A Victorian Christmas

By Brian and Brenda Williams

At the darkest moment of the year, when the nights seem endless and the days very short, comes that most joyful of festivals. Christmas is a truly magical season, bringing families and friends together to share the much-loved customs and traditions that over the centuries have come to surround this heart-warming and deeply symbolic occasion. Each family has their own personal traditions, and ways they celebrate the special day. Yet underneath the tinsel, fairy lights and wrapping paper are many long-standing traditions that we all know and love.
Why do we drag a fir tree inside our house and decorate it? How long Santa has been delivering gifts to good children? What would Christmas be like without mince pies?
We owe a lot to the Victorians. They transformed the way Britain celebrated Christmas in the 19th century and we continue with their traditions today. In 1848 a British confectioner by the name of Tom Smith came up with the idea of wrapping sweets inside a package that snapped when pulled apart. It was the Victorians that really centred Christmas round the family, with the eating of a Christmas dinner together, giving gifts and playing games. All these things have become central to a British Christmas Day.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pitkin
• Release date: Nov 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781841658506

Brian and Brenda Williams

Brenda Williams uses her experience in early years education to bring information alive for children and adults. Her interest in history, heritage, landscape and literature is reflected in the Pitkin titles she has written. Brian Williams has wide experience in international publishing as writer, editor and consultant. He is a long-term Pitkin heritage author, with titles including several in the History of Britain series, military and politics.

Book preview

Victorian Christmas Cheer

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At the darkest time of the northern year comes the most joyous of festivals – Christmas. For Christians celebrating the birth of Christ, and for those of other faiths and none, Christmas is a season of magical expectation and delights.

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Yet before the 19th century, Christmas in Britain was a shadow of the brash, extravagant festival we know today. The Twelve Days of Christmas, from St Stephen’s Day (26 December) to Epiphany (6 January), passed without much public show. Gifts were not given until New Year, and for most people Christmas Day was one day’s holiday at best. For many it was a working day like any other.

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The Victorians reinvented the festive season. An ancient winter festival absorbed by the Church evolved yet again – to blend sentiment, commerce and fun into the Victorian Christmas aglow with candle-lit trees, cards and crackers, Santa Claus and toys, carols and Christmas pudding. The Victorians helped make the modern Christmas a celebration of family and love, its sparkling trappings transforming mid-winter gloom into the most heart-warming time of the year.

A Winter Festival

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The fact that Christmas falls at the time of the northern winter solstice is no coincidence.

The exact date of Christ’s birth is not known. The calendar date of 25 December was set by the Church in Rome in the mid-4th century, possibly aligned with the Roman midwinter festival of Saturnalia. Earlier, Christians may have marked the nativity of Christ on 6 January, now known as Epiphany, the twelfth and last day of Christmas.

Cheering Dark Days

Saturnalia was celebrated by the Romans in December, with feasting and boisterousness. People partied, dressed up, decorated their homes with greenery and exchanged presents. Later northern European festivals marked the changing seasons. Yule celebrated the winter