"On the edge of the vast continent the English called Virginia, in a forelorn settlement named Jamestown, America's Christmas celebration began to take shape. For two centuries, Christmas was largely a Virginia phenomenon. The holiday did not even exist in England but in colonial Virginia, Christmas meant a fornight of festivities; lavish feasts, prodigous drinking, fox hunts, dancing, games, music and decorated churches and homes. In the 19th century,...

Tells of the Christmas after George Washington bade farewell to his army and the Congress. The author shows him at home with his wife, Martha, and with friends and relatives.