RAKES AND RASCALS IS TAKING A CHRISTMAS BREAK

We would like to wish everyone…

Carol and Wendy will be spending time with their families over the holiday period and won’t be around  until 2nd January 2019 when the blog will be up and running again. We would like to thank everyone for their continued support of Rakes and Rascals.  

 

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MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

I’d like to wish everyone…

I will be spending time with my family over the holiday period and won’t be around  until 2nd January 2018, when the blog will be up and running again. I’d like to thank all my readers for their continued support of Rakes and Rascals.  

 

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I’M TAKING A LONGER CHRISTMAS BREAK

I am taking a longer break from blogging this year as I am spending the next few days with my lovely friend, Wendy Loveridge, and the Christmas Holidays with my husband and son.

The blog will be up and running again on 2^nd January 2017.

I’d like to thank everyone for their continued support of Rakes and Rascals and I hope you all enjoy the festivities and I’d like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

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I’M TAKING A CHRISTMAS BREAK

I will be spending time with my family over the holiday period and won’t be around on my blog until 4^th January 2016.  I hope everyone enjoys the festivities and wish you all a very Happy New Year!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

I will be spending time with my family over the holiday period and won’t be around on my blog until after 1st January 2015. So I’d like to thank everyone for their continued support and wish you all…

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MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

I will be spending time with my family over the holiday period and won’t be around to post anything further on my blog until after 1st January 2014. So I’d like to wish you all…

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BLAME THE VICTORIANS FOR CHRISTMAS TREES, CARDS AND CRACKERS!

Here in the UK, many of our Christmas traditions have their origins firmly in the Victorian era, particularly the Christmas tree, Christmas cards and Christmas crackers.

CHRISTMAS TREE

Modern Christmas tree

No-one was more influential in popularising the Christmas tree than Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. The Christmas tree had been a German tradition since the 17^th century and, when the German Prince Albert came to England to marry Victoria, he bought this tradition with him to remind him of his homeland.

In 1848, the Illustrated London News published a drawing of the Royal Family celebrating at Windsor Castle around a Christmas tree, beautifully decorated with candles, sweets, dried fruits and homemade ornaments. The following year, leading society hostesses vied with each other to produce the most lavishly decorated tree and it wasn’t long before the rest of the country followed suit.

Christmas tree at Windsor Castle from ‘The Illustrated London News’ Christmas supplement (1848)

 

CHRISTMAS CARDS

The tradition of sending Christmas cards also has its origin in the Victorian era. The first cards were sent in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole, head of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He was too busy to write the customary lengthy letters, so he commissioned artist John Callcott Horsley to design 1,000 cards, illustrated with a festive scene on the front and printed with the greeting, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You”.

The world’s first commercially produced Christmas card, designed by John Callcott Horsley for Henry Cole. The central picture showed three generations of a family raising a toast to the card’s recipient: on either side were scenes of charity, with food and clothing being given to the poor.  Allegedly the image of the family drinking wine together proved controversial.

Costing one shilling each, the cards were far too expensive for ordinary Victorians. It wasn’t until 1870, when postage was reduced to one half penny per ounce and cheaper colour printing became available, that the sending of Christmas cards became hugely popular.

Christmas card circa 1870

Christmas card circa 1885

 

CHRISTMAS CRACKERS

Illustration of children pulling a cracker from ‘The Graphic Christmas’, 1878

The invention of the Christmas cracker is attributed to Thomas Smith, a London sweet shop owner.  A very forward thinking man, he often travelled abroad in search of new ideas. It was on a trip to Paris in 1840 that French bon-bons (sugared almonds), wrapped in coloured tissue paper with a twist at each end, caught his eye. He decided to introduce them in London but they were not as popular as he had hoped. For the next seven years, he worked at creating something more innovative. Then one night, while he was sitting in front of his fire watching the logs crackle, he came up with the idea of creating a similar crackle when the fancy wrappers were pulled in half. He made a larger coloured paper wrapper and put in it another strip of paper impregnated with chemicals which, when rubbed, created enough friction to produce a noise. Gradually, the sweets were replaced with small gifts and paper hats in the late Victorian period and remain in this form as an essential part of Christmas today.

Modern crackers

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MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I’m off to spend Christmas and New Year with my family and won’t be posting anything on my blog until after 1st January 2013. So to everyone…

 

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