The Victorians invented the Christmas that we see today. That doesn't mean that the Victorians invented Christmas. It means that most of our customs and traditions surround Christmas, actually come from the Victorians. In other words, modern Christmas celebrations have Victorian origins. It is thought that Christmas wasn't as big a deal before the Victorian era. For example, Christmas wasn't considered to be a national holiday for business before the Victorians. Before the Victorian era, homes in Britain did not have the decorations that we have today. Especially when it comes to Christmas trees. The Christmas tree is thought to have started in Great Britain by Prince Albert, Queen Victorias husband. The Christmas tree is not the only thing which was started by the Victorians. Another thing which was started by the Victorians was, Christmas cards. The custom of sending Christmas cards was started in 1843, by Sir Henry Cole. Cole, along with his artist friend, John Horsley, designed and sold the first Christmas card in Britain. The purpose was to help ordinary Brits spread goodwill at Christmas. However, at the time, only rich people could affort to buy and sell Christmas cards. It wasn't until 1860 and 1870 that buying and sending Christmas cards became more popular. Largely because it became cheaper to buy and post Christmas cards, and therefore, more people could buy them. It is not only the Christmas card which was invented by the Victorians, the Victorians also invented the Christmas cracker. The Christmas cracker was invented by a sweet shop owner named, Tom Smith, in 1847. Tom Smith Christmas crackers is still a shop today, selling Christmas crackers. The idea behind Tom Smith's Christmas crackers was to sell sweets in a unique, and unsual way. In the later Victorian era, the sweets placed in the Christmas crackers were replaced with; small gifts and paper hats. The kind of things that we would find in Christmas crackers today. Christmas crackers were not the only thing that the Victorians made a focal point of Christmas, they also did the same with Christmas decorations. That's not to say before the Victorians decorations weren't a feature of Christmas celebrations, they were. Beforehand, simple evergreens were used. Synthetic Christmas decorations were started with the Victorians. And it became popular to decorate the home. We can also thank, or curse the Victorians for the comercilization of Christmas. Beforehand, traditional Christmas gifts were actually given at New Year, on New Years day. However, the Victorians moved that to Christmas Day. And the focus became of larger and bigger gifts. One of the last things that the Victorians invented was the Christmas dinner we have today. Before the Victorians, people used to eat things such as beef or goose on Christmas Day. But, the Victorians made turkey the main feast at Christmas Day. To start with, turkey was only available to those who were wealthy. However, as time went on, more and more people could afford turkey at Christmas - it became more accessible. The Christmas that we see today is very much a Victorian invention. The idea that Christmas should be centered around; feasting, the family, gift giving and entertainment all have their Victorian roots.
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