New Year’s Day, 1776

During the eighteenth century, the holiday made some inroads. By the time of the American Revolution, some Boston newspapers carried ads for Christmas items. (With the end of Puritan rule, some colonists observed the holiday.) Still when General George Washington came to Massachusetts in 1775, his New England officers did not celebrate Christmas. However, it was a tradition in Anglican Virginia. The Anglican Christ Church in Harvard Square – favored by the Tory elite – had been shuttered. At Martha Washington’s request it was reopened for New Year’s Eve services.