The History of "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays" in Crawford County

"Hold up there, Santa. How should we greet you?"

Not so long ago I was admonished for wishing somebody a "Happy Holiday" instead of a "Happy Thanksgiving."

"I don't celebrate 'holidays,'" the person told me. "I celebrate Thanksgiving and then I celebrate Christmas. I hate it when people like you wish me 'Happy Holidays.' It's a made-up, politically-correct phrase that you should stop using!"

After promising myself that a person like me might never bother wishing a person like that a happy anything, ever again, I got to thinking about the two phrases: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I wondered if there might be a way to track their use over time within Crawford County.

Turns out you can. Sort of.

Origins of the Crawford County Fair

Ohio race horses helped bring about the county fair

With the excitement of the Crawford County Fair upon us, it’s worth taking a belated look at the origins of the what arguably is the county’s largest and most popular annual event. The fair of as we know it today is nearing 75 years of continuous operation, but in actuality, the county fair—or fairs as it turns out—traces back much farther than this, and not without a little drama along the way either.

Shadows of the Past

On December 7, 2015, the Crawford County Historical Society took ownership of the James and Elizabeth Tarr Mansion, thus saving it from planned demolition. In that moment, thanks largely to the support of the community, the society took a major step towards both preserving our past and building a new future.

This gorgeous Italianate building, designed by Francis Marion Ellis and paid for with the Tarr Family's $2 million (over $35 million today) in revenue from the Oil Boom, was a testament to oil's influence in our region and the nation as a whole. The Tarrs were one of our country's first oil barons and their home of over 12,000 square feet will stand the test of time to become the self-sustaining Crawford County Historical Society's headquarters and history center!

Fire Rode the Flood: Disaster in the Oil Region

A boy sits among the debris in Titusville

For most of May and the early part of June in 1892, Northwestern Pennsylvania was soaked in a seemingly endless period of rain which culminated in four days of torrential downpours that devastated the entire region. This unprecedented act of nature wreaked havoc for area residents making roads and bridges impassable. In the early morning hours of June 5th, however, the situation turned catastrophic for those in Titusville and Oil City, and the aftermath would produce scenes reminiscent of the great tragedy in Johnstown just a few years earlier. The following dispatch filed on the 6th of June captures the highlights of this horrific event.

Eleanor Davies and Recollections of Life at the Baldwin-Reynolds House

The Baldwin-Reynolds visible from the pond in the spring months

Eleanor Davies is one of Meadville's oldest residents and was a personal friend of John and Katherine Reynolds. She was the speaker at the museum's 50th anniversary gala where she presented these remarks on the life of the last individuals to reside in the Baldwin-Reynolds House as a private home.

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In 1936 John Reynolds, then President of Merchants National Bank, had conducted a search for what was called a "cashier" of the bank. He located and hired John David Bainer of the National City Bank in Cleveland and a resident of Lakewood, Ohio. John and his lovely wife, Otelia, packed up and moved to Meadville where they were welcomed by Kathryn and John Reynolds and members of the bank board families.

In 1939 when I was living in Shaker Heights, [Ohio] and dating Joseph Bainer of Cleveland, I was invited to come to Meadville and meet his parents and his sister, Mary and niece, Nancy. I was 19 and we went to see Gone with the Wind.