Glimpses of Some Past Christmases in Idaho Falls

1886 – An Eagle Rock auction company, C. Bunting, gave raffle tickets for various prizes to be awarded on Christmas Eve to whoever made purchases of $1 or more.  The grand prize was a New York Standard nine-stop parlor organ. Additional prizes included a sewing machine, a 12-tune music box with stand, hanging lamps, clocks, and others.   The man who won the organ, W. E. Muir, offered it “for sale – cheap, having no use for it,” in a classified ad two months later.[1]

1904 – At 5 am on Christmas morning there was a service at the Lutheran church, in Swedish, followed at 6 am by a second service, also in Swedish. The following day the children of the Lutheran church Sunday school performed a cantata of 27 numbers, for which there was an admission charge of 10 cents.[2]

1909 – “The Salvation Army of this city will do its share in distributing the Christmas cheer in this city…We seek out the most needful in the city, families in which Christmas cheer would mean so much yet seldom is present.  The Salvation Army, though only a small organization in this city, will undertake to provide a big Christmas dinner for twenty families…”  By 1919, the Salvation Army also gave out Christmas trees and toys to children as well as boxes of food.[3]

1916 – "It was a joyous crowd which gathered around the Community Christmas tree Monday night at the intersection of Broadway and Park.  The city electrical department had arranged a brilliant and beautiful display of lights and Mayor Edgington had taken the precaution to have the snow for considerable distance removed and a platform erected. The occasion was enjoyed by hundreds and there were more than a hundred voices in the chorus which sang Christmas carols…The invocation was delivered by Rev. Jewell of the Baptist church and the address of the occasion by Rev. Chample of the Christian church….Catching the inspiration of the occasion (the entire crowd) took up the songs that never seem to grow old.  And as they sang, softly the snowflakes drifted down as a gentle gift from Heaven…"[4] 

1917 – “The Friday Afternoon Knitting Club have issued over 200 invitations for a Christmas Cheer Benefit Ball to be given Friday evening.  The funds raised are to be used toward making up Christmas boxes for the soldier boys who so willingly answered the call of their country and who, if need be, will sacrifice their lives for its protection…”[5] 

1927 – Judge W. D. Huffaker invited representatives of all Idaho Falls churches and civic groups to meet in his office to co-ordinate meeting the needs of all who needed help in Idaho Falls. Also County Commissioners met to plan collecting and giving out men's, women's and children's clothing and also blankets to the needy. This practice was continued; during the holidays of 1930, through the joint efforts of religious and civic groups 400 persons were helped, and 150 families were given enough food to last them a week. [6]

1934 – The youth of First Presbyterian Church bought gifts for the children of the Fort Hall Mission. Also, the Salvation Army held an open air service Saturday evening, December 23^rd, at the corner of Park Avenue and A Street.[7]

1943 – A concert of sacred music was held at the Presbyterian Church on December 29 to raise funds for members of the armed forces.  Musical numbers were presented by members of the Baptist, First Lutheran, Mission Covenant, Presbyterian, Seventh Day Adventist, and Trinity Methodist churches and the Idaho Falls and North Idaho Falls L.D.S. stakes.[8]

1954 to 1971 – From the article “Public Christmas Worship Set at Civic Auditorium,” The Post Register, December 18, 1970: “In 1954 the then new (Civic) auditorium was selected as the site (for a community Christmas worship service) by Trinity Methodist and First Presbyterian Churches, the twin sponsors of the event… In recent years the First Presbyterian Church has been the sole sponsor. Worshippers have come from every tradition and sector of the Idaho Falls community and surrounding area.  From 1400 to well over 2000 persons have attended each year, and it is recalled by many individuals and families as the highlight in their celebration of Christmas…”  In 1970, the service consisted of a 20-minute prelude of carols played on the organ or sung by a quartet or soloists, followed by a handbell choir playing a processional for five separate choirs entering from all sides of the auditorium.  Following several numbers by one or more of the choirs, Scripture was read, Rev. Roger Grussing of the Presbyterian Church delivered the sermon, and then all present were invited to join in singing several carols, followed by more joint choir numbers. The following year, more than 140 musicians performed in the service, including a brass quartet from the Idaho Falls High School.[9]

1972 – Starting on Christmas Day, 1972, Christians in Idaho Falls prayed at noon for two weeks for God to draw millions to Himself through evangelistic efforts in 1973.  This was a national effort conceived by theological Carl Henry and the result of five years of planning.  Following the initial phase of prayer, the focus shifted to forming evangelistic Bible studies and distributing the books of Luke and Acts to every home in America. Other phases included street evangelism, sharing the gospel in homes, on college campuses and at state fairs, witnessing in parks and shopping centers by travelling teams of musicians and artists, and television and other mass media specials.[10]  

1983 to the present – Christmas cantatas have been performed in Idaho Falls since 1886.[11]  The Christmas cantata put on by First Lutheran Church in 1983 had 14 singers.  By the early 1990’s it featured a combined choir from several churches and was performed at both the First Lutheran Church building on Water Avenue and at the LDS North Stake Center.  Other years after a performance at the Lutheran Church they took it to other churches. After First Lutheran moved to a new building in 1997, risers were needed to accommodate as many as 75 singers, and it was performed at the church as many as six times.  In the early 1990’s, Penny Dixon, who had been directing the cantata since its beginning, began drafting the narration and selecting the music around a Biblical theme related to Jesus’ birth.  With much prayer, she would start in early summer reviewing hundreds of possible anthems to arrange for that year’s cantata.  As she worked on it, she says that each cantata took on a life of its own, and when performed each became a blessing to hundreds of people.  While Penny’s 35^th and last cantata was in 2018, the church has continued to perform Christmas cantatas for their own congregation and the public, although at a smaller scale.

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[1] The Idaho Register, December 18, 1886, p. 5 & March 12, 1887, p. 4

[2] “Christmas Notes,” The Idaho Falls Times, December 23, 1904, p. 7.

[3] “Twenty Christmas Dinners,” Idaho Falls Times, December 7, 1909, p. 1.  Each Christmas box contained a chicken, ten pounds of beef, potatoes, a can of corn, tomatoes, beans and condensed milk, a head of cabbage, one and a half loaves of bread, a pound of butter, two quarts of cranberries, a pie, a pound of tea, two pounds of coffee and a bag of sugar. Also “Salvation Army Prepares Annual Christmas Dinner,” The Idaho Falls Times, December 11, 1919, p. 12.

[4] “Community Tree Proves Success,” Idaho Falls Times, December 28, 1916, p. 1.

[5] “Christmas Cheer Benefit,” Idaho Falls Times, November 1, 1917, p. 1.

[6] The Times-Register, Dec. 13, 1927; “City Charity List Increases,” Idaho Falls Daily Post, December 21, 1930, p. 1

[7] "In the Churches," The Post-Register, Dec. 21, 1934, p. 6. 

[8] “Concert To Be Given By Churches on December 29,” The Post-Register, Dec. 22, 1943, p. 4. 

[9] See the two articles “Public Christmas Worship Set at Civic Auditorium,” The Post Register, December 18, 1970, p. A-10 and “Presbyterians Slate Christmas Services,” The Post Register, December 17, 1971, p. A-10.  The numbers don’t quite add up as the 1951 article says it was the 19^th annual Community Christmas worship service and the 1950 articles calls the service that year the 17^th.  The second year the community service was held at the Methodist church but there was not enough room so it was moved back to the Civic Auditorium, which had been dedicated in the spring of 1953.  Current sources show that the seating capacity of the auditorium is between 1800 and 1900; thus if the 1970 article is correct that some years the attendance was over 2000, there must have been standing room only.  The 1971 article states that’s some 1500 people attended in previous years.  In 1951 the service was televised over Channel 8.  In 2001 Calvary Chapel (now Watersprings) held a Community Christmas service at the Civic Auditorium and in recent years Christ Community Church has held Christmas Eve services there.

[10] The Post-Register, December 21, 1972, p. 12, p. A-5 and others.

[11] Idaho Register, November 27, 1886, p.5; The cantata in 1886 was performed by the ladies of the Baptist church, the only church in town that had a church building.