Ten Historical Christmas Facts

Happy Holidays. I’ve trawled through the website of our overlords, Jstor, to find you the best, most historically accurate facts ever

1. Prince Albert supposedly introduced the German tradition of indoor Christmas trees at Windsor Castle in 1841
2. In 1848, the Illustrated London Newspublished an illustration of the royal family gathered around a decorated Christmas tree, which helped the custom become popular amongst the middle classes
3. Tom Smith came up with the idea of the Christmas cracker after a trip to Paris where he saw bon bons wrapped in paper
4. Throughout the Victorian period, Christmas decorations became more specialised than they had previously been. Medieval people would decorate their houses with evergreen twigs, however the Victorians brought whole trees in, and books were even published with instructions for housewives on how to decorate the home properly
5. The Nazis redefined Christmas for Germany during their time in power. Winter solstice rituals that had their roots in ancient Germanic tribes were emphasised
6. Americans spent around $6.4 billion purchasing decorations, trees and lights during the Christmas of 2002, some attributed this to Bush’s encouragement to ‘buy, buy, buy’ and continue life as normal after 9/11
7. Gift giving had traditionally taken place at New Year, however it moved into December as Christmas became more important to Victorians
8. Initially gifts, such as fruit, sweets, nuts, and handmade tinkets, were small and hung on the Christmas tree. Presents started moving under the tree as they became bigger and more commercial
9. In Ancient Scandinavia, Yule was celebrated from December 21, the winter solstice, through to January. To mark the return of the sun, men would collect large logs, which would then be set on fire
10. A feast would be held until the log burned out, even if this took 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire foretold a new piglet or calf that would be born in the new year

Look out for ANOTHER ten historically-accurate Christmas facts, coming to your screen on Christmas Eve!

All facts from:

Christmas, Ideology and Popular Culture, Sheila Whiteley (2008)

BBC Two, Victorian Christmas, History of Christmas