Christmas in the 1920s

If ever a decade seemed designed for Christmas magic, it was the 1920s. Electricity was transforming the holiday, replacing tree candles with safer strings of glowing bulbs. Radios were turning living rooms into small theaters, broadcasting carols, holiday plays, and seasonal speeches. Department stores were discovering the allure of lavish Christmas windows, and in 1924, Macy’s launched the first parade that would become a national tradition. Prohibition shaped the era’s parties, speakeasies shaped its sparkle, and marketing even reshaped breakfast itself: orange juice surged into American kitchens as a daily staple, and shelf-stable meats like early Spam predecessors promised modern convenience. Our 1920s Christmas weekend pulled these threads together into a double-day celebration of jazz, invention, glamour, and warm holiday nostalgia.

The weekend opened with a playful twist on old-time merriment: a password-protected Secret Santa Speakeasy. Fedoras, flapper dresses, feathered headbands, and long gloves set the scene as friends arrived to the glow of bistro lights and jazz spinning from a 1920s playlist. A vintage-style ambiance video flickered in the background, and wanted posters hung near the entrance added the right touch of Prohibition mischief. Before the festivities could begin though, the guests had to solve 1920s-styled riddles and puzzles—Ben’s version of “welcome instructions”—that framed the night as a game of cleverness and clues. Once the password was discovered (“I’ll Have a Booze Christmas”), the prohibition door was cracked the Secret Santa Speakeasy was open for business!

Snacks followed the sensibilities of 1920s entertaining: grapefruit cocktails served in chilled glasses, Waldorf salad cups, shrimp cocktail, and smoked salmon on rye with dill cream cheese. Dinner leaned toward the indulgence of the decade’s hotel dining rooms—Oysters Rockefeller, Beef Wellington with red wine reduction, and a salmon Wellington with lemon-dill sauce. Prohibition may have outlawed liquor, but cocktails thrived regardless, and we honored that history with Mary Pickfords, French 75s, Holiday Gin Rickeys, Old Fashioneds, Bee’s Knees, and plenty of sparkling substitutions for the kids. Dessert brought the sweetness of a bygone era: a pineapple upside-down cake (a 1920s classic born of the canned fruit boom) and champagne gelée with berries.

Once plates were cleared and glasses refilled, the kids settled in to watch “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas”—a nod to Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in 1928, while the adults played Christmas-themed Codenames at the bistro tables and a “guess the guest” guestbook activity.

The next morning carried the historical thread into breakfast. We served Flapper Flapjacks, stewed prunes in port wine, orange juice, and a side of Spam—a playful nod to the era’s fascination with shelf-stable protein products and the marketing revolution that made citrus a breakfast essential. We explained to the kids how advertising campaigns in the 1920s essentially “invented” America’s idea of what breakfast should be, and how many of our modern habits trace back to that decade.

Late morning turned to media history. We watched archival clips of the first Macy’s Christmas Parade from 1924, the year the event debuted with animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. The kids were captivated by the old footage, comparing it to the modern-day parade they watch every Thanksgiving.

Lunch, in true 1920s fashion, was simple and refined: clear consommé with croutons, scalloped tomatoes served in ramekins, and soft Parker House rolls. As dusk began to fall, we took a drive through St. Paul for a Summit Avenue Lights tour. The automobile boom of the 1920s made night drives newly fashionable, and the spread of electric Christmas lighting made it dazzling. Victorian mansions decked out in color felt like driving through a real historical echo of the decade’s technological shift. And what better place to drive than Summit Avenue, St. Paul’s iconic and grandiose street lined with mansions built in the decades leading up until and into the 1920s.

A stop in downtown St. Paul let us capture the lighting of the massive Christmas tree in Rice Park, a perfect tie-in to the theme as the White House had it’s first National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony with Calvin Coolidge in 1923.

Back at home, we paused to experience another key piece of the decade: the rise of household radio and the popularity of live Christmas broadcasts. We pulled up recordings and re-enactments of 1920s nativity plays performed over radio and let the sound wash over the afternoon like a time capsule in our candlelit living room. 

We finished our culinary journey with a traditional 1920s menu: baked guinea hen with chestnut stuffing, potato balls with parsley butter, spinach soufflé, and cranberry-apple sauce inspired by holiday menus printed in 1922 newspapers. The house felt warm and richly scented, a little like the grand hotel dining rooms of the era. After dessert, we settled in for a silent movie, another defining art form of the decade. Big Business (1929), with its slapstick charm and holiday setting, played at just twenty minutes, but it delivered the perfect finish.

By the weekend’s end, it felt as though we had lived inside the decade: its music, its food, its holiday exuberance, its technological leaps, and its secret speakeasy sparkle. Christmas in the 1920s didn’t just roar; it shimmered with invention, ritual, novelty, and charm. Walking back into modern life after that kind of weekend felt like stepping out of a time machine—one lit with jazz, tinsel, and the soft glow of early electric Christmas lights.

Activities

• Secret Santa Speakeasy

• Christmas Codenames & Guest Book Character Game

• “Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas”

• Summit Avenue Lights Drive

• Rice Park Christmas Tree Lighting

• 1924 Macy’s Parade Footage

• 1920s Radio Nativity Plays

• Silent (Movie) Night: Big Business w/ Laurel & Hardy

• Summit Avenue Lights Drive

• Cozy 1920s Era Books: A Timeless Christmas / The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall

Menu

• Flapper Flapjacks

• Stewed Prunes in Port Wine

• Orange Juice

• Canned Breakfast Meat

• Consommé with Croutons

• Scalloped Tomatoes in Ramekins

• Parker House Rolls

• Guinea Hen with Game Stuffing

• Potato Balls with Parsley Butter

• Spinach Soufflé

• Cranberry-Apple Sauce

• Oysters Rockefeller

• Shrimp Cocktail

• Smoked Salmon on Rye

• Beef Wellington w/ Red Wine Reduction

• Salmon Wellington w/ Dill Cream Sauce

• Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

• Champagne Gelée with Berries

Cocktails: French 75, Holiday Gin Rickey, Bee’s Knees, Old Fashioned, Mary Pickford, Brandy Alexander, Sidecar