Historic Holiday Shopping.

A look at downtown Jacksonville’s iconic department stores.

By Kate A. Hallock and Emily Cottrell. Jacksonville Historical Society

Five years after the Civil War in America ended, December 25th was declared a national holiday and, by the late-19th century, the marketing of goods specifically for that holiday was in force. The holiday was celebrated with Christmas cards, stockings filled with nuts, fruit, and candies and handmade wooden toys or knitted dolls. In the early-20th century holiday gift-giving included factory-made toys and ornaments as well as festive decorations imported from Germany and England.

What did early Jaxsons do for shopping to celebrate the end-of-year holiday? Where did the Bellamy families, the Daniels and the Dells, the Hart and Hogans clans, the Millers, the Philips, and other founding families go to purchase presents for their loved ones—if they didn’t make them by hand?

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Author: Arbus

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