On Sunday, November 26, 2023, join us for a book signing at Ox & Yoke Mercantile with author of Twas the Night; the Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem, Pamela McColl. Copies of the book and the Bicentennial Keepsake Edition of Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore will be available for purchase.
Please note: Tickets are NOT required to enter Ox & Yoke Mercantile, which will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The book signing runs from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. and is open to all. On November 26th, Old Sturbridge Village is open for a special members-only night of Christmas by Candlelight.
Ox and Yoke Mercantile (Located outside the Visitor Center)
On a snowy Winter’s day, Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863), a Columbia graduate, composed A Visit from St. Nicholas, which he read to his children on Christmas Eve, 1822. For over two hundred years, children and adults alike have been enchanted by this classic poem. The visions of sugar plums, stockings hung by the chimney, a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer, and of course, St. Nick – with his twinkling eyes and cheeks like roses with a nose like a cherry, he was chubby and plump and looked like an elf – have captured the imagination of people all over the world. Learn more
Pamela McColl is an author and publisher. Her latest book Twas The Night – The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem was ten years in the making and brings both her love of history, art and illustration to the story behind the poem. After studying Canadian and American history, she worked for twenty years as a corporate art consultant before beginning her writing and publishing career in the late 1990s. In 2012 she edited Twas The Night Before Christmas and left out the reference to smoking and Santa with a pipe. McColl intended that the project shed light on the cultural influences on youth and the uptake of smoking. The book won eight book awards and attracted media attention on an international basis. McColl also works on a volunteer basis on drug prevention and has written and published books on the issue and has addressed the United Nations Office of Drug Prevention and the FDA. She has conducted hundreds of interviews on various topics and is a guest speaker as an expert on the history of Christmas, the poem Twas The Night Before Christmas, and the poet Clement Clarke Moore.
