Hopedale's most momentous celebration was Christmas, held in December to commemorate not so much Christ's birth - which was supposed to have been in the spring - as his example. It was a conscious defiance of New England's religious past, when Puritans had spurned Christmas as a heathen holiday.
In 1854 Heywood [Rev. William S. Heywood, Ballou-s son-in-law] began his address to the assembled residents by making "a very unpuritanical wish," that they have a Merry Christmas, one that would combine an earnest appreciation of Christ and of the Christian mission with "our idea of fraternal affection and sympathy in connection with social pleasure."
After the evening service, a large Christmas tree was unveiled loaded with "many golden and glittering treasures, and not a few fantastic toys." Adults as well as children received gifts; an unnamed giver left a cow worth forty-five dollars in Ballou's barn, while another anonymous donor placed thirty copies of Ballou's latest book under the tree for distribution among the members. Edward K. Spann, From Commune to Company Town 1840 - 1920, p. 82
Hopedale Community Menu HOME