Victorian Christmas Traditions
Although the birth of Christ has been celebrated for the best part of 2, 000 years, it only became a festival as we know it in
Victorian times. Imagine a Christmas with no Christmas tree, no crackers, no Christmas cards and no time off work!
Many of these Victorian Christmas traditions were introduced to English society by Queen Victoria and her husband,
Prince Albert. Being from German aristocracy, Albert was used to the custom of bringing a fresh fir tree into the home
and decorating it on Christmas Eve, so he had one brought to Windsor Castle in the 1840s.
The burning wax candles and decorative baubles were a focal point and quickly the idea
became fashionable in Victorian parlours everywhere. Electric lights for Christmas trees
were invented by Thomas Edison’s assistant, Edward Johnson, in 1882. However they did
not become mass produced and affordable to the general public for many more years.
The Introduction of Victorian Christmas Crackers
In 1846, Thomas J. Smith, a London confectioner, had a great idea for selling more sweets
at Christmas. He wrapped a bon-bon in a twist of coloured paper, added a love note, a
paper hat and a banger mechanism which was said to have been inspired by the crackle of
a log fire! This new idea took off, and ironically the bonbons were eventually replaced
with a small toy or novelty.
The First Victorian Christmas Card
The first Christmas cards in England were designed for Sir Henry Cole, the Chairman of the Society of the Arts. The year
was 1846 and the first 100 Christmas cards, designed by John Calcott Horsley, were printed at great expense which rather
curbed the idea from taking off. However, shortly afterwards colour lithography was developed making printing much
cheaper. Another significant factor was the rising popularity of the Royal Mail allowing postage costs to be reduced to
one half penny per ounce. By the early 1870s anyone who was anyone could afford to send Christmas card greetings.
Initially Victorian Christmas cards were single postcards with simple designs but soon plum
puddings, robins, and snowy scenes became popular designs.
Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe
These common plants all produce winter berries and were held to be "magical" long before
Victorian times. The holly berries were said to repel witchcraft and a berry-laden sprig would be
carried into the Victorian house by a male and used to decorate the Christmas pudding.
Mistletoe had pagan origins and in Victorian times it was not allowed in churches. However,
kissing under the mistletoe was popular in Victorian homes. After each chaste kiss a white berry had to be removed from
the sprig until there were none left - and no more kisses were to be had.
Christmas Services
Although Christmas songs had been sung by wassailers from the 15th century, it was only in Victorian times that they
began to be sung in churches. Silent Night, for example, was written in Austria and was only translated into English in
1871 when it was added to the Methodist hymnal.
Traditionally the Victorian Christmas began on Christmas Day when church bells called everyone to church for scripture
readings interspersed with carols. Christmas dinner was a grand family affair for those who could afford it with a goose,
chicken or roast beef. Turkey became popular in the late 19th century. Christmas pudding was served then crackers were
pulled and everyone exchanged gifts before playing parlour games.
The Birth of Victorian Christmas Cards
The annual tradition of sending Christmas cards came about almost by accident in 1843. Due to prohibitive costs the idea
was slow to catch on and it was at least 20 more years before Victorian Christmas cards were commercially mass
produced.
The First Christmas Cards
The first Victorian Christmas cards were designed by artist John Callcott Horsley at the suggestion of his influential friend
Sir Henry Cole, who was the first director appointed to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
These Christmas cards were a limited edition, produced by Jobbins of Warwick Court in London and
printed using a process called lithography.
The outlines then had to be hand-coloured by a professional colourer. They were sold for a shilling
each, which incidentally was far more than the daily wage for many Victorian workers at that time.
The first Victorian Christmas card measured just over 5x3 inches and in the centre was the sketch of a
merry family feasting, with two scenes of charity on either side: feeding the hungry and clothing the
naked. The single sided card was finished with a printed greeting, "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You".
Mass Production
Other picture makers followed suit but the idea of Christmas cards only really blossomed when Charles Goodall & Son
began to mass produce them in 1866. He was a publisher of visiting cards, which were commonly used when a person
paid a formal call and left their card as a reminder of their visit.
Goodall expanded this idea to four designs of Christmas cards designed by C.H. Bennett which featured holly, mistletoe
and robins with a cheery Christmas greeting. Surprisingly for a Christian event, early Victorian Christmas cards did not
feature any religious reference at all.
Cheaper Postage
In 1870, the Royal Mail reduced the cost of postage to a half penny per ounce and cheaper colour lithography was
developed to lower printing costs. This heralded the spread of the Victorian Christmas card and by the early 1870s the
custom had also become popular in America.
Soon artists, printers, engravers and writers saw the potential and by 1880 they began to be commercially mass produced.
One London print firm, S Hildesheimer & Co, ran a competition in 1881 for the most artistic designs.
Many great artists submitted their designs hoping to win a share of the generous prize of five hundred guineas. Poems and
flowery greetings were written and the era of the Christmas card finally dawned.
From 1866 to 1895 Marcus Ward & Co monopolized the Christmas card market with their lithographed cards designed by
noteworthy artists such as Kate Greenaway, Thomas Crane and his son Walter. They featured cute Victorian figures, snow
scenes, cherubs and naked angels in typical Victorian style. Many of these designs have been reproduced in later years
and Victorian Christmas cards remain very collectible.
They began to be sold by booksellers and stationery shops in the 1880s and then expanded to tobacconists, toy shops and
even drapery shops. However, by 1895 many publishing firms of early Victorian greeting cards were forced out of
business in London as more affordable German-produced Christmas cards flooded the market.