Christmas comes to Carlsbad through decades of celebrations and world events

Carlsbad has always loved Christmas.

From the turn of the century to the new millennium the city known as the Pearl of the Pecos, nestled in the desert of southeast New Mexico, celebrated the holiday with local events, shopping specials and a sense of togetherness to ring in the new year.

Carlsbad Current-Argus archives dating as far back as the 1880s show a community dedicated to celebrating the magical time of year for all its residents.

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Here’s a look back at Christmas in the Cavern City using newspaper clippings through the decades.

1880s

As the Civil War was being won amid the Second Industrial Revolution, Carlsbad was enjoying the simpler pleasures of the holiday season.

An issue from Dec. 28, 1889 detailed how Ulysses S. Grant enjoyed his Christmas and Thanksgiving in the solider camps during the Civil War, a contrast from the formal ceremonies enjoyed by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

“At Christmas and Thanksgiving, some thoughtful patriot at the north would send turkeys enough to round, but I can’t remember cranberries or mince,” read the article that also said Grant never had wine or spirits at his table.

Another edition of The Eddy Argus from Dec. 14, 1889 reported, in a series of updates on lives of local people, that Judge Nymeyer already received his Christmas gift: “an ear trumpet from an admiring friend.”

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1900s

An editorial by Admiral Bob Evans titled “Christmas at Sea” detailed his experiences spending Christmas on the ocean on Page 5 of the Dec. 24, 1909 edition of the Current-Argus.

The account was from 1865, Evans wrote, “when the federal army and the gunboat fleet were trying to capture Fort Fisher during the Civil War.

“Despite the excitement of the fierce combat we managed to have the mastheads of all the ships trimmed with Christmas green,” read the story. “Even though the sailors had to risk their lives in going ashore to get them, and you may be assured the sentiment of the day was not wasted.”

“Mrs. Virginia Coffman, who came back to the city beautiful last week, is looking fine,” read the list. “She has enjoyed a pleasant stay in Long Beach. Mrs. Coffman has engaged a suit of rooms with Mrs. C.D. Church where she will resume her music class.

“She is very busy this week helping with the Christmas music at the Episcopal church.”

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1920s

The Roaring Twenties brought the excitement of an economic boom in the wake of the U.S.’ victory in World War I, soon giving way to the Great Depression.

This was likely typified by several advertisements taken out by local businesses in a Dec. 22, 1922 edition of the Carlsbad Current, formerly the Eddy County Current, suggesting a strong economy in the early years of the decade.

A large ad on Page 10 offered a Christmas greeting to customers of Pratt-Smith Hardware Co., while another greeting was offered in an ad by plumber H.A. Bock.

1930s

A section called “Of Interest to Women” was included on Page 3 of the Daily Current-Argus on Dec. 24, 1932.

It featured coverage of the annual Christmas party hosted by the Business and Professional Women’s Club at the home of Ms. Ruby Warehime on 306 N. Canyon St.

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Other Christmas festivities described on that page were a Christmas dinner hosted by Mr. and Mrs. R.U. Boyd, a “roof garden dance” at Hotel Artesia, and a performance by the Toy Symphony Orchestra, a group of child musicians, for their mothers at the home of instructor Mrs. Frances Clark.

Still a few years before Nazi Germany declared war on the U.S. in 1941, an article in “Of Interest to Women” from the Dec. 21, 1932 issue of the Current-Argus detailed a Christmas dinner hosted by the Swastika Club. This was likely before the Swastika was adopted by Adolf Hitler as a symbol of the Nazi party, as it was previously a sign of eastern spirituality.

1940s

With World War II underway, Christmas coverage in Carlsbad Current-Argus from the 1940s was colored by the war and fighting overseas.

A Dec. 24, 1943 edition saw Pope Pius appealing for the end of the conflict and the “last Christmas of war,” while another story detailed a fleet of American fighter planes launching the Allies’ “heaviest daylight assault” of the war by attacking the Pas-De-Calais “rocket-gun coast” on Christmas Day.

1960s

Amid the Vietnam War the Carlsbad Current-Argus on Dec. 20, 1967 showed a photo of two Vietnamese girls receiving artificial Christmas trees, with the caption explaining the real thing did not grow well in Vietnam’s climate.

Another story from Dec. 28, 1969 explained how the war’s “post-Christmas lull” was broken by an attack by U.S. forces on an enemy camp in Cambodia – the biggest battle including U.S. troops since November of that year.

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1980s

International conflicts continued to weave their way onto the pages of the Current-Argus amid the holiday season in the 1980s as the Cold War intensified.

A Page 4 story from Dec. 16, 1985 said Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega accused U.S. President Ronald Regan of seeking a “War at Christmas.”

That paper also advertised a $3.65 buffet at the Stevens Inn.

Marines stationed in Lebanon were called to their second-highest alert level “before they ate their Christmas dinner” as a Communist attack appeared imminent, according to an article the Dec. 25, 1983 edition of the Carlsbad Current-Argus.

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2000s

The tense political climate of the time was represented in a column from Editor Ned Cantwell on the opinion page of the Dec. 10, 2006 edition of the Current-Argus where he wrote “Christian lawyers are ready to fight ‘war on Christmas.’”

2020s

The COVID-19 pandemic closed down business and restricted public gatherings, which meant local holiday plans had to be altered for Christmas 2020.

The famed Christmas on the Pecos boat rides for decades took visitors on the water to enjoy Christmas lights set up in backyards of homes along the river.

But at the start of the most recent decade, Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Chad Ingram detailed how visitors could take the ride virtually, by watching a video of the ride and the lights.

Live boat rides resumed in 2021 as the pandemic subsided.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Christmas in Carlsbad through decades of celebrations and world events