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Holidays Arrive at the Ramsey House, Victorian Christmas Tours Start Nov. 18

Visit the Alexander Ramsey House this holiday season as Christmas 1875 comes alive. Take in a Victorian holiday with heirloom ornaments on the parlor tree, period china on the dining room table, and fresh cookies from the wood-burning stove.

The popular "Homecoming" holiday tours start Nov. 18, 2009 and run through Jan. 3, 2010. Other special programs include Annie's Kitchen baking classes, Victorian floral workshops and special carriage rides around Historic Irvine Park. Visitors should make their reservations early for these popular events.

Annie's Kitchen

Put Up Your Christmas Pudding
Date: Nov. 7
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Cost: $25; $3 discount for MHS members
Reservations: required, call 651-296-8760

Get a jump start on the Holidays with a cooking class on how to make a traditional boiled Christmas plum pudding. Participants will explore Victorian pudding techniques, tour the Ramsey House, learn about 1870s servants' lives, enjoy a morning snack of plum pudding and coffee, and take home a recipe and pudding mold. Not recommended for children under 14 years of age.

Perfect Pies
Date: Nov. 14
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Cost: $25; $3 discount for MHS members
Reservations: required, call 651-296-8760

Just in time for Thanksgiving, learn Victorian pastry techniques for pies, tour the Ramsey House, hear how Thanksgiving was celebrated more than a century ago, enjoy a morning snack of fresh-baked pie and coffee, and take home an apple pie ready to bake. Participants should bring their own pie pan. Not recommended for children under 14 years of age.

The Homecoming: A Victorian Christmas at the Ramsey House

Date: Nov. 18, 2009 - Jan 3, 2010
(No tours offered Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day)
Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays; Noon to 3 p.m. Sundays
Fee: $9 adults, $7 seniors and college students, $6 children ages 4-17, $2 discount for MHS members
Reservations: recommended, call 651-296-8760

The Ramsey House historic site opens for holiday hours on Nov. 18 with special tours that showcase one of the nation's premier Victorian-era mansions decorated for the holidays. A costumed guide will lead visitors through the house and tell Christmas tales from the Ramsey's own journals and letters.

Visitors will experience Christmas like only a Victorian could. Guides will lead guests through the parlour where a 12-foot Christmas tree will be trimmed with blown-glass ornaments. View original Ramsey family heirlooms including the dining room table set for 1875 Christmas dinner with Mrs. Ramsey's Havilland china.

What would christmas be without good music and good food. Period Christmas music will be playing on the 1875 Steinway piano. Meet Annie, the Ramseys' longtime cook and sample cookies fresh from the wood-burning stove. Visit the Carriage House for hot cider.

After the tour shop for unique Victorian gifts at the Carriage House Gift Shop, which will be fully stocked with holiday items and tree ornaments.

Create A Victorian Boxwood Tree

Date: Nov. 21
Time: Two classes are offered: 10 a.m. to noon or 1 to 3 p.m.
Fee: $55, $10 for MHS and Minnesota Horticultural Society Members
Reservations: Required; call 651-643-3601 ext. 211

Make yourself a unique gift this Christmas at the Ramsey House. Instructor and floral designer Ardith Beveridge will lead participants in creating a Victorian decorated boxwood tree using evergreens, a foam form, ornaments and ribbons. Participants will work on a 12-inch tree. Bring a pair of gloves and clippers. The class includes hot cider, cookies and a short house tour to view the Ramseys' preparations for Christmas in the 1872 mansion. Co-sponsored by the Minnesota State Horticultural Society.

Horse Drawn Carriage Rides

Date: Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and 19
Time: 1 to 5 p.m.; Rides leave every 15 minutes.
Fee: $12, $10 for MHS Members
Reservations: recommended, call 651-296-8760

Take a trip back to the 1870s to celebrate the holidays with a spin in a horse-drawn carriage around scenic Historic Irvine Park. Bring a camera, volunteers will be available to take your photo. Rides last 15 minutes.

A Little Steinway Music

Date: Dec. 3 and 4
Time: 7-8:30 p.m.
Fee: $17, $15 for MHS Members
Reservations: required, call 651-296-8760

Enjoy a musical comedy performed in the Ramseys' elegant parlor decorated for the holidays. The play is an original short story produced by Walking Boxes theatre group and inspired by Victorian life, with dramatic readings and music played on the 1872 Steinway piano. A first floor tour of the house is included. Not recommended for children under 6.

Victorian Santa Claus

Date: Dec. 12
Time: 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Fee: Included with price of Homecoming Tour, $9 adults, $7 seniors and college students, $6 children ages 4-17, $2 discount for MHS members

Head to the Carriage House to meet a Victorian-era Santa Claus. At the top of each hour from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. listen in as Santa Claus reads from the 1823 poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas," the poem that created the image of what we think is Santa today. Before and after the readings, children can make their own ornaments and tell Santa what they would like for Christmas. Parents are encouraged to bring a camera to take their own photos. Visitors can tour the Christmas decorated Victorian mansion as well.

The Doll's Victorian Christmas

Date: Dec. 16
Time: Tours offered at 6, 6:30 and 7 p.m.
Fee: $10 adults, $9 seniors, college students and children, $2 discount for MHS members
Reservations: required, call 651-296-8760

The Ramsey collection includes many dolls and a special dollhouse built for the youngest granddaughter, Laura Furness. Take a special child's tour that features stories of dolls, the mansion decorated for Christmas, and hot cider and cookies. Participants are encouraged to bring a doll and dress in holiday attire. A holiday craft activity will be available in the Carriage House.

Farewell to 2009 Candlelight Tour

Date: Dec. 31
Time: Tours leave at 6:30, 7 and 7:30 p.m.
Fee: $10 adults, $9 seniors, college students and children ages 6-17, $8 children age 5 and under; $2 discount for MHS members
Reservations: required, call 651-296-8760

Follow a path lit with luminaries to the historic site's front door and begin a candlelit evening tour of the Ramsey family residence. Guides dressed for a New Year’s Eve ball will lead visitors through the house. Sample cake and punch from Mrs. Ramsey's recipe and join in a sing along around the piano.

The Pleasure of Your Call

Date: Jan. 1
Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Fee: $9 adults, $7 seniors and college students, $6 children ages 6 to 17; $3 for children ages 5 and under; $2 discount for MHS members.
Reservations: recommended, call 651-296-8760

Alexander Ramsey wrote in his journal, on Jan. 1, 1875: "Day was pleasant and wife had about 100 callers." Calls, or brief formal visits, were typical social behavior in the Victorian Age. Make your own call on the Ramsey House this New Year. Enjoy the Ramsey House's holiday décor while you hear more about the calling ritual, the etiquette and decorum expected of proper visitors, and see how Minnesotans celebrated New Year’s Day in the 19th century. After the tour visit the gift shop for a New Years Day sale.

The Alexander Ramsey House is located at 265 S. Exchange St. one block south of West Seventh Street near downtown St. Paul. One of the nation’s best preserved Victorian-era houses, the home offers a glimpse into the 1870s life of Alexander Ramsey, Minnesota”s first territorial governor, and his family. The rebuilt carriage house contains a gift shop. Regular tours are offered year round on Fridays and Saturdays with extended holiday hours in late November and December. For more information, call 651-296-8760.

The Society’s calendar of events is posted on the Internet at events.mnhs.org/calendar. The web site also has information about all of the Society’s programs, museums and historic sites. To request a free guide to museums and historic sites, call 1-800-657-3773.

The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849 to preserve and share Minnesota history. The Society collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs and book publishing.

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