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Explore the fascinating history behind holiday traditions that began during the Gilded Age, and sample treats from The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook!
During the Gilded Age, many Christmas traditions still celebrated today in America began to become mainstream. Presenter Becky Diamond, author of The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook, will provide a colorful glimpse into the era, from sugar plums to plum pudding.
Explore the fascinating history behind holiday lore of the time, with backstories of now-ubiquitous Christmas customs such as Santa Claus, the Christmas tree and Christmas cards, interspersed with tales of Gilded Age Hanukkah and New Year’s celebrations, debutante parties, teas and grand balls. Treats from the cookbook will be available for sampling!
Becky Libourel Diamond is a food writer, librarian, and research historian. Her most recent book, The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook, blends Gilded Age details and celebrity stories with historic holiday menus and recipes updated for modern kitchens. She is also the author of The Gilded Age Cookbook, The Thousand Dollar Dinner and Mrs. Goodfellow: The Story of America’s First Cooking School. She holds a BA in journalism from Rider University and an MLIS from Rutgers University. She has worked as a business librarian at Rutgers–New Brunswick since 2020. Her current project is a history of Philadelphia's famous City Tavern restaurant. She lives in Yardley, Pennsylvania.
The 36,018 square foot Demott Lane Branch is located in the Franklin Township municipal complex and provides a large community room for library programming, as well as additional meeting room space for community groups, study rooms, public access computers, and more.
