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Victorian Holiday Traditions

By Linda Ashley Leamer

The Victorian era, usually defined as the years when Queen Victoria reigned (1837 to 1901), still has great influence on us today. We live in Victorian houses, read Victorian novels, and still use many Victorian trans­portation net­works. The family was looked to as the "foundation for a strong and expanding British nation," according to Suzanne Fagence Cooper in the June/July 2001 issue of British Heritage .

Those who observe Christmas and New Year's today can look to this era for the origins of many current traditions. Queen Victoria herself popularized the celebration of Christmas, placing emphasis on the children.

Christmas cards appeared in 1843 -prior to that date, people wrote letters expressing holiday greetings to each friend and relative. Sir Henry Cole had the inspiration for the first printed card, ordering one thousand which may explain why he thought of cards rather than letters.

Victorian cards came in bell-shaped, fan-shaped, or circular styles. Some were jeweled, iridescent, or embossed while others were decorated with silk, satin, lace, or embroidered fabric. Designs might be landscapes or flowers, but only occasionally religious subjects.

Decorating homes at midwinter dates back to the Romans. The Victorians used both greenery (evergreens, holly, ivy, rosemary, bay, and laurel) and everlasting flowers (chrysanthemums, Christmas roses, and camellias). Before the introduction of Christmas trees, the centerpiece was a Kissing Bunch (or Kissing Ball) made by twining mistletoe around two hoops and interconnect­ing these to form a sphere. The sphere hung from a chandelier in the center of the ceiling and then evergreen ropes were strung from it into the room's corners.

Christmas trees originated in Germany. Although Queen Victoria's German husband, Prince Albert, often receives credit for intro­ducing these to the British, records show that Queen Charlotte (the German wife of King George III-the king during the American War of Independence) put up a tree at Wind­sor Castle in the late 18 th century. Prince Albert would be more correctly characterized as popularizing these trees.

Victorians referred to the trees as the "Tree of Love." (That name and the "Kissing Bunch" make one wonder if the common perception about prudish Victorians is correct.) Trees were decorated on Christmas Eve and left up for the "Twelve Days of Christmas"-Christmas Day to January 6 th which is known as Epiphany, the day the Magi visited Bethlehem. Victorians considered it unlucky to leave holiday decorations up any longer.

Candles illuminated these trees, being lit just before the doors opened to welcome guests into the room. Wise home owners would station a servant behind the tree with a bucket of water in case of problems. Tree decorations included fruits (oranges were popular), flowers, baked goods, bonbons, preserved fruits, and little presents such as crocheted purses, charms, or toys. Each guest received one of the decorations as a gift, a tradition carried on when we take a candy cane off the tree these days.

The Christmas meal was a meal to remem­ber throughout the coming year, and preparations started weeks ahead of time. A typical British Victorian meal consisted of vegetable soup, oyster patties, and boiled leg of mutton with port jelly or perhaps a goose roasted in the local baker's large ovens. By the latter half of the 1800s, middle class families could afford turkey. Although you might associate this bird more with American holidays, the British had been importing turkey from South America since the 1500s.

The meal concluded with plum pudding and mincemeat pies, then nuts and fruits and a choice of port, hot toddies, mulled wine, or wassail. Wassail, a hot spicy, fruity drink, takes its name from the 5 th century Saxon toast Wass Hael ("Be well"). Later guests enjoyed cordials or punch before leaving around 10 p.m.

The Royal Menu from 1840 consisted of the following: turtle soup, haddock, sole, beef, roast swan, veal, chicken, turbot, partridge, curried rabbit, pheasant, and capon. The meal ended with mincemeat pie, savories (similar to our hors d'oeuvres) and pudding. Then those who had not had enough meat could help themselves to dishes on the side table includ­ing roast beef, mutton, turkey, pork, turkey pie, partridge, sausage, and boar's head.

Plum pudding was the triumph of the housewife's art. This was the one dish every mother taught every daughter to make. In medieval times, it did contain plums. However these tart fruits were later replaced with sweeter raisins imported from Greece and golden raisins (called "sultanas" after the sultan's wife) from Turkey.

After dinner entertainment often featured a "sing-song" around the "pianoforte," reciting poems, or playing games. A favorite game, Snapdragon, involved having players sit on the floor around a shallow bowl containing currants and alcohol which was then ignited. Players tried to snatch the currants out of the flames and put them into their mouths. According to one source, "The trick was to move quickly and close your mouth over the burning currant to put out the flame."

Although you may not want to try Snapdragon, there is another game from the era we still enjoy-Charades. Surprisingly, upright Victorian families liked to amuse themselves with acting as acting was then considered the least respectable profession, certainly different from present-day attitudes.

Victorians began exchanging gifts on Christ­mas Eve or Christmas Day rather than on December 6 th (St. Nicholas Day) or on New Year's Day as in the past. English children receive theirs from "Father Christmas" who, just as the American Santa Claus, is prone to leaving them in stockings or pillowcases. People started wrapping gifts around the turn of the century. Shops encouraged this as a way to give a personal touch when store-bought gifts began replacing homemade ones.

Christmas crackers,* long a favorite in Britain, have been gaining in popularity in America. These tubular party favors can be found in many gift shops and in mail order catalogs. Place one at each person's table setting, either across, above, or beside the dinner plate. In Britain, it is customary for you and another person to each pull one of the ends. The one who yanks the end that pops get the contents-a prize (similar to those found in Cracker Jack boxes), a really bad joke, and a paper hat or crown. According to Rob Jackson, our TeaTime Tours London contact, "If you never get the popping end, someone will always donate you one of their prizes and a silly hat."

Today, as in the Victorian era, the English celebrate Boxing Day on December 26 th , giving them two days off work. Tradition­ally this was the day when church alms­boxes were opened for the poor, tradesmen broke earthenware boxes containing the year's tips from customers, and landlords and masters gave gifts to their tenants and servants. Up until the 1970s, New Year's Day was a working day in England but not in Scotland where the Scots celebrate Hogmanay (and worked on December 26 th instead). Now both countries observe Boxing Day and New Year's Day as holidays. Victorians celebrated New Year's Day with open houses. If they arrived at a home to find the family gone, they would simply leave their calling card in the basket provided at the front door.

The Victorians also observed Twelfth Night* (the evening of January 5 th ) at the end of the twelve days of Christmas (see above). Since this was the final night the greenery was left up, it was a time to celebrate with open houses or evening teas.

With today's hectic pre-holiday schedule, it may be easier to get friends and family together in January. Why not revive the Victorian tradi­tion of Twelfth Night and host a tea between New Year's and mid-January to chase away the winter doldrums. Besides, it is a great way to use up holiday cookies before everyone starts a New Year's diet.

*See articles on Christmas crackers and Twelfth Night at www.teatimegazette.com.

Reprinted from The TeaTime Gazette, PO Box 40276-TW, St. Paul, MN 55104.