What was victorians christmas like

We're unsure that would be sold in Clinton Cards today. When looking at the cards, we also discuss Father Christmas and how outfits have changed over the years. While most of us are familiar with his red garments, many years ago he was frequently seen wearing green! The schoolchildren really enjoy our Victorian Christmas session and we're really enjoying teaching it and sharing the history of this wonderful time of the year with them.

Right at the start of the session, we ask the children, 'What are you most looking forward to this Christmas? Thinking about the year that we have had and the many challenges we have faced, we think this sentiment will ring true this year for us all. Our online Victorian Christmas session is now available to book , with a few spaces left before the end of the year.

Book now to avoid disappointment! To keep up to date with our schools resources, sign up today to our schools mailing list. Discover how the Victorians introduced many of our Christmas traditions in this live virtual version of our Sign up to our mailing lists and be the first to receive updates from Reading Museum. Please see our See all posts. Decorating our Victorian Christmas This year, we had the joy of setting up our Victorian Christmas session in the fabulous Abbey Gateway building, where Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra once attended school in At the dawn of the 19th century, Christmas was hardly celebrated — at least, not in a way we would recognise today.

Many businesses didn't consider it to be a holiday. Gift-giving had traditionally been a New Year activity, but moved as Christmas became more important to the Victorians. By the end of the century, Christmas had become the biggest annual celebration in the British calendar. Victorian advancements in technology, industry and infrastructure — as well as having an impact on society as a whole — made Christmas an occasion that many more British people could enjoy. One of the most significant seasonal traditions to emerge from the Victorian era is the Christmas card.

Cole commissioned the artist J. Horsley to design a festive scene for his seasonal greeting cards and had printed — those he didn't use himself were sold to the public. Later in the century, improvements to the chromolithographic printing process made buying and sending Christmas cards affordable for everyone. Apparently, as well as their magical connection in protecting us from evil spirits, they also encourage the return of spring. No era in history however, has influenced the way in which we celebrate Christmas, quite as much as the Victorians.

No Christmas cards were sent and most people did not have holidays from work. The wealth and technologies generated by the industrial revolution of the Victorian era changed the face of Christmas forever. These radical middle class ideals eventually spread to the not-quite-so-poor as well. The holidays — The wealth generated by the new factories and industries of the Victorian age allowed middle class families in England and Wales to take time off work and celebrate over two days, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Those new fangled inventions, the railways allowed the country folk who had moved into the towns and cities in search of work to return home for a family Christmas. The Scots have always preferred to postpone the celebrations for a few days to welcome in the New Year, in the style that is Hogmanay.

With factories however came mass production, which brought with it games, dolls, books and clockwork toys all at a more affordable price. Father Christmas. At the time this was expensive, and the venture initally failed to take off. However, Cole's 'first Christmas card' would, along with Prince Albert's palace Christmas tree, set an example that would later become a key part of the Victorian Christmas. Advances in printing processes and colour techniques meant that by the s complex designs could be produced on a large scale.

The introduction of the halfpenny postage rate in also contributed to the growing success of Christmas cards. The ability for anyone to pay half a penny to post cards across the country made sending Christmas cards a popular and affordable tradition.

Early Victorian Christmas cards often depicted celebration and merriment, as well as acts of charity and helping the less fortunate. Confectioner Tom Smith is widely credited as inventing the Christmas cracker, supposedly after seeing bon-bons wrapped in twisted paper in Paris. However the first person to sell crackers may actually have been Italian confectioner Sparagnapane, whose company described itself as 'the oldest makers of Christmas crackers in the United Kingdom.

Originally the cracker just contained a sweet and a small motto. Tom Smith's brother, H.