Vermilionville
300 Fisher Road
Lafayette, LA
The community is invited to experience the simple warmth and beauty of Christmas past as Vermilionville's historic village brings to life the holiday traditions of yesteryear with Vermilionville’s Old Time Christmas. The program begins on December 13-16 and resumes again on December 19-23 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. There will also be a family day on December 17 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. where everyone can experience the historic village during the holidays. Visitors will have the chance to take a self-guided tour with a special event program to see firsthand some of the Christmas and New Years traditions from the 17 and 1800s, like making santons ("little saints"), candles, soap, natural decorations, citrus pomanders and more.
In L’Hangar á Bateau (Boat Shed), you will meet Papa Noël, the French Santa Claus, who was actually a trapper that would deliver presents such as candy, money or small toys. You may also spot Papa Noël checking out the bonfires down by Le Petit Bayou. Children would light a bonfire and leave their shoes by it so Papa Noël knew where to stop. They would also leave carrots for Papa Noël’s donkey Gui, which is French for Mistletoe.
The next home to visit would be Beau Bassin where you will learn about how the Acadians decorated for Christmas using natural materials. They would bring in evergreen clippings from the outside to brighten things up since the weather was so dreary in the winter. Brenda will tell you how her family has prepared for Papa Noël’s arrival while giving a demonstration on spinning!
You will then go to the next holiday tradition demonstration where the students will learn about soap making. Ingredients in soap making of the old days include lye and hog lard; lye comes from leaching water through wood ash and hog lard is the fat from the pig. Soap making was done in the winter after the boucherie when a hog was slaughtered. Hog lard was byproduct from this process. At this station, you will also learn about bathing seasons and the tradition of springtime weddings.
The tour will then continue to L’École (Schoolhouse) where you can learn about and sing Christmas Carols including “Silent Night,” and “Jingle Bells.” These carols are from the time period of 1765-1890. You may also have the chance to sing along to “Go Tell it on the Mountain.” This song was written in 1953 and is traditionally the first song sung at Christmas services.
From there you will head over to Maison Mouton where you will learn about the differences between Christmas in the modern day and the Christmas of yesteryear. In here, they will meet Cliff the woodcarver and see the toys he has been working on.
You will leave Maison Mouton through the back door to visit the kitchen. She will be preparing for the Christmas feast as well as Gui’s carrot snacks. The scents will leave you craving a slice of gingerbread.
At La Forge, the students will encounter the Vermilionville blacksmiths hard at work!
You will then head on over to Maison Buller where your class will learn about candle making. Candles were a very important tool because there was no electricity and they could only be made in the winter when it was cold enough for the wax to keep its shape and not melt.
From there you will head to the La Chapelle des Attakapas (Chapel) for storytelling. You will also learn about the French Christmas tradition where figurines, santons (little saints), were made to represent saints or nativity scenes, but eventually expanded to represent people in the towns. This tradition started during the French Revolution when churches were forcibly closed and large nativity scenes were prohibited.
Maison Boucvalt where visitors will learn about citrus pomanders, a Victorian era air freshener made with citrus fruits decorated with cloves. This house will be the only one decorated with a Christmas tree since most of the elements of modern Christmas are products of the Victorian era. You may also have a chance to participate in crafts or a hands-on demonstration depending on which day you are able to visit us!
The final stop on the Old Time Christmas Village Tour is Maison Broussard. It is here you will learn about the tradition of Le Réveillon. Some families would gather for a nice dinner after mid-night mass on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve called Le Réveillon. Le Réveillon comes from the French word reveil, which means “waking.”
Visit http://www.vermilionville.org/events/old-time-christmas for more information.
