Investigating the lifestyles of royals and merchants at Christmas is a doddle. There are many images on the internet because the artists were hired by the nobility to commemorate their good fortune in oil paintings and engravings. The holidays were not so visually festive for the poor, and few painters found their drab surroundings artistically stimulating.

If authenticity is your thing, the following brief guide can help you in your decorating decisions.

lower orders

In colonial times, the poor used to live in a multipurpose room, the fireplace being the center of their lives. It was the kitchen and work room most hours of the day. The table can be either trestle boards or a piece of wood with swivel legs and drop leaves. When not in use, it was stored against a wall. The room became a sleeping space when the rolled bedding was spread out on the floor. How close to the chimney depended on the season and how far north they lived.

Christmas decorations were limited to one or two evergreen branches on the mantelpiece, wrapped around a strip of shiny fabric or ribbon for color. A candle representing the Star of Light can be lit for a short time. The gifts were made by loving hands at home and may include clothing, tools, and a trinket or two.

The Christmas party depended on how abundant the harvest was and the amount of game in the forest. Only in a good year would the portable table become a “groaning table”, sagging under the weight of Christmas dinner. At best, this could include a loaf of round bread, potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin, peas, carrots, corn, onions, poultry, cakes, pies, biscuits, brandy, wine, beer, and coffee. This is a great place for a novice miniaturist to learn how to use polymer clay. However, a “finished” look is not desirable with home styling.

the wealthy

The houses of the rich were large enough to have rooms dedicated to a single purpose: a kitchen, pantry, dining room, bedroom; each would have a fireplace and a mantel lined with Christmas decorations. Boxwood or coniferous garlands intertwined with magnolia leaves and white pine boughs were popular. Clues to future ornamentation were fresh lemons and oranges, brought by merchant ships from the West Indies colonies.

The Christmas feast would be spread out on a table made by hand by a local cabinetmaker or imported from the Continent. Table settings could be pewter, red tableware (glazed clay pottery), or possibly blue and white bone china.

The food might have dishes that the lower class enjoyed, but they differed greatly in variety and quantity.

Again, try making these items yourself. If your first 1/12 scale crafting attempt, “3 Greased Pheasants and a Pye Swan” fails, scrap it and try again. Fimo and Sculpy are cheap, running around $2.50 for a 2-ounce block. Polymer clay lasts forever, if stored in plastic wrap or a Ziploc bag.

The wealthy had store-bought gifts, such as puzzles, roller skates, harmonicas, or a paint box filled with colored balls. Like the poor, the rich had good and bad years. Their economic well-being depended on ships surviving North Atlantic storms or hunters catching enough beaver pelts.

One thing not to put in a colonial miniature is a decorated Christmas tree, even though its “invention” is attributed to Martin Luther two centuries earlier. He had taken a walk one clear December night in a wood and felt closer to God as he saw the twinkling stars above the snow-laden bow. Arriving home, he placed a small conifer on a table and decorated it with candles to inspire the children.

The Christmas tree did not arrive in the United States until the early 19th century.