Victorian Christmas Traditions

Christmas is widely viewed as a commercialized holiday.  Today the focus is on the size of a flat screen tv, the latest toys and gadgets, and anything else you can buy.  All this hinges on how much money is saved, from Black Friday until a few days before, the advertisements scream "savings". 

The topic of this post is Victorian Christmas and how the traditions shape today's holiday. The two aren't completely different, granted there wasn't Amazon.com in the late 19th century but there was commercialization with the creation of Christmas industries that are still popular today.

History

Before the mid 19th century, Christmas was never a "big deal" holiday. It was locally and culturally observed by those that celebrated it and not on a National level.  That changed in 1848, when Queen Victoria then married to Prince Albert were illustrated in a drawing in the Illustrated London News. What was so important about this illustration? It was of the royal family celebrating around a decorated Christmas tree: a tradition from Prince Albert's native Germany.

By today's standards, that illustration would have been the equivalent of President Obama and his family around the tree at the White House on the cover of OK! Magazine. It was iconic and it changed everything.  The royal family not only set an example of an ideal Christmas portrait but they set a precedent of what Christmas should be. 

Every home in Britain, regardless of class, emulated this model by purchasing trees and decorating them with candies, homemade decorations, and fruit.  

Credit: anthealawson.com/

Decorating

The Victorian home was filled with beautiful decorations! The windows, banisters, and fireplaces were among the many areas trimmed with holly, mistletoe, cards, and paper snowflakes. Decorating was more elaborate, with an emphasis on elegance.  One popular style was a mantle decoration of evergreen spruces, candles, pine cones, and feathers! 

Credit: shelbycountyhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com

My favorite Victorian decoration is that of the front stairway. In most homes, it was the first thing that guests would see upon entering the home and it was always dressed to impress! Garlands of silver and gold, with holly trim, and wide burgundy ribbons would introduce the stair to it's guests in all it's holiday glory!

Cards

The tradition of sending cards began in the Victorian era and is still very popular today. Christmas cards are a popular way to send holiday wishes to relatives and friends. One popular tradition today is family photos with the children as a focal point of the card. The start of the modern day Christmas card began in 1848, when Henry Cole, an English civil servant and inventor, commission a local artist to design a card for Christmas.  

Copyrighted 1878 by L. Prang & Co. Boston

Greeting card from 1870

At 1 shilling a piece, they were pricey for average Victorians, thus the craft of creating your own Christmas card was born. Queen Victorian encouraged her children to create their own cards! The cost of the card dropped significantly when the technology for color printing became more efficient and postage went down.  By the 1880s, Christmas cards were extremely popular and becoming a very lucrative industry with 11.5 million made in 1880 alone! It's not to hard to believe that he commercialization of Christmas began with something as simple as a greeting card.

Activities

Victorian era Christmastime activities centered around the family. There was a big feast with the roast turkey being the centerpiece. Paper flowers, decorating the home and tree, and embroidery on pillows and placements were popular choices.  Caroling, is a British tradition that began before the late 18th century but became popular around this time.  

Crackers were invented by Tom Smith; completely by accident too! A Christmas cracker is made up of small gifts, a joke or quote, and sweets that is put into a small cardboard tube covered in wrapping paper.  When the cracker is pulled by two people, the tube rips apart, creating a small "pop" sound (created by a strip of chemical paper), exploding the delightful contents!

An illustration from "The Graphic Christmas" 1878

Tom Smith Christmas Crackers - 1916 Catalog Cover

Gifts

The climax of Christmas is the giving and receiving of gifts. Advice was found in books and publications; even including directions and patterns to make something truly sentimental. Gift making was a communal activity, with the family and friends spending happy hours together planning and creating their gifts. 

Here are some gifts given in the Victorian family:

Mother: an apron, stationary, silk fan, jewelry, handkerchiefs, or scarves.
Father: a muffler, tobacco pouch, cigar case, bed slippers, or homemade cookies.
Grandmother: doilies, photograph frame, a wonder ball (small gifts wrapped in a ball of yarn).
Sister: hair ribbons, muffs, books, a porcelain doll, quilts, or painting set.

Brother: a sled, skates, model train, marbles, painted toy animals, or shoeshine kit.

I would love to plan to have a Victorian Christmas, with handmade decorations and gifts. Real candles on the tree can be easily simulated with electric candle tree lights. Artificial holly and garlands can adorn the home and be reused for future Christmases. With all the festivities aside, one key part of Victorian Christmas that must be remembered is the importance of family. Gifts are just things that don’t last forever, they’re fun to give and receive, but they don’t stand the test of time like memories with those we love.

What Victorian traditions do you like the most?
Do you have a Christmas tradition that you participate in every year?