The Christmas that we celebrate and know today, is not the Christmas that we, in the UK, have always celebrated. Many of our Christmas traditions, activities and celebrations, are largely new. They came about or were made popular by, the Victorians. It is the Victorians that created the Christmas that we know and celebrate today. So, here are several reasons why the Victorians created the Christmas we celebrate today. #8 Christmas Cards
People didn't always send Christmas cards to each other, it is a relatively new custom. It wasn't until the late Victorian Era until giving Christmas cards really kicked off. It did so in 1880 when giving Christmas cards became a traditional part of British Christmas, with 11 million Christmas cards being sold.
However, the cards were invented long before that. They were actually invented in 1843 by a man named Henry Cole. Initially, at this time, the cards were so expensive that they could only be afforded by the wealthiest Victorians. It wasn't until almost 40 years later that they became affordable to most British people, which was part of the reason for their success.
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#7 Christmas Crackers The Christmas cracker is another Victorian invention. It actually seems like it would have its roots in the middle ages, with the king's hats, and scroll like feature for the crackers. However, the Christmas cracker was not invented in the middle ages, it was in fact invented in Victorian Britain. The crackers were invented by a man called Tom Smith. He sold sweets as a profession and came up with the idea to put the sweets on the cracker. It then progressed into them putting hats, jokes and creating a banging effect with the cracker. #6 Turkey Today it's becoming more common to see varied dishes served at Christmas, however, it is still the most popular and traditional dish - with thanks to the Victorians. The Victorians made the turkey the main meal at Christmastime. Before that, it was other meats which were used as the main dish. It was meats such as goose that were more traditional amongst Britons at Christmas. Although poorer Victorians could not afford turkey during the festive season, it was really a dish that becomes more widespread and common amongst the general population towards the latter half of the Victorian era and then the beginning of the 20th century. It was usually the wealthiest which would eat turkey.
#5 Carol Singing
Carol singing has actually been a part of British tradition and culture for a long time. The Tudors were famous for their carol singing at Christmas. However, it didn't really become famous until the Victorian era, when carols became a big part of Christmas traditions.
Whatsmore, the Victorians also created new carols. Their first batch of new carols came out in 1833, which perhaps made carol singing modern and relative to the Victorian era. Something that has been carried on since and to this day. #4 Boxing Day
A public bank holiday in the UK and some of the commonwealth countries, Boxing Day has become a traditional part of the Christmas calendar today. Although, today, Boxing Day is quite different from when the Victorians celebrated it. Today it is largely just a holiday which is celebrated with family and friends but isn't as significant as Christmas Day or Christmas Eve today.
However, Boxing Day in the Victorian era was largely a day where the rich gave the working class boxes as a festive present, which is probably where this name comes from, as the gifts were in boxes. This day has its origins in the Victorian era. Which leads to the next one....the giving of gifts... #3 The Giving Of Gifts
The giving of gifts wasn't always on Christmas Day. Today, thanks to the Victorians, we give gifts on Christmas Day. But it wasn't always like this, we didn't always give gifts on Christmas Day. For example, the Tudors didn't exchange gifts on Christmas Day, they exchanged gifts on New Years Day.
The Tudor Christmas was very different from the Christmas we see today, in many ways. Gifts were expected to be quite extravagant in the Tudor Era, however, they were more simple in the Victorian era. In the Victorian era, people exchanged things like fruit and nuts. These would be placed in stockings by poor people, hence the tradition of putting up Christmas stockings. Then it became more common to give gifts to children and for children to receive gifts. #2 Christmas Decorations
Christmas decorations were used prior to the Victorians. However, Christmas decorations were a lot more simplistic. The church in the middle ages would decorate trees with apples, however, trees weren't brought indoors and they weren't used in the same way that they are today. Whereas in the Tudor era, it was more common for people to use things such as holly and garlands.
For most of our history, Christmas decorations haven't played a major role in the festivities, like they do today. And, it is thanks to the Victorians that we use Christmas decorations today. Hanging decorations up and on the ceiling became more popular. Where once decorations centred around simple evergreens, they became more elaborate. Especially when it came to the introduction of the Christmas tree.... #1 The Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree wasn't really used throughout the UK, prior to the Victorian era. There is evidence that trees were used in Christmas celebrations from the middle ages, but it was rare and not really a significant feature of the Christmas celebrations. Most people didn't use Christmas trees, that's until the Victorians used them. It was thanks to Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, that we came to use the Christmas tree.
Prince Albert was from Germany, and in Germany, it was common to celebrate Christmas with a decorated Christmas tree. If it wasn't for Prince Albert marrying Queen Victoria, perhaps we wouldn't be using the Christmas tree at Christmas. Sources: http://www.medievalists.net/2010/12/christmas-in-the-middle-ages/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/victorianchristmas/history.shtml https://victorianchildren.org/victorian-christmas/ http://www.thetudorswiki.com/page/CHRISTMAS+with+The+Tudors
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