Well, we all survived the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and now we find ourselves tucked in all nice and cozy in that short interval between Santa’s big day and the arrival of Baby New Year.
Four weeks ago, we took you on a trip back in time to the first Christmas in Sudbury. Let us now take a look back at the first New Year’s celebration of our fledgling community.
As with our previous trip to the past, we are indebted to Florence Howey for her account of how New Year’s Eve 1883 was celebrated by the Howeys and their friends. The Howeys, and “about the same party” as their Christmas gathering one week prior, had been invited to celebrate with Mr. and Mrs. Ross at the Hudson's Bay Company Post on Whitefish Lake, west of Sudbury Junction. A dance at the nearby Indigenous village (now known as Atikameksheng Anishnawbek) was also a part of the plans.
Early on New Year’s Eve day, Mr. Ross arrived with a dog team and two Indigenous gentlemen to transport Mrs. Howey to the post. She was wrapped in a blanket and strapped into the toboggan. Guide ropes were held at the back of the toboggan in order to keep the sled from toppling during its journey. Dr. Howey, accompanied by Mr. Fairman, Mr. Mueller and Mr. Fulford, snowshoed in behind, "like a sort of bodyguard.” Such was the procession that made its way to the Post.
Upon arrival, the group was greeted by the Ross’ children who rushed out of the post, all shouting, “each trying to be the first to say ‘Happy New Year’.” Supper was enjoyed, followed by a smoke and a rest for the men who had just snowshoed the 12 miles from Sudbury Junction. Yet the respite would be short in duration, for another two miles down the lake would have to be traveled to the First Nation’s village. The locals were known “not to wait until the night is half gone before they begin to dance” so the guests were expected by their hosts "to be on hand at early candlelight."
Soon the party was readying for part two of their trip.
While everyone was getting into their wraps and bundling up the children, Simon Ross, at the behest of Mrs. Ross (“Simon, tackle the ox" was heard by Mrs. Howey) harnessed up an ox to help transport the women and children. Blankets and cushions were in high demand as everyone piled on for the two-mile journey.
Simon drove the wood sleigh and its passengers, which included Mrs. Ross and her nine children (including Arthur, who later became a professional hockey player and was Florence’s godson), as well as Miss Horrigan (who was also present at the Howey Christmas feast) and Mrs. Howey. It's assumed that Dr. Howey, and Messrs. Fairman, Mueller and Fulford followed on their already well-worn snowshoes.
Mrs. Howey remembered it as “a wild ride, but good fun." At the village, Mr. Ross, helped to "break the ice" by insisting on the usual New Year's ceremony being observed. As in previous years, on that special date “every man was expected to kiss every woman in the Company. Our boys were a little dubious about the old women, and their kisses were like a touch of a butterfly's wing, but when it came to the young girls' turn, they did their duty manfully.”
With pleasantries having been exchanged, the “orchestra” began tuning up its fiddle and was ready. Consisting of one man by the name of Martin and his fiddle, "soon the strains of the Fisher's Hornpipe were floating on the air." Sitting on the floor around the walls were the Indigenous women wearing "small bright scotch plaid shawls over their heads. The men, as a group, stood by the door, as I have sometimes seen (them) do at parties.” When the song "Money Musk" started, some of the men would go to the middle of the floor and with crooked finger, beckon a girl to join. Apparently, they preferred step dances and jigs and did not dance square or round dances.
They all danced "facing each other and back to back, and round and round each other, but never touching." As the evening wore on everyone gained “more confidence and the older people, feeling the urge, joined in and the dancing became fast and furious.” Mr. and Mrs. Ross and the girls soon were on the dance floor as well.
At about 10 p.m., a large basket of sweet biscuits, provided by Mrs. Ross, was passed around for everyone to enjoy. It was the only refreshment served before the night ended. The ox was then “tackled again” and they all departed from the village returning to the Post where they awaited the arrival of 1884.
When it arrived, greetings for the New Year were exchanged, and "so to bed” everyone went.
On New Year's Day, Mrs. Ross provided "a typical Hudson's Bay Post dinner.”Her guests were served “Minue Mouffle soup, made from dried moose nose, venison and beaver tail, the latter considered a great delicacy and very good, if you like that sort of thing, potatoes, and plum pudding, even a wee bit o'scotch to toast the New Year.” When the festivities concluded, the return trip to Sudbury Junction was to be made.
The New Year celebrations of 1884 were evidently a time of happiness both at the First Nations village and the Hudson's Bay Company Post. For the Howeys, originally from Southern Ontario, the opportunity to celebrate in the wilderness of the North was an unusual experience of which Mrs. Howey's later account showed that she “enjoyed it all beyond words.”
As time passed and Sudbury Junction evolved into a town and then a city, New Years Eve celebrations evolved along as well.
In Sudbury, during the middle of the last century, the INCO Club was the place to be at New Years. The big band sound was provided for partygoers by Paul Koster “and his melody men”, Johnny Juryzak or Wally Johnston, all doing their best Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians impersonations while playing that “Auld Lang Syne” as the clock struck midnight.
Of course, partying was not exclusively to be found in the city, but after the entirety of the Nickel Belt. In Coniston alone, during the mid to late 20th century, you would have had the choice to celebrate with (or as a member of) the Club Allegri, the Mine Mill Hall (later to be the home of the Elks Lodge), and the Legion.
The Mine Mill Halls were definitely the place to be at New Years in the 1950s. Photos abound of smiling partygoers wearing shiny cardboard hats and holding a variety of noisemakers designed to both celebrate the end of the old year and annoy those same (now hungover) adults in the new year morning when their children get ahold of them.
Starting in 1972, with the proliferation of television screens in homes across North America, one could now choose to just stay home for a nice family party, ending the night with “America’s oldest teenager” Dick Clark, having a New Year's Rockin' Eve.
As the 20th century rocked on, many of our local hotels got into the groove of hosting New Years celebrations.
In 1976, seven local hotels reminded us in a Northern Life advertisement that “For a Gala New Years Reserve Now.” In 1981, the President Motor Hotel on Elm Street invited everyone to “Bring in the New Year right!” at one of their two parties (either Connections Lounge or the Mayfair Room). And, over at The Senator Hotel, one could spend “New Year’s Eve at Charmaines” and later “Enjoy Al Miron in The Penalty Box.” Even the Northern Lights Festival Boréal branched out with a New Years Eve Dance at the Jubilee Hall (“Buffet Included”).
Well dear readers, as the old year draws to a close, we would love to know, what do you remember most about New Years past? Did you celebrate at home or at one of the many parties going on throughout the city? Do you have family traditions that were passed on from your ancestors and that you have passed down to your children and grandchildren?
Share your memories and/or photos by emailing them to Jason Marcon at [email protected] or the editor at [email protected].
Jason Marcon is a writer and history enthusiast in Greater Sudbury. He runs the Coniston Historical Group and the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page. Memory Lane is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
