PENSACOLA'S CHRISTMAS PAST

Pensacola’s Christmas Past by Gina Castro

One of the many perks of being the first city in the U.S. is that there is just so

much history everywhere you look. There are thousands of interesting stories about the people who walked these streets, the buildings that once stood here and the ones that still do. Since this holiday season won’t be quite what we anticipated at the start of 2020, Pensacola Magazine figured you all could enjoy visiting Pensacola’s Christmas past. With the help of UWF Historic Trust archivist Jessie Cragg and Dustin Dewey, we pieced together a few interesting and heart-warming stories that show what Pensacolians were doing at various points in history during December.

Women’s Holiday Fashion in 1851

The ladies of Pensacola followed fashion tips straight from Paris, which were published in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. In December of 1851, Pensacola women wore the following three fashionable cloaks: Parisian, Frileuse and Camara.

Merry Christmas, Prisoners

Christmas day in 1889 turned out to be a very generous day. Some would say it was perhaps too generous. On this day just in time for Christmas dinner, Pensacola Mayor William Dudley Chipley released every single prisoner confined at the station. Although the crimes of the prisoners are not mentioned, the daily news reported that there were 22 prisoners released. The article describes the bunch as the happiest people in Pensacola: “They were a happy set indeed, and all vowed that their first drink of Christmas egg-nog should be a toast to Mayor Chipley [sic].”

The Big Snow Storm of 1893

Yes, in 1893, it snowed heavily in Pensacola. A photo of a family playing in the snow in Pensacola was taken on Dec. 21, 1893. The image shows Pensacolians dressed warmly with snowballs in their hands. There weren’t any articles published about this snow storm. The only information about this strange occurrence is written on the back of the photograph. The writing on the back states that the image was taken East of Wright Street about a block and a half from the old L&N Station. Some of the people shown in the photo are the following: Julia Moreno, Dottie Blount, Julia Lee, Miss Emma Chandler, Rust and Octavia Smith, Cora and Dudley Hunt, Ruby Mallory, Little S.R. Mallory, Maude Fernald, Fan Warren, and Edna Thompson.

A Brent Family Christmas

Francis Celestino Brent was a prominent figure in the 20th century. After serving in the Confederate Army and being incarcerated by the Union, Brent returned to Pensacola. He established F.C. Brent and Co., owned the Brent Lumber Company and invested in several other businesses. Brent Lane, which runs from Palafox Street to Springhill Drive, was named after Brent. The photograph of the Brent family Christmas dinner was taken circa 1900. The photo shows the Pensacola banker sitting at the head of the dinner table. His 13 children, in-laws and grandchildren sit on either side of the table finishing their Christmas dessert.

Lucile M. Smythe poses in front of the Christmas tree with her new doll in 1902.

Mary Brent and her friends dressed for a Christmas party at the Pensacola Country Club in 1948.

A Typical Christmas 2Menu in 18972

Oysters on the half shell

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Celery soup • Roast Suckling Pig. Peas. • Sweet potatoes. Creamed potatoes. • Relishes. • Olives. Celery. Salted Almonds. • Roast Turkey with Dressing • Cranberry Sauce. Salad. • Pickled Peaches. • Christmas Plum Pudding. • Ice Cream. Fruit Cake. • Mince Pie. Christmas Cake. • Fruit. Neapolitan Cake. • Nuts. Coconut Cake. • Wines. Bon-Bons. Cheese. • Black Coffee. The 1930s Christmas Lights Quarrel

Today, Pensacolians expect downtown to be sparkling with thousands of lights each holiday season, but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, people were quite distraught over the lack of Christmas decorations downtown for numerous reasons. On Nov. 27, 1932, the News Journal’s cover featured the headline “Something Must Be Done to Arouse the Christmas Spirit.” The article argued that other cities of equal size to Pensacola increased holiday shopping in their downtown by adorning the streets with lights. Another issue this article posed was that visitors wouldn’t know Pensacola believed in Santa Claus without decorations: “Let’s get together and give the kiddies a real Christmas. Don’t let it be said that Pensacola does not believe in Santa Claus.” The cartoon at the center of the front page titled “Don’t Let Them Down” describes how Christmas decor downtown is important to children. Although the St. Nicholas Girl’s Christmas tree and lights decorated Palafox hill at least since 1930, Pensacola didn’t light the streets of downtown similarly to what we see today until 1936.

10 Year Old Has Holiday Spirit

Just days before Christmas in 1993, a 10 year old boy thought about how he could help the children in Sacred Heart Hospital. Steven Ball took a pruning pole and fished for mistletoes out of the oak trees in his yard. He arranged the mistletoes in various sized bundles and wrapped each one with red ribbons. Ball then sold the mistletoes outside of Kmart and WalMart in Milton for about 25 cents to a $1. He used the $27 dollars he made to buy 22 toys for the children stuck in the hospital on Christmas.

Downtown’s First Christmas Parade

With just a six weeks notice, the Pensacola Christmas Parade Inc. put together downtown’s first Christmas parade in 1983. Businesses in the community funded the event, and more than 20,000 people attended it. A variety of more than 50 floats paraded the streets starting on Jefferson Street. Even Santa himself attended the festivities. The theme of the parade was “A White Sands Christmas.” The grand marshal of the parade was Dottie Booker. She was named

volunteer of the year in 1983. “These kids are going to have to be here in the hospital and they can’t go home. I thought this might help,” Ball told the news journal almost 30 years ago. Hopefully this story will inspire some youngsters to be generous this year.