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Rutherford House: Christmas Teas, Church and Hockey in 1915

Alexander Rutherford, Alberta?s first Premier, was a Baptist and a lay minister in his Church. His wife Mattie was a Methodist, and each took part in Christmas services of their preferred denomination. And according to historical interpreter Kim Gough, the Rutherfords always included charity in their Christmas observance:

Well, the Rutherford family was a typical Edmonton family. They celebrated this holiday in a religious fashion. However, their Church services for the Methodists and the Baptists were not until Boxing Day on the 26th. So Christmas Day was spent entertaining.

Mrs. Rutherford was a member of the Sunshine League. And they would have teas. She hosted a tea, and all the money went to buy food hampers for the needy. And her tea on Christmas Day in 1915 raised 102 dollars for the needy hampers.

Alberta winters always provided ice and snow at Christmas, and that suited the Rutherfords and other families just fine, for skating was a popular activity on Christmas Day.

They always thought skates would be in short demand at this time of year, so many people wanted them. And McKernan Lake was a very popular area.

They also went to watch hockey games. The Edmonton Northside and the Southside teams had quite a penalty-riddled game on Christmas Day in 1915. And the Southside won that year, three to one. But the fans were almost as bad as the players. Ladies used to take their umbrellas or their parasols so that they could trip opposing teams as they skated by them. They would also take lumps of coal that they could throw onto the ice to confuse the players if things got going in the wrong direction as far as the spectators were concerned.

Early settlers in Alberta took advantage of the country?s expanding postal service by sending Christmas greetings and cards.

Cards had been popular in Canada since the late 1800?s. In 1880 in Toronto, a postman?s mailbag weighted about forty pounds at Christmas time. So they were a little overwhelmed by the number of cards they could receive. And because there was a war happening in 1915 the First World War and the volume of mail was so great, people had turned to sending Christmas postcards rather than cards with envelopes and things that were so weighty. So the family used a variety of postcards throughout the house do decorate. And cards would be kept often for years because of the sentimentality of them.

On the Heritage Trail, I?m Cheryl Croucher.

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