A Christmas Evening with Dave Tabler at Huxley & Hiro

Huxley & Hiro and the Delaware Historical Society are thrilled to host author Dave Tabler for a conversation about his new book, Delaware at Christmas: The First State in a Merry State, where Dave uncovers the quirky, poignant, and often-overlooked ways Delawareans have celebrated the year’s most cherished holiday. Listen and learn while sipping a complimentary cup of eggnog!

Book Description:

Delaware at Christmas explores four centuries of holiday traditions in the First State. From colonial customs and African American celebrations to the state's holly wreath industry and festive foods, Dave Tabler uncovers the history, folklore, and culture that shaped how Delawareans celebrate Christmas.

About the Author:

Ten-year-old Dave Tabler decided he was going to read the ‘R’ volume from the family’s World Book Encyclopedia set over summer vacation. He never made it from beginning to end. He did, however, become interested in Norman Rockwell, rare-earth elements, and Run for the Roses.

Tabler’s father encouraged him to try his hand at taking pictures with the family camera. With visions of Rockwell dancing in his head, Tabler press-ganged his younger brother into wearing a straw hat and sitting next to a stream barefoot with a homemade fishing pole in his hand. The resulting image was terrible.

Dave Tabler went on to earn degrees in art history and photojournalism despite being told he needed a ‘Plan B.’

Fresh out of college, Tabler contributed the photography for The Illustrated History of American Civil War Relics, which taught him how to work with museum curators, collectors, and white cotton gloves. He met a man in the Shenandoah Valley who played the musical saw, a Knoxville fellow who specialized in collecting barbed wire, and Tom Dickey, brother of the man who wrote Deliverance.

Dave Tabler moved to Delaware in 2010 and became smitten with its rich past. He is the author of Delaware Before the Railroads, Delaware from Railways to Freeways, and Delaware from Freeways to E-ways. He still takes pictures, but his younger brother tells that fishing story every Thanksgiving.

Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

All Ages

Free Entrance, Registration Required