Its officially December, which means the Christmas trees are up, fairy lights on, advent calendars are opened and you can officially listen to Christmas music without being judged.
Christmas is most people’s favourite holiday especially in the UK, where although we complain about it getting dark too early, we secretly enjoy snuggling up with a box of chocolates knowing how cold it is outside. Feeling happy that you are in the warmth.
But where do all these traditions we have at Christmas come from? We follow these traditions ignorant to their origins or why they became traditions in the first place? Why do we have Christmas trees? What about crackers? Or turkeys? The Queens speech? Father Christmas? How did all these things start?
The Christmas tree comes from Germany however it became popular in England in the 1840’s as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who was German, set the fashion. As the Queen set the fashion everyone started to copy the tradition and still to this day do we put up Christmas trees at Christmas.
The Christmas cracker again became a trend in the 1840’s. It was invented by Tom Smith in 1847, and was first called the cracker bon bon. Later on, he replaced the sweets with presents, trinkets and love messages. His son Walter Smith then added paper hats into the crackers and jokes.
Henry VIII was the first British King to eat a Turkey. Turkeys were a luxury until the 1950’s, until refrigerators became widely available. This is when everyone started eating them at Christmas.
The head of the royal family’s speech originated in 1932 with a radio broadcast by King George V, the message has been read by Queen Elizabeth II since 1952. The Queen typically uses the speech as a chance to reflect on the year and the major events that have occurred throughout it.
The recognisable figure of the English Father Christmas developed in the late Victorian era. He is based on the German Saint St. Nicolas who gave presents to Children. Yet it was not until the Victorian age that Father Christmas was truly revived as the spirit of Christmas. The Victorian Father Christmas embodied elements of all his predecessors and was usually drawn as a jolly, pagan figure in a long, hooded coat- the colour of which could be red, blue, green or brown.
These traditions bring festivity to Christmas and make christmas time special; although the most important thing at Christmas is to spend time with your family and create new memories that will last forever.
