We have not always celebrated Christmas the way we do today; it may be hard to believe that for a long time there were businesses that did not recognize it as a holiday. Of course, now those businesses start to celebrate it around Halloween. Not so long ago, during the Victorian period, many of our Christmas traditions began to emerge.
The family gathers around the tree for a family Christmas photograph. (Photo by Kirn Vintage Stock/Corbis via Getty Images)/Colorized
The celebration of midwinter festivals has been around for thousands of years, and these pagan festivals began to morph with Christmas after the arrival of Christianity. One of the early festivals was the festival of Saturnalia, which honored the Roman god Saturn. During Saturnalia, gifts were exchanged, singers took to the streets to sing, and people baked cookies that looked like men (although the first documented gingerbread men were created in the Elizabethan age). Christmas celebrations continued in England until Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans outlawed it in 1645. The attitude about Christmas spread to the English colonies with the Puritans, where, in some places, celebrating Christmas was a crime. In contrast, in Virginia, people saw Christmas as a time to feast, dance, hunt, and visit with each other, just as they believed was done customarily in English manors.
Christmas Trees In America
The family gathers around the tree for a family Christmas photograph. (Photo by Kirn Vintage Stock/Corbis via Getty Images)
The Germans brought their tradition of decorating with evergreens to America; additionally, individuals who had visited Germany and had seen German Christmas celebrations decided to recreate those traditions, including the use of the Christmas tree. This tradition was adopted in America about the same time that it became popular in England. By the 1850s, the custom had spread from New England and began to extend throughout much of America. Mack Carr, a woodsman, has been credited with opening the first Christmas tree lot in 1851. Just as German immigrants brought the tradition of Christmas trees, Catholic immigrants brought the tradition of using a nativity. By 1870, Christmas, which was once illegal in some parts of America, was declared a federal holiday.
Prince Albert Introduced Christmas Trees To England
In England, Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840. Albert, who was born in Germany, introduced the use of the Christmas tree to England. After The Illustrated London News published an illustration of the royal family’s Christmas tree in 1848, homes around Britain started to display trees decorated with fruit, sweets, and small gifts. Other decorations included tinsel, beads, and paper ornaments. These paper ornaments included images of angels, birds, and stars as well as fans. They also used tabletop trees made of goose feathers as part of their décor. In some homes, they used miniature homes to create a winter scene under the tree. Prior to the use of electric lights, they used lighted candles on their trees.
Decorating With Evergreens Was An Old Tradition
Source: (Pinterest/colorized).
The use of other evergreens as decorations began earlier though, as it had its roots in the medieval traditions, but the style changed. In the pagan days, people hung plants like mistletoe, holly, and ivy. The evergreens not only protected people from evil spirits, but also encouraged the arrival of spring. Prior to the Victorian period, evergreen sprigs were hung on the walls and windows, but these old aesthetics didn’t appeal to Victorian sensibilities. Instead, the Victorians strove for uniformity and elegance. The greenery was accented with ribbons, flowers, berries, gilded fruits, and nuts.
Christmas Cards Were Popularized By The Victorians
Source: (Vintage Everyday).
Around this time, the Christmas card started to become popular as well. Henry Cole commissioned an artist to design a card for Christmas in 1843. Although the cards were too expensive for many people, people caught on to the idea and children started to create their own cards. As color printing technology improved, the cost of mass-producing cards decreased, and, in England, when they introduced the halfpenny postage rate, mailing Christmas cards became a holiday tradition. In 1880 alone, 11.5 million Christmas cards were produced.
The Exchange Of Presents
Source: (Vintage Everyday).
The exchange of presents also changed during the Victorian era. Prior to this, gifts were exchanged at the New Year, but Christmas started to become the more important holiday, so gift giving started to happen at Christmas. The early gifts were small: sweets, fruits, nuts, and handmade trinkets which could be hung on the Christmas tree. People started to give larger gifts, often purchased from stores, and these could not be hung on the tree anymore. Hence, they moved to their place under the tree. When Queen Victoria’s reign began the toys were typically handmade and expensive, but factories brought mass production. This, in turn, led to toys which were affordable for the middle class. Poor children had to use the Christmas stocking, which would hold a few pieces of fruit and some nuts. On the other hand, in wealthy Victorian homes, families used decorative paper, ribbons, and lace to hide their presents.
Caroling And Christmas Crackers
Stereoscopic image from the 1870s. Source: (YouTube).
Although caroling originated with the ancient English tradition of traveling from house to house to ask for food, because the Victorians enjoyed Christmas carols, they revived the tradition of singing them. In some cases, they took the old carols and set them to new tunes, and they also composed new carols. In 1833, the first significant collection of carols was published. Caroling was popular mainly in England and America.
One tradition that did not make it to America was the Christmas cracker. This, too, was invented in the Victorian era. A British confectioner named Tom Smith saw bon bons wrapped in twists of paper and developed the idea of the cracker: a simple package with sweets and other treats that snapped when pulled. Eventually, the crackers were filled with small gifts by late in the Victorian period.
