History Bytes: December 1752

December 19, 2013

The planet Venus was bright in the Western sky as it is now and Newport’s Christmas season in colonial times was cold and subdued. Poor Job’s Almanack of 1752, printed by James Franklin, shows Christmas as yet another Christian observance within Advent and several Saint’s Days. The Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer called for one reading of St. Matthew’s nativity story on the Sunday following December 25th and Rev. Ezra Stiles attended services at the Moravian Church to get a taste of a German Christmas celebration.

A 1752 Almanack, Job Shepherd, Philom. From the NHS collection.

A page from a 1752 Almanack, Job Shepherd, Philom. From the NHS collection.