Join us for Holidays in Huntington Beach 1917!

ABOVE: The R.G. Tashima Co. market was one of the first markets in Wintersburg Village and was a feed and seed store, as well as a general food staples market.  Originally opened by Tsurumatsu "T.M." Asari, it was later owned by Gunjiro Tashima, who had started working at the market as a clerk.  Historic Wintersburg honors this part of our pioneer history, setting up the market tent with historical displays on the lawn of the Newland House Museum. (Photograph courtesy of Huntington Beach Historical Society)

    Historic Wintersburg and the Huntington Beach Historical Society host the fourth annual Holidays in Huntington Beach, a free, open house event on Friday, December 1, from 6 pm to 9 pm.  Each year, we roll the clock back a century. This year it is 1917!

   Historic Wintersburg will again set up the Tashima Market tent with historical displays.  We'll have historical highlights from 1917, the year America entered the first World War.

RIGHT: Nancy Hayata, a classically trained dancer with Little Tokyo Dance Club, will perform on the lawn of the Newland House Museum at 7 pm.  Nancy has performed at the annual Huntington Beach Cherry Blossom Festival supporting the Sister City program with Anjo, Japan, and is a volunteer on the Festival committee.  This year at Holidays in Huntington Beach 1917, Nancy Hayata performs to Kitaguni no Haru, or, "Spring in the North".  The song is a longing for one's childhood hometown and expresses that spring will come after a cold winter, "White birch, blue sky, south wind. The magnolias blooms in that hill in the North...Yellow roses, morning mist, a watermill, A children's song is heard in the North Country, Ah, spring in the North..."

    Historic Wintersburg will have a special gift for the first 200 guests at the free, open house event. We have compiled a sampling of authentic recipes reflecting the pioneers of Wintersburg Village and Huntington Beach Township in 1917.
  

LEFT: "A taste of 1917: Recipes from a century ago" is a selection of recipes from 1917 cookbooks and bartender guides, a taste of what was on local pioneer tables. Do you know how to make Economy Vinegar? Mushi Ahiru (baked duck)? Have you ever tried a Barking Dog or Fluffy Ruffles cocktail? Or, how about Sweet Potato Wagashi? We hope you'll enjoy trying a few of these dishes or drinks over the holidays! (Photograph, B. Haynes, November 2017) © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED  

   During World War I, Americans were asked to conserve food resources, such as wheat and sugar, as part of the "Food Will Win the War" campaign directed by the newly-created U.S. Food Administration director Herbert Hoover.  However, the agricultural abundance and wild game in Orange County meant that self-sufficient residents in the peatlands still ate well, sharing their bounty and special foods with each other. There are some tasty dishes in "Taste of 1917"!  

   The gates open at 6 p.m.  Nancy Hayata performs on the lawn of the Newland House at 7 p.m.  And, Santa magically arrives at 7:30 p.m.  The young-in-years and the young-at-heart are welcome.

   We invite you to continue the pioneer holiday tradition of Wintersburg Village and Huntington Beach Township and join us back in 1917 to bring in the spirit of the season!  

ABOVE: We'll make sure to bring the candy canes, you bring your 1917 spirit! We ask our guests to set your timepiece back a century and dress in 1917 attire.  If you arrive by horse and buggy, please tie up outside the fence. (Photograph, M. Urashima, December 2016) © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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