Christmas traditions today are mostly contained to a one-day celebration on Dec. 25, when families around the world exchange gifts and celebrate the birth of Christ. However, over 200 years ago, Colonial Americans observed the holiday in a much different fashion.

Yuletide Tours will return to Historic Rock Ford, 881 Rockford Road, Lancaster, on Tuesday, Dec. 27; Wednesday, Dec. 28; and Thursday, Dec. 29, to provide an immersive view into how Lancaster County residents celebrated Christmas in the late 18th century. The Hand Mansion at Rock Ford will be open for self-guided tours on Dec. 27 and 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. and on Dec. 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.

Guests will have an opportunity to walk through the historic former home of Edward Hand, which will be decorated as it would have been when Hand lived there. Volunteers dressed in period accurate attire will be stationed throughout the house to answer questions, and hearth cookers will prepare historically accurate food in the kitchen and explain to guests what meals were customary in the old days. In the halls of the mansion, dancers will perform traditional routines from the 18th century such as Jack's Health, Midnight Ramble and Duke of Kent's Waltz.

For the first time, live music will be provided by harpsichordists Margaret Marsch and Faith Martin, as well as Faith's sister, Mercy, on the violin. The musicians will perform classical pieces and traditional Yuletide carols, many of which would have been performed in the Hand Mansion while Hand lived there. Jasper Yates, the uncle of Hand's wife, Catherine, and a close friend of Hand's, lived in Lancaster during this time period and owned a harpsichord himself.

The Yuletide Tours will also include a scavenger hunt activity for children, and guests will have an opportunity to hear a recording of Hand, portrayed by an actor from the Theater of the Seventh Sister. In the recording, Hand will reminisce on the Christmas of 1776, when he crossed the Delaware River with George Washington and his company.

2022 is the first year that Rock Ford will host full Yuletide Tours since 2019, as the event was canceled or modified due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. When the tours began over 30 years ago, they were less centered around a historically accurate portrayal of the property and the property was decorated in a more modern fashion. Around 2005, Rock Ford began to alter the tours to give an accurate glimpse into the Christmas celebrations of the time.

"One of the reasons we do the tours after Christmas is that Dec. 25 marked the beginning of the holiday for the old English, and it would last until Jan. 6," said Sam Slaymaker, director of Historic Rock Ford. Historically, the English observed Christmas Day strictly as a religious event and would save the festivities for the 12th day of Christmas.

To purchase tickets for the Yuletide Tours, visit https://historicrockford.org/events/.