Photo Provided The mansion on Blennerhassett Island. Dick and Martha Hartley will give a presentation from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10 at the Blennerhassett Museum in downtown Parkersburg.

PARKERSBURG — A couple of local food historians will be giving a talk on Sunday, Dec. 10 about how Christmas was celebrated on Blennerhassett Island during the times of Harman and Margarett Blennerhassett.

Dick and Martha Hartley will present “Christmas Foods And Celebrations at Blennerhassett Mansion” from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10 at the Blennerhassett Museum in downtown Parkersburg.

“I did some research on this and gathered some facts,” said Dick. “We have always had an interest in food.”

They showed what they had to park officials who then encouraged the couple to come up with a program that could be presented to the public in a form much like the museum’s Sunday Lecture Series that used to be held at the museum every February.

The Ritchie County couple are known throughout the area for their historical knowledge of food including a couple of books they authored, “The Frontier Table” (a history book) and “Serving Up History” (a recipe book), and have been Volunteer Educators at Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park for several years.

The powerpoint presentation will illustrate how Christmas-time was spent in the mansion on the island from 1799-1805, featuring the parties and the types of food that were served.

“There is a letter that talks about Christmas Day on Blennerhassett Island in 1799. As a note of history, it is a jewel,” Dick said. “It truly helps us understand that the Blennerhassetts celebrated the Christmas Season.”

The Hartleys will be talking about what Christmas was and was not like during this early time period, including explaining the Twelve Days of Christmas celebration customs and traditions as well as the Twelfth Night Celebrations and the Twelfth Night Cake.

“(The presentation) shows the customs and there have been a lot of customs over time and in the 1800s,” Dick said, adding they will talk a little bit about when certain customs and traditions became commonplace. “It will show how food played a role in all of that.

“Even if it was a musical evening, there was always food provided.”

The couple will also discuss how guests were able to get over to the island during that time.

“We are going to put the audience into that time period to show them what it was like to be there,” Martha said.

During the presentation, the couple will be looking at possible food dishes prepared at the Blennerhassett Summer Kitchen for the holiday entertainments and comparing these dishes with those of ordinary families during these early Christmas holidays.

“It will be showing what Christmas might have been like on the island and other locations,” Martha said. “Foods served during the Christmas Season depended greatly on the social and economic situation of the family but those who celebrated used what they had to increase the festivities of the days.”

The Hartleys will talk about how food was prepared in the mansion’s kitchen and what was available to use at the time and how some of the Christmas dishes might have been prepared including pictures of what some of those dishes could have looked like.

There will be a handout with a few historic recipes for the Holiday Season that Martha adapted for the modern kitchen.

“People today are starting to celebrate Christmas now,” Martha said. “In the 1800s people celebrated more after Christmas, the 12 Days of Christmas which is different than what people do now.”

Traditionally, January 6 was when people had the Twelfth Night Party and the Twelfth Night Cake. The couple will discuss the significance of both. Park officials are hoping people attend the presentation.

“We encourage the public to come to this event at the museum and to step back in time to learn about the Christmas celebrations of the past,” said Blennerhassett Island Historic State Park Superintendent Craig Pyles. Light refreshments will be provided after the program by the Blennerhassett Historical Foundation.

Scott Cain will play instrumental Christmas music before the program begins.

Cost is $5 for adults.

Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com