Christmas in Porvoo Museum

The Christmas additions in the permanent exhibition of Holm House tells how people prepared for Christmas and celebrated Christmas. The dinner table in the salon is full of delicacies and the table is set with green-rimmed Rörstrand-crockery bought in Stockholm. The candles that bring a lovely mood are not the ordinary tallow candles but luxurious wax candles. On the side table is set as a liquor table, an important part of all feasts, where people could pick up drinks and snacks to whet the appetites.

In the other rooms of the exhibition there are other Christmas traditions, such as presents. In the 18th century gift-giving was still a new Christmas tradition. Christmas presents weren’t given by a Santa Claus with reindeer, instead they were thrown suddenly in through the door or brought in by a person in a disguise. The presents have clever, rhyming verses on them that can reveal what’s inside and who the gift is from. In the 1700s Christmas was also a spiritual festival of goodwill. In the kitchen there are bread and candles for the poor.