Podcast: New Year's Day Traditions of New Orleans' Past

John Magill, a regular and valued podcast contributor, is curator and historian for The Historic New Orleans Collection. In this podcast, Magill shares his wealth of knowledge about the origins of January 1 as the beginning of the new year. John also describes the holiday tradition for young men in New Orleans to visit their lady friends on New Year's Day, usually bringing with them gifts of dragées and other candies. According to Magill, in the 18th and 19th centuries, New Orleans children received their big gifts on New Year's Day, not Christmas day. Because of New Orleans' French heritage, the gifts on Christmas came from the baby Jesus, not Santa, and these gifts were few and not extravagant. Listen as Magill describes and explains these rich holiday traditions of New Orleans' past. 

Listen to the podcast here.