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Christmas Spider Web
Although the custom of having a decorated Christmas tree at home is common place today in Carthage, one hundred years ago, trees were still optional in some family celebrations. The Wright family is an example of an alternative holiday custom use for gift distribution.
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| Wright family house, formerly at 304 W. Macon. This structure in now located in Eureka Springs, AR and known as the Queen Anne Mansion. |
It is believed that the Wright family only had a Christmas tree once during the period of their children's youth and teen years. Instead, they used a "spider web" to distribute family presents. The tradition is thought to have been brought with them from Indiana but the exact size and nature of how it was constructed or in which first floor room the web was created, is not known.
The following is an excerpt of an 1899 letter from "Tyd" (Anne Matilda) Wright Hench written to brother Bob Wright in Carthage. It serves as the museum's documentation for use of the spider web. It reads,
I suppose you are very busy planning and buying for Christmas. I suppose you and Will have finally had your fill of Christmas spider webs haven't you? Why don't you get an evergreen, get a sumac, or anything, and have the girls decorate it with cotton, popcorn and strung cranberries. Don't believe we ever had a Christmas tree at home but one have we?
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Recreated Wright family Christmas
"spider web" for gift distribution
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The museum's execution of the spider web, as seen above, is based on known recreations of the same custom at other historic properties and it is setup on the theory that each child would unravel their designated string until their gift—wrapped in colored paper or tissue or unwrapped—was found.
Another version of this puzzle-like adventure used by Wright family members and more suitable for adults, was to bury small, unwrapped gifts attached with strings in a large bowl filled with sawdust. The bowl was then placed in the center of the table and the strings carefully distributed about the table, ending at each person's place setting. Thus when dinner started, each person pulled their gift from the bowl.
The custom of Christmas trees in private homes was introduced in Carthage after the Civil War. By the late 1870s and 1880s, trees were common, especially at the community Sabbath School celebrations. However, as seen with the Wright family "spider web," not everyone observed the new custom and there were other theme celebrations used as well. Christmas trees did not become widely adopted until well into the 20th century.
The Legend of the Christmas Spider Web
Based on an old European folk tale, the following story is abridged from a contemporary Christmas card of a local resident.
Once upon a time in Germany, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year—the day on which the Christ Child was to come and bring the gifts on Christmas Eve. Not a speck of dust was left in her house. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling. To avoid the housewife's busy cleaning, they finally fled to the farthest corner of the forgotten attic.
'Twas Christmas Eve at last; the tree was decorated, and the children delighted. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ Child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door and see Him. Silently they crept out of their attic, and across the floor to wait in the crack on the threshold.
Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit, and quickly the spiders sneaked into the room. The tree towered so high they couldn't see the ornaments on top. In fact their eyes were so small they could see only one ornament at a time. They scurried up the trunk and out along each branch, filled with a happy wonder at the glittering beauty. Every place they went they left a trail of dusty, gray web. When at last they had inspected every bit of the Christmas tree, it was shrouded in a dusty gray of spider webs.
The Christ Child smiled as He thought of the happy spiders seeing His tree. But as He thought of how brokenhearted the mother would be over the dusty tree, He reached out his hand and touched the webs and blessed them. They all turned to shimmering, sparkling silver and gold. The tree glistened in greater beauty than ever before.
Copyright © 2008 Powers Museum
1617 West Oak • P.O. Box 593 • Carthage, MO 64836
e-mail:infonow@powersmuseum.com
| phone: 417-358-2667
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