How did Perth County residents celebrate the new year 120 years ago?

On this postcard from the collections at the Stratford-Perth Archives, we see a rather underdressed young fellow arriving in December 1905 to spread New Year’s cheer. Besides sending greetings to friends and family through the mail, how else was the arrival of 1906 marked around Perth County?

In Stratford, the “young bachelors” held their annual New Year’s Eve ball at city hall. The Queen’s Own Orchestra from Toronto provided dance music for about 110 couples. After a break for a midnight lunch, dancing continued until “an early hour” of New Year’s Day. Theatre Albert owner, A. Brandenberger, staged performances of a “quaint, melodramatic” play called The Lighthouse Robbery in the afternoon and evening of Jan. 1, 1906. Boys and girls younger than the age of 16 could win tickets by sending in the longest list of words that could be formed from the letters in the title of the play. Local churches also hosted events like the concert followed by light refreshments at the Waterloo Street Methodist Church. Their program included musical performances by the church’s choir, the men’s quartet and a number of........

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