South Street Seaport Museum announces a kick off to the holiday season at the annual Wayzgoose–a 500-year-old printers’ tradition celebrating the changing of the seasons. Step into the Seaport Museum’s 19th century- style letterpress printing shop, Bowne & Co. Stationers at 207-211 Water Street, New York, NY, to be the first to check out this season’s delightful selection of holiday gifts, cards, and other seasonal paper goods.
Join the Museum community for light refreshments as the printers of Bowne & Co. give you the opportunity to get hands-on with printing equipment from the Seaport Museum’s working collection and print your own holiday-themed works.
The charming shop offers the perfect setting to continue the long-standing Wayzgoose tradition. This event provides a special opportunity for printers to share the fruits of their labor with colleagues and friends, to raise a glass in celebration, and to reflect on the year and the joys of the upcoming holiday season. Registration is encouraged for this free event but walkups will be accommodated as possible. seaportmuseum.org/wayzgoose
A Brief History of Wayzgoose
Legend has it that when Johannes Gutenberg and his team completed the first edition of the Bible, he invited them to his countryside residence for a celebratory dinner where he served a roast goose—they went away to eat a goose, giving rise to the term Wayzgoose.
Wayzgoose is a traditional printer’s party that coincides with Bartholomewtide, the feast of St. Bartholomew, celebrated on August 24. St. Bartholomew is the patron saint of both bookbinders and butchers. In Northern Europe, the season began to change around this time, and papermakers would take a break from their work to produce waxed paper, used to cover windows in homes and workshops that couldn’t afford glass. While this wax paper provided insulation, it also blocked sunlight, marking the shift to working by candlelight. Wayzgoose celebrations recognized this seasonal transition.
