Christmas with the prophets
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A thread of "consistent goodness" runs through the lives of modern-day prophets and their celebrations of Christmas, said a Church member who has spent the last two years researching the Church presidents and their holiday traditions.
"The thing I learned most from this research was how human they were, and how really truly good they all were," said Laura F. Willes, author of the book, Christmas with the Prophets, published by Deseret Book.
Sister Willes said she studied all the prophets from Joseph Smith to President Thomas S. Monson. "I saw them not behind a pulpit when I did this research, but I saw them in their homes, in their interactions with their children, in their daily lives, when all of us weren't watching them, so to speak. What I saw was the same men I expected to see at the pulpit. In other words, the good just ran through their whole lives."
Sister Willes got the idea for the research two years ago while serving as a service missionary at the Church History Museum.
Not only did she get an insight into the lives of the men who have led the Church, but also she got a sense of how celebrating Christmas has changed during the last 180 years.
Not every Christmas was easy, said Sister Willes. "Some were very difficult," she added, noting that two prophets — Joseph Smith in 1838 and Lorenzo Snow in 1886 — spent Christmas in jail.
Other celebrations reflected a prophet's sense of humor. George Albert Smith, for example, hung a huge stocking and placed his large rubber boots nearby for Santa to fill. One year he cut a hole in the bottom of the sock and placed an empty coal bucket underneath it to catch all the presents Santa let slip through.
Each prophet also shared one thing in common: "A total focus on the Savior" and a "desire to give Christian charity," Sister Willes said.
For instance, during his last Christmas celebration in 1843, Joseph Smith hosted 100 people at his home. "[The prophets] were generous and charitable and used Christmas as a way to reach out to everyone they could," said Sister Willes.
1945
During World War II many cities enforced nightly blackouts, when no exterior lights could be turned on and inside lights could be used only if windows were tightly covered. This was a safety issue to cities close to the fighting but was also meant to conserve fuel. Salt Lake City was no exception. Even the floodlights that normally lit up the exterior of LDS temples were turned off to honor the blackouts. The Salt Lake Temple sat dark in a dark city every night during the war. As almost one of his last acts of his presidency, President Heber J. Grant, nearing his death in May 1945, ordered the floodlights of the temple turned back on after hearing of the cease-fire in Europe. President George Albert Smith, the next president of the Church, planned a meaningful Christmas card for 1945. The message — "The lights are on again" — reflected the joy President Smith, along with everyone else, was feeling that after long years of death and destruction, the world was finally at peace.
MId-1900s
During every Christmas vacation, even into his 80s, President David O. Mckay took his grandchildren riding on a bobsleigh pulled by a team of horses throughout Huntsville, Utah. It was a McKay family tradition. To stay warm, President McKay wore his long, thick raccoon coat and big gloves. The smallest grandchildren rode in the sleigh, and the others whizzed along behind on their own sleds, each one attached to the bobsleigh with a rope of a different length so they wouldn't run into each other. President McKay's chief responsibility, besides driving the sleigh, was planning the route, which became more difficult as the years went by and the city started scraping the snow off its main streets.
1870
One of the first Christmas parties given in the Social Hall was especially for children. A large "Santa Claus Christmas Tree," pictured about in 1870, was set up and hung with "a present for every child ... all numbered and arranged in perfect order of name and age." The tree was a "beautiful sight" even though this was long before the age of electric lights. Although the party included several families, "Brother Brigham was foremost in making the affair a grand success. The children were 'wild with delight' and some of their mothers were quite as much elated though not as demonstrative as the children."
1954
Before becoming President of the Church, President Ezra Taft Benson, then an apostle, was given special leave to serve on President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Cabinet as Secretary of Agriculture. Just four days before Christmas in 1954 the family, pictured below, had an unusual opportunity. President Eisenhower was aware of the Benson's usual Monday night family home evening and wanted to see it. The Eisenhowers joined the Benson family "for an evening of holiday fun." "Our sons performed comic skits and other readings, the girls sang, Flora recited a reading and I did my part by leading the whole group in singing 'John Brown's Baby Had a Cold Upon Its Chest,'" wrote President Benson. "The president and his party participated and seemed to enjoy it all."
1849
President Brigham Young loved to dance. "Besides my own problems, I have the whole people's burdens and I get rid of them by kicking them off my toes." Dancing, which was held in the Social Hall in Salt Lake City, was also an important part of all early pioneer Christmas celebrations. In 1849, President Young held a large Christmas party and sent out invitations. Everyone expected there would be dancing. Susan Wells and her sister made dresses from the fabric wagon cover that had protected their family during the journey to the Salt Lake Valley. The Christmas dance would become the most popular dance of the entire year.
