Author, journalist and educator Claire Hopley will present at Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum an illustrated talk on The Changeable Story of Christmas Foods, Feasts and Traditions, the subject of her book The History of Christmas Foods and Feasts.  She will make her presentation on Saturday, December 11, at 3:00pm, followed by a Holiday Victorian Tea featuring items from her book.  She will autograph copies at that time.  The lecture and tea are part of Ventfort Hall’s month-long “A Home for the Holidays” festivities.   According to Hopley, “More than any other holiday, Christmas raises memories: of stockings, bulging with toys, trees sparkling with lights, the turkey or goose reigning over the dinner table.  Memory also brings up pictures of Christmas outings such as carol singing or shopping for gifts in brilliantly lit shops.  We bundle all our festivities together as ‘Christmas traditions’.  They shape Christmas with customs, revelry and foods that must be repeated each year so that every Christmas is a ‘good’ or ‘proper Christmas’, like every one that has gone before.”   However, Hopley makes the point that Christmas plays fast and loose with tradition.  It creates new activities, picks new foods as must-haves, and incorporates customs from other countries.  She says “Equally, Christmas can be cavalier about the past:  it forgets or abandons old customs, then, perhaps, later revives them. 

Today, we have Christmas trees and stockings, but not the Bean King, Lord of Misrule or the Twelfth Night characters who held sway over medieval and Renaissance Christmases – an era when Christmas trees and stockings were unknown.” In her talk, Hopley will explore the origins of Christmas, explain why it was not celebrated in Massachusetts until the 19th century, show how English and American Christmases have influenced each other, and describe some of the delicacies and treats that have been must-haves for this special season.   Hopley, a native of Britain, divides her time between Western Massachusetts and her home in the North of England.  She has taught English at colleges including Mount Holyoke, and business schools in Greece and Poland.  As a freelance journalist, she specializes in books, history and food with work appearing in American and British publications.  She has authored The World of Blantyre, the subject of her lecture at Ventfort Hall this past summer, New England Cooking: Seasons and Celebrations and The History of Teas.  Currently she is working on a monograph on mincemeat.  

This program is supported in part by grants from the Alford-Egremont Cultural Council, the Richmond Cultural Council, the Sandisfield Cultural Council, the Sheffield Cultural Council and the West Stockbridge Cultural Council, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.