Editor’s Note: While the Christmas traditions we now observe seem to have deep roots, the reality is that the celebration of the holiday has changed even in recent years. In this daily series until Christmas Eve, we look back at local Christmases past.

In December 1903, the Daily News printed a special page outlining the (then) latest way the Christmas holiday was observed.

One article noted that it was the new custom for employers to give all employees an envelope of cash – typically $5. “ … the employer who does not distribute Christmas envelopes to make glad the men and women who work for him is the exception that proves the rule.”

Another custom, described even then as “quaint and old,” regarded the typical Christmas fire.

“In olden times the Yule log was always laid aside before it was burnt out, so that on the next Christmas day the new Yule log might be lighted with the charred remains of the predecessor.”

Another article noted that “lavish” Christmas decorations were a more recent custom. At the time, decorations were mostly natural – holly, poinsettia, pine and mistletoe, augmented by ribbons, candles and other simple items.

As for the Christmas dinner, another article noted “to be a model dinner, the hostess requires a perfectly appointed table, well cooked tempting food, and the correct serving of the same.”

“It is nice practice to place a trifle at each plate in the way of a favor – a card bearing an inscription, a little basket of flowers, a rose, a pretty vinaigrette, a silver card case, or a date book, or a calendar for 1906.”

It was the custom to serve a Christmas turkey or some other bird – duck or goose, or either a pork loin or beef roast – at either 3 or 6 p.m.

In 1920, Prohibition put a damper on Christmas culinary traditions. Federal officials warned that any Christmas puddings, brandied cherries or other holiday staples that contained alcohol were “liable to seizure.”

The law “asserts this effectively bars the housewife from making Christmas foods with liquor in them,” an Associated Press article reported.

For those who wanted to avoid potentially running afoul of the law, a local restaurant offered a full Christmas turkey dinner, complete with an orchestra providing holiday music, for $1.

It was not clear how, or if, federal prohibition agents ever seized any Christmas desserts, but despite the federal efforts, a robust bootlegging trade became another Christmas tradition.

A 1922 Daily News article reported that local police were preparing that December for the annual influx of holiday hooch.

“… a drive will be made to keep the city dry during the Yuletide, if at all possible,” the Daily News reported. A local farmer, however, saw the futility of such efforts.

He was bringing a load of tobacco into the city when his wagon broke down on (then quite rural) Lovers Lane. He flagged down a passing Dodge to borrow a wrench. When he looked in the back seat, he saw 40-50 gallons of moonshine destined for Bowling Green Christmas tables.

Also that year, a Daily News editorial reported that the relatively new custom of cutting down evergreen trees to use as indoor Christmas trees was controversial.

The custom, however, “ … brings loveliness of the woods into crowded city homes and stimulates good cheer and happiness,” the paper wrote, adding that as long as trees are replanted, the custom won’t “interfere with national prosperity.”