Victorian Christmas Traditions
Although origins of the Christmas holiday can be traced back to far before the 19th century, many traditions that are upheld in contemporary times can be attributed to the Victorian Era during the reign of Queen Victoria from June 20, 1837 to January 22, 1901. During this time, Christmas traditions such as Christmas trees, cards, crackers and more were cemented as key activities during the holidays to promote the spirit of the season. Coinciding with the Industrial Revolution, multiple innovations were integrated into society that influenced accessibility and popular culture - and Christmas was further developed into what it is today. Read more to learn about some of the holiday inventions from the Victorian era that are still common place in modern times!
Illustration from the December 1848 edition of the Illustrated London News that shows Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their family surrounding a Christmas tree.
Christmas Trees
The origins of decorating fir trees during the Christmas season can be ascribed to Lutheran Christians in Germany dating back to the 16th century with the first recorded instance of a decorated tree being in Strasbourg in 1539. By the 18th century, it was common for upper class families in Germany to decorate trees during the holiday season with handmade ornaments and candles. However, it was not until the Victorian era that the tradition was introduced to the UK and the western world. Queen Victoria’s mother was the German Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and she shared the tradition with Victoria when she was a child. Queen Victoria’s husband and consort Prince Albert was also German, and it was he who popularized tree decorating as a widespread festive activity. Prince Albert loved the custom so much that he took sole responsibility for choosing and decorating the royal family’s Christmas tree each year, which was often covered in ornaments, gingerbread, candied plums and wax candles. The public was inspired to participate in this Christmas tradition when the Illustrated London News published a print of the royal family surrounding their Christmas tree in December 1848. By the 1860s, Christmas trees were being mass sold at London’s Covent Garden. Decorating a Christmas tree is now solidified as being one of the most popular holiday traditions.
The first Christmas card. Invented by Henry Cole and designed by John Callcott Horsley in 1843.
Christmas Cards
The custom of sending Christmas cards to loved ones during the holiday season developed rapidly during the Victorian era with the help of the Industrial Revolution invention of the world’s first adhesive postal stamp called the Penny Black. Penny Black stamps began to be sold in 1840 and aided in the accessibility and affordability of sending letters and cards while also speeding up delivery time. The “Penny Post'“ postal system allowed people to send mail for the price of a penny. The first mass produced Christmas cards were created by Sir Henry Cole, who was a postal service reformer and the first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England. As a member of London’s elite, he came up with the idea when he grew increasingly stressed over the large amounts of letters that he needed to respond to as it was considered impolite to not answer mail in Victorian society. He realized it would be much easier to reply to them all if he had a card template that he could simply add small personalization’s to! Cole approached an artist friend named John Callcott Horsley in 1843 with a design idea of a family celebrating the holidays together and drinking wine at a dinner table. Together, they created the first mass produced Christmas card design. 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each. The initial run was not that fruitful since the price was considered to be expensive at the time. Along with this obstacle, many people found the card’s design to be controversial since it appeared to include young children at the dinner table who were also drinking wine with their older relatives - people interpreted this as an encouragement of underage drinking. The criticism was overlooked by Henry Cole’s prominent friends who realized that the idea of a Christmas card was efficient and time-saving. By the 1860s, cards were being sent throughout the middle classes and soon after the tradition of sending Christmas cards became popular in Great Britain and the United States.
Catalogue for Tom Smith's Christmas Novelties from 1911.
Christmas Crackers
In 1847, Tom Smith invented what is now known as the Christmas Cracker. Tom Smith (1823-1869) was a British baker and confectioner in London, England. He opened his first shop in the early 1840s on Goswell Road in London’s East End area of Clerkenwell where he made and sold confectionaries and wedding cakes. During a trip to Paris in 1846, Smith learned about the French ‘bonbon’, which was a sugared almond that was wrapped in a twisted piece of tissue paper, and decided to introduce his own take on the sweet back in London. Smith’s bonbon quickly became very popular, especially during Christmas time. Once the novelty of the bonbon wore off, Smith tried new ideas to promote his sales - this led to the creation of bonbons with love messages inside the wrappers. In 1849, Smith decided to replace the bonbon with small trinkets, fans and jewelry. In 1860, Tom Smith came up with the idea to add a ‘crack’ sound and some say this was inspired by the crackling of a log when it’s placed on a fire. To create this effect, the wrapper became bigger to include the banger mechanism. Aspects of the modern Christmas cracker were created by Tom Smith’s son Walter Smith, who added the small gifts, paper hats and various festive designs on the outer wrapper!
Christmas Dinner
Having a turkey dinner for a Christmas feast grew popular as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert would enjoy turkey at Christmas time. For the royal family and the British elite, their wealth was displayed during the feasts’ courses of turkey, soups, chipolatas, cold meats, beef, boar head, mince pies and various starters. To top it all off, the indulgence of a decadent plum pudding was favored as the choice Christmas dessert. As the majority of Victorian England society was not wealthy, their options for a Christmas feast would usually feature goose as the main course as demonstrated in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. There were even payment plans called Goose Clubs, which allowed people to pay for their Christmas goose in installments throughout the year to ensure the success of their Christmas feast. By the late 19th century, Christmas dinners looked very similar to what they are today. For many in contemporary times, sharing a special meal with friends and family is a beloved holiday tradition.
First Edition copy of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Published in 1843.
A Christmas Carol
The spirit of Christmas and the promotion of goodwill, kindness and cheer during the holidays was heavily embedded in the overall interpretation of Christmas by Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol. The author was inspired to write the story after visiting poorly conditioned factories and schools throughout Victorian London including the Field Lane Ragged School that provided free education to the destitute children of 19th century London. Through his tale about morality, family-values and charity, he sought to encourage generosity and empathy towards the working classes who were regularly abused and mistreated by the faulty workers system of the Industrial Revolution. The story was first published in London by the Chapman & Hall publishing company on December 19, 1843 and featured illustrations by John Leech - the first edition was sold out by Christmas Eve. It received a massive amount of success and was favored by critics including the Illustrated London News who described the public’s reception of the story by saying "impressive eloquence ... its unfeigned lightness of heart—its playful and sparkling humour ... its gentle spirit of humanity" all put the reader "in good humour with ourselves, with each other, with the season and with the author". By the end of 1844, a year after its release, thirteen editions of the novella had been published. Today it is considered a Christmas classic and the story is shared through multiple forms of media including books, plays as well as animated and live action films.
Victorian Christmas studio photograph, late 1800s.
Remnants of Victorian Christmas traditions persist to teach us gratitude, kindness and morality as we uphold their historic customs. By remembering the humble origins of these activities, we may continue to keep the spirit of the holiday season alive and well by embracing the importance of love, family and goodwill towards all. Happy Holidays!