the tradition of the Christmas tree from his
native Germany to Windsor Castle in 1841. In
1848, the Illustrated London News published
a drawing of the royal family with their
Christmas tree and before long, families all
over the country followed suit. Little pouches
of sweets such as sugared almonds, small
toys, sweetmeats, candles and sugared fruit
were hung from the tree and small presents
placed under it. Homemade decorations,
cakes and beautifully iced cookies were
also popular adornments, as were ropes of
cranberries, roasted chestnuts and sugarplums. During the latter half of the century,
trees were decorated with glass and silver
ornaments imported from Germany. Festive
greenery such as berried evergreens, holly, ivy
and mistletoe lined the banisters and mantel
pieces. The decorated Christmas tree was
often kept behind closed doors away from the
eyes of the children until Christmas Eve.
The Victorian Christmas was first and foremost
a religious celebration but it was also a time
of joy and love. Victorian ladies often spent
the days leading up to Christmas fashioning
decorations from coloured paper and little
pouches from silk and feathers. In 1848, British
confectioner Tom Smith invented a new
variety of packaging for sweets following a trip
to Paris where he discovered sugared almonds
wrapped in paper twists. He came up with the
idea of placing sweets in a paper package that
snapped when pulled and, thus, the Christmas
cracker was born. Towards the end of the
Victorian period, small gifts, paper hats and
riddles written on bits of paper replaced the
sweets. The night before Father Christmas was
due, children would leave out mince pies and
brandy, a ritual which still takes place today.
Exchanging gifts was moved from New Year to
Christmas as it became the most celebrated
occasion of the year. Presents were small and
simple, enabling them to be hung off the
tree, and often consisted of sweets, sugared
fruit, almonds and handmade trinkets. The
traditions of kissing beneath the mistletoe and
singing Christmas carols were also thought up
by the Victorians. Decorations were generally
taken down on the 12th day of Christmas so
the 5th of January, the eve of Epiphany.
During the 1920s, many of the Christmas
decorations and traditions from the previous
decades continued to be widely used.
6