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Christmas trees -

Though the use of evergreen boughs predate Christianity, the Germans started the tradition we know as Christmas trees in the 16th century.

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Christmas trees -

The tradition, which was reportedly introduced by Prince Albert, didn’t pick up in England until a picture of Queen Victoria and her family decorating a tree became a hit with the masses.

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Christmas trees -

The engraving of the Royal family celebrating Christmas at Windsor kick-started the tradition in England.

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Ghost stories -

Forget about fun and heartwarming Christmas tales. Christmas was all about telling scary ghost stories!

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Ghost stories -

You might be familiar with a popular one at the time: Charles Dickens' ‘A Christmas Carol.’

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Ghost stories -

By the end of the 19th century, the tradition had passed on to the other side of the pond. Novellas such as ‘The Turn of the Screw’ by Henry James introduced the USA to the tradition of Christmas ghost stories.

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Christmas cards -

The first commercially mass-produced Christmas cards date back to 1843 and were made by Sir Henry Cole.

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Christmas cards -

But not everyone could afford to send cards. This changed in 1870, when affordable stamps were introduced, allowing more people to buy and send cards. Some 1.5 million cards were sold in 1880 alone. The commercialization of Christmas had arrived.

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Christmas cards -

Before cards were introduced, people would write letters, sending good wishes for the new year, for instance. The newly introduced cards, however, had some really odd images!

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Christmas cards -

But it gets even more bizarre. Some cards were sent with dead birds! This was because killing a robin or wren on December 26 (which is Wren Day) was considered to bring good luck.

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Christmas presents -

Initially, gifts would be hung on the Christmas tree. You would expect simple things, such as crafts, nuts, and sweets.

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Christmas presents -

People then started buying bigger, more expensive gifts and placing them under the Christmas tree.

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Christmas presents -

Women would only buy or make a present for their husbands, but could do the same for other males as long as they were related. Things such as shaving kits, soaps, and tobacco boxes were among favorites.

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Christmas presents -

As for the ladies, they could expect gifts such as soaps, perfumes, jewelry, or something like a handkerchief or a shawl.

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Christmas crackers -

These were called" kisses" in Victorian times. The French first started this tradition of giving love tokens for Christmas (which they called bon-bons) and it then spread to England.

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Christmas crackers -

These kisses were quite plain and did not crack. It was not until the 1850s that a product similar to today’s crackers was created. These later versions would include verses accompanied by things such as masks and hats.

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Christmas dinner -

Goose was the bird to have for Christmas. Though many people couldn't afford it, so they would have turkey instead.

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Goose Club -

If you really, really wanted goose for dinner, you could join a Goose Club. This way your family would pay for a goose in installments throughout the year.

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Goose Club -

And if they were lucky enough, they would even get someone to cook it for them (which was a big thing as not every household had an oven).

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Parlor games -

Victorians didn’t have the kind of entertainment we have at our disposal nowadays, so parlor games were the way to go.

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Parlor games -

Popular games included Are You There, Moriarty?, Cockfighting, Reverend Crawley's game, Shadow buff, and Prussian exercises.

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Parlor games -

One of the games, called Snapdragon, consisted of setting a pile of raisins in a bowl of brandy on fire, and then trying to take the raisins out of the bowl and eat them!

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Santa Claus made a comeback -

Santa lost his popularity in the 1500s, during the Protestant Reformation, but Victorians reintroduced him through literature.

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Santa Claus -

The 1821 poem ‘The Children's Friend,’ and 1823's ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ (also known as ‘The Night Before Christmas’) contributed to the shift.

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Victorian-era Americans -

Before 1850, Christmas was not really celebrated in America. In fact, it was not declared a holiday until 1870.

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Victorian-era Americans -

Still, not all colonist communities celebrated Christmas. Puritans were among these. After all, it was not mentioned in the Bible! Ancient Planters from Virginia, on the other hand, did celebrate the holiday.

Sources: (Grunge)

See also: Funny or absurd facts about the Victorian era

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