By Emi Gruender
[INSTALLMENT 7]
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Cobbled streets and Victorian storefront windows. A ballroom full of swishing ball gowns and neatly trimmed waistcoats. A full four acres of recreated Victorian England returns annually at the Cow Palace in Daly City—The Great Dickens Christmas Fair. 2024 marks this prestigious fair’s 40th return—affectionately dubbed the “Ruby Jubilee!” Complete with puzzle hunts, delicious Victorian-style food, theatre, orchestral displays, and a ballroom that any guest may participate in, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair remains an annual tradition for Dickensian history-lovers.
This installment, fellow writer Kathryn Tanaka will be joining me to don cardigans and petticoats and step foot back into 1850s London to walk alongside iconic characters from Dickens’ greatest novels. Certainly one of my favorite trips with the Daily Explorer so far: make sure to check out the newly-added vlog, too!
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Welcome back travelers, to The Daily Explorer. In this series, I travel (often with Journalism guests) to interesting entertaining places within the Bay Area. With these accounts, I hope to inspire the readers of The Shield to explore their hometown and demonstrate that there’s always something new to explore.
Keep an eye out for some of your favorite writers from The Shield, as some may accompany me on these adventures in the future. If you have any favorite places, restaurants, parks, etc, please email me at emi.gruender@gmail.com to issue a recommendation. Your name and input about the place in question will be credited.
Without further ado, buckle up and enjoy the blog-style ride of The Daily Explorer!
Sunday, December 1
10:03 am, You Built A Time Machine out of Kathryn’s Mother’s Car?
The Christmas Fair occurs annually between the last two weekends of November and the first three weekends of December. The fair is located in the Cow Palace in Daly City. As residents of San Jose, Kathryn and I planned to hit the road at around 10:00 am to arrive around 10:45 am. Thank you, Kathryn’s Mom, for the ride!
Kathryn arrived in a stylish combination of a pleated green skirt and a long black trench coat. I had borrowed clothing from my aunt—and donned a ruffled period shirt with a light blue long skirt, and a knitted shawl. After a quick photoshoot at my mother’s inistence, we started chugging along toward Daly City, dressed for success!
11:00 am, That Doesn’t Look Like a Cow!
We crested one of the usual hills in San Francisco until the massive white building appeared below us. Cow Palace, it read in large red font. To my disappointment, it wasn’t painted black and white with spots— like a cow. But this small detail soon left my mind as we approached the entrance, where we were immediately provided with newspaper-themed maps and information guides for the fair. We walked up towards the entrance, into the dark lobby where a small steam-train chugged along with children aboard. Brightly illustrated and faithfully on-theme with Victorian England, I especially appreciated this detail of hiding maps in plain sight. Kathryn thought for a second that this was all it was—on the contrary. After getting our hands stamped (which allowed free movement in and out of the fair), we walked with a herd of Victorian-dressed guests.
I was worried about being overdressed for the fair, with my pinned back hair and cream-colored knitted shawl. But in fact, I seemed underdressed. There were puffy ball gowns and ornate headpieces on the heads of almost everyone who walked in. There was even a coat check near the front entrance! Our excitement was mounting, and with a deep breath, we stepped foot back into Victorian England.
11:30 am, Dorian Gray Indeed
With four full acres of winding Victorian streets and several theatres, there was plenty to do. On our ride over, we scoured the website and put together a loose itinerary of things we wanted to do and see. We underlined pantomimes, and dance lessons, and being an audience member for Dickens’ readings of his works in his studio. But first, we headed to the Athenaeum Club, where we were meant to sketch live models with provided pencil and pad. From the back rooms, emerged a woman in a silken dress, with fiery red hair, a flowered belt, a wicked cane, and a (rubber) snake wrapped around her neck. With our allotted 15 minutes of drawing time, I think Kathryn and I captured her likeness— somewhat, anyway. Two beautiful illustrations and one handshake with Oscar Wilde later, we headed toward the Fezziwig’s dance hall for dance lessons. What an inspiring man, Kathryn said.
12:30 pm, The Fezziwigs’ Annual Christmas Ball
This event in particular was very crowded, and so Kathryn and I didn’t get the opportunity to take a picture or two of us learning how to ball dance. Though I tower over Kathryn with about a foot of clearance, it somehow resulted in myself dancing the female track, and Kathryn dancing the male. Though it was a bit rough at first, Mr. Fezziwig— pulled straight from the pages of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol—helped us along until we were able to dance the entire time without too much bumping into other people.
Out, step, step, in, step step. Window turn, promenade!
After this dance lesson, we headed off to different parts of the fair in order to have the fullest experience possible.
12:30 p.m.–3:50 p.m, A Little of This! A Little of That!
There was so much to do in this bustling period metropolis. With a paper pad and pencil in hand, we moved through the fair solving the clues scattered about, and solved a mystery that was free with our admission. Like Sherlock Holmes’ numerous cases, there were too many fun things to recount all here. I’ve listed some of my favorites below.
- Ate chestnuts roasted over an open fire. They tasted of eggs!
- Watched a Puss in Boots pantomime at a grand music hall.
- Ate various desserts at stalls– crepes and handmade confections
- Sang sea shanties in Paddy West
- Took photos with Jacob Marley, Scrooge, and The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come
- Watched Edgar Allen Poe read his poetry.
- Met and shook hands with Oscar Wilde (VERY EXCITING for an aspiring writer)
4:00 pm, A Merry Christmas to All
Alas, after a couple hours chock-full of Victorian activities, Kathryn and I stepped out of England for good. I hope to return next year—I had a lot of fun. Personally, I wish I had spent more time waltzing in the Fezziwig’s Ballroom.
A very special thank you to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair and the staff. The fair was every bit as memorable and grand as advertised, and this adventure is definitely one of my favorites so far!
PHOTO ALBUM:
THE VERDICT:
- Come dressed in Victorian Attire—hats, gloves, waistcoats—it all really makes a difference, immersion-wise.
- Visit the fair with somebody else. It’s nice to have a partner with whom to dance, solve mysteries, and explore! I had the good fortune of traveling with many great such partners over the last couple Daily Explorers.
- Look through the itineraries of the multiple different stages and clubs they have lying around. There’s so much to do—and not nearly enough time to do it!
- Try speaking in a posh British accent. Even if it “sucks,” it all adds to the charm.
- If you do not bring cash to pay for little trinkets as souvenirs, many of the stalls accept “magic” (or Apple Pay, if you’re less whimsically-inclined)
Join me in the next issue for yet another adventure, hopefully somewhere just as magical as this little slice of Victorian London.
Signing off until next issue,
The Daily Explorer
