RECORD BOOK: Christmas in Bradford 1889 was memorable enough
that even the 1929 Era made note of it.

The headline read: “Christmas in Bradford: It was Observed,
According to Various Methods, Good and Bad.” Celebrations ran the
gamut from the solemn and charitable to the boisterous and
rowdy.

“Church-going people of various Christian creeds attended divine
service on Christmas and listened to words of cheer and hope
appropriate to the day,” the Era notes. “At St. Bernard’s and the
Church of the Ascension, the services were most solemn and
impressive.”

Bradford’s notable eating establishments — The St. James, the
Henderson, the Riddell, the Oil City House — provided distinctive
Christmas meals “fit to set before a king — or any other man.”

And the city’s generosity was in play, too. The Sunday News’
editor provided a feast of delicacies for about 200 needy boys at
the Capitol Restaurant during which several local preachers
provided a Christmas message.

“When the tables were cleared by the hungry army,” the Era
account reads, “the Opera House was visited by the entire party of
boys at the expense of Councilman Andrews.”

On the other extreme was quite a different story.

“Study oil well workers dressed in their best paraded the
streets and purchased a reasonable amount of liquid amusement,” the
Era reads.

“The stalwart knights of the ax were out in full force, too.
They were bent on transforming the occasion into a sort of Fourth
of July, and many of them succeeded only too well in doing so. The
result of their hilarity was a large amount of disorder, and the
policemen were kept busy in quelling disturbances and arresting
noisy amateur pugilists.

“The amount of fighting indulged in was disgraceful.”

As expected, Bradford’s finest rendered “excellent service,” and
soon the crowds dispersed to the local Opera House for “spirited
comedies.”

After that, the Brotherhood of Locomotive firemen hosted a dance
at Orpheus Hall, where about 200 couples danced the night away.

“Christmas in Bradford,” the story closes, “ was a lively one
and was observed as the foregoing will show, in a rather varied
style.”