A Royal Origin
Christmas celebrations as we know them today often feature classic historical elements such as deep forest green and wine red color-palettes, velvet ribbons and bows, check/tartan print fabric, old-world foods that harken back to English feasts, entertaining Christmas cards, meticulously wrapped gifts, stockings over a hearth or fireplace, and lavishly decorated evergreen trees. Though the holiday can trace it's origins far back in time to ancient European folk traditions, much of what we know of Christmas today can be traced to the 19th century; specifically to Georgian and Victorian England.
During the 19th century, royalty and nobility often set trends for a larger society that wished to emulate them. Both King George and Queen Victoria married German spouses; Queen Charlotte and Prince Albert respectively. These ties to the Germanic traditions of Christmas led to an adoption of the foreign nobles' homeland celebratory practices in royal households, and with their increasing visibility in printed media and news bulletins, the wider public soon followed suit.
Trees
Though Charlotte was the first German-born royal to bring the decorated Christmas tree and evergreen decor to England in the year 1800, Albert and Victoria were the royals to ultimately become associated with the tradition. A print of their family around a fancifully-decorated holiday tree was circulated throughout Victorian England and beyond, cementing their family with the Germanic Christmas traditions brought to the British Isles.
Gifting
Christmas gifts as we know them today were mostly for the middle and upper classes, as handmade goods were expensive before the widespread use of mechanical factory production. Poor children would usually get a small stocking with fruit and nuts inside, while wealthier children would get toys, and the wealthiest (like the royal family) would have entire spreads of gifts under the tree.
Dinner
Christmas dinner of the Victorian era is quite similar to what we have today. With carved meat (turkey for the wealthy families, and roast beef or goose for less wealthy families), mince pies, appetizers, various puddings, and soups, the spread of food covered both the savory and sweet cravings of the royal family. Despite the decadent extravagance of these feasts, working class people still tried to keep up with the Holiday trends in their own way. Though they could not supply such an abundance of options for their families, they still tried to at least acquire the meat portion- and would often join meat clubs to pay for it in installments! Sound familiar?
Wealth Disparity
Because of the wealth disparity in Victorian England, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol became a popular read, as it put visibility on the financial issues that Christmas could cause for the poor. The moralizing depiction of Ebenezer Scrooge, along with the encouraged religious practice of alms, inspired rich families to present servants and other working class people in their employ with boxes of cash and small gifts, which they would only be allowed to open once Christmas was over on December 26th, now known as Boxing Day.
Holiday Post-Cards
Another way that the lesser-fortuned families could celebrate gift-giving on a budget was the sending of printed postcards, with the invention of the low-cost "Penny-Post" in the 1840's, and the even lower Half-Penny Post in 1870's. The cards themselves were also inexpensive, as they were often made from leftover print blocks from less-than-festive works. This led to odd cards featuring sentient animals, dead birds, criminal acts, and depressed children with a "Merry Christmas" message slapped on. Happy Holidays!
Traditions Spread & Take Hold
If Christmas was largely celebrated this way in England and Germany, how then did the trends that would soon become widespread tradition make their way to America, and beyond? Of course, because of the sheer popularity of Victoria and Albert during their reign! Anything these royals did managed to make a permanent mark on the western-world's traditions, such as a white color theme for wedding dresses, multi-tiered celebratory cakes, fashionable silhouettes and fabrics, interior decor, architectural styles, and of course the above-mentioned Christmas traditions. With much of the world being previous or current colonies of the English crown, many retained parts of English culture, and had a vested interest in what the British royals and the people of the British Isles were doing.
Though the German Prince Albert eventually died, the traditions he brought to England lived on as Victoria insisted on celebrating in a way that honored his memory each and every year. English society and much of the world did the same, and that is why so much of what we see of Christmas today is so heavily flavored with the tastes and preferences of Victorian England.
Sources:
- Bell, Bethan. “Frog Murder and Boiled Children: ‘Merry Christmas’ Victorian Style.” BBC, December 21, 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34988154.
- Johnson, Ben. “A Victorian Christmas.” Historic UK, n.d. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/A-Victorian-Christmas/.
- “Victorian Christmas Traditions.” English Heritage, n.d. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/victorian-christmas-traditions/.