Christmas, Victorian-style
During the Victorian era, Christmas became centered around the family. Celebrating the holiday became a matter of bringing together the whole family to share in the feasting, gift giving, entertainments and parlor games.
This is thanks in large part to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Illustrated London News in 1848 showed a picture of the royal couple and their young family (the couple had had six children by then: Victoria, Albert Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena and Louise) celebrating around a decorated Christmas tree, and soon Britons adopted the Germanic tradition of having a tree lit by candles and adorned with home-made decorations including tiny baskets of goodies, fruits, and small wrapped gifts.
Another British tradition that began in the Victorian era was the “Christmas cracker,” a small package filled with treats that made a cracking or snapping sound when opened. The Christmas cracker was created in 1848 by British confectioner Tom Smith after a visit to Paris, where he noticed Parisian confiseries selling sugared almonds wrapped in twists of paper. Nowadays, Christmas crackers usually contain a colored paper hat shaped like a crown, a small toy, a plastic figure or other trinket and a joke or other saying on a small piece of paper. The paper crowns are usually worn while eating Christmas dinner.
The Victorians also gave us the tradition of eating roast turkey at Christmas dinner. Other meats, including roast beef and goose, were common main dishes at the holidays, but upper-class Victorian families began featuring turkey as the centerpiece of their festive meal. The roast turkey soon caught on among the middle classes as well, because its larger size made it a good choice for a large family celebration.
Gift-giving became more elaborate as the Victorian era progressed. Originally gifts were modest and hand-made, sometimes small enough to be hung on the tree itself, but as the decades passed they became bigger and found a new place under the tree, rather than on it. Handmade gifts were still considered preferable to store-bought, but perhaps a savvy gift-giver could find something handmade for sale! As the leisure of middle- and upper-class women increased, many became more involved in crafts and hobbies, producing large quantities of hand-crafted items that they could either use, give as gifts, or even sell at charity events like Christmas Bazaars sponsored by their churches or other groups.
Christmas carols – and visits from “the waits” or carolers – were also a tradition during Christmastime. A number of carols that we love and sing today originated in the Victorian era, such as
1843 – O Come All Ye Faithful
1848 – Once in Royal David’s City
1851 – See Amid the Winters Snow
1868 – O Little Town of Bethlehem
1883 – Away in a Manger
Composer Arthur S. Sullivan also contributed a few tunes to the Christmas mix. He wrote four carols: “I Sing the Birth” (1868), “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” (1871), “Upon the Snow-clad Earth” (1876), and “Hark! What Mean those Holy Voices,” written in 1883.
Our heroine, Lucy Turner, will soon meet Arthur Sullivan as she embarks upon her mystery-solving career. But in 1866, they have barely met — and William S. Gilbert doesn’t meet his musical partner until 1873.
The cold, cold winter of 1866 will see lots of changes in the lives of these three, so I hope you will stay tuned! Until then, have a very happy holiday!