old-newfoundland/

A Christmas tale of old Newfoundland

https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/12/08/a-tale-of-christmas-in-old-newfoundland/

The community “soup supper” at Christmas time in a Newfoundland village

https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/12/08/a-traditional-christmas-soup-summer-in-old-newfoundland/

To view posts about Christmas in Toronto throughout the years

Christmas cards mailed in Toronto during the years 1924-1926

https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/12/11/xmas-cards-mailed-in-toronto-1924-1927/

I remember the Christmas buffet lunches at the Arcadian Court at the Simpson’s Queen Street Store in Toronto

https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/11/30/christmas-lunch-at-simpsons-arcadian-court-in-the-1950s-featured-in-murdermystery/

Christmas at Mackenzie house on Bond Street.