Christmas at Havens farm a journey to a simpler time Historical society opens the door to yuletides past BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff During the annual Christmas tour of the Havens Historical Museum farmhouse Sunday, Janet Nielsen, a member of the Brick Township Historical Society, explains facts about the penny candy of yesteryear that was used to decorate the tree. BRICK TOWNSHIP - The candles in the old Havens farmhouse off Herbertsville Road glowed gently, like beacons in the chill December night. Inside, mulled apple cider bubbled in a kettle on the stove. The fragrance from a fresh-cut Douglas fir filled the living room. The old house was alive again, thanks to the work of the Brick Township Historical Society and the generosity of the Havens family. The theme of the historical society's ninth annual Christmas tour was "Winter Wonders in Candy Land." And society member Janet Nielsen spent much of this year preparing for it. She and a friend made every one of the more than 150 ornaments on the Christmas tree. There were 12 kinds all together. There were wreaths made out of Necco Wafers, tiny wooden sleds loaded with Tootsie Rolls and Mary Jane candies, and snowflakes filled with crimson jellybean centers. "She'd come buy every Saturday, and I'd give her something to do," said Nielsen, who is the society's librarian. Nielsen shared space in the living room with Santa Claus - known in real life as society member Tony Capuano. He sat next to the off-white brick fireplace clad in a blueberry-colored robe and happily posed for pictures with visitors. "I've got grandkids," he said. "The kids enjoy it." Victorian Santas wore blue robes, not red. It wasn't until the early 1920s, when Coca-Cola came out with an ad featuring a Santa dressed in red that the red outfits became popular, Nielsen said. "It caught on immediately," she said. The Havens farmhouse, which is now the Havens Homestead Museum, the gift shop and barn were open to the public for the Christmas tour on the night of Dec. 6 and during the daytime on Dec. 8. Society Vice President Vilma Oxenford was at her post in the original room of the farmhouse. Candy wasn't as easy to come by several hundred years ago because refined sugar was not readily available, she said. Back then, when women could find sugar, it was usually brown and came hard-packed in a cone shape. The sugar would have to be scraped off and then reboiled because often there were "little creatures" in it, Oxenford said. "It was a lot of work," she said. So women often used molasses instead of sugar. Oxenford prepared three common early types of candy for the event - homemade peanut brittle, coral and white fondant, and peanut brittle popcorn. Outside, society member and historian Gene Donatiello tried to keep warm in the prewinter chill in the renovated barn that Friday night with hand warmers and a wool cap. He showed off one of the society's latest donations - a wooden, treadmill like contraption that was used back in the 1800s for washing clothes and churning butter. The device used unusual energy sources. Either a dog or a goat was placed on the treadmill. The old-fashioned washing machines and butter churners ran on the animal's power, he said. "I've seen these before, but this is in the best shape I've ever seen," Donatiello said. The barn also featured a Department 56 Christmas village display, complete with a Hershey trolley that circled the train tracks. The display was provided by Janet Havens Siegfried, a descendant of the original owners. Elmer and May Havens donated the farmhouse, buildings and grounds to the historical society in March 1993, with the understanding that it would be used as a museum. It took society volunteers five years to restore the home. The museum is located at 521 Herbertsville Road. For more information, contact the Brick Township Historical Society at (732) 785-2500. The museum and grounds are open from April to October, or for special events.