Retro Holiday

If you love the look of vintage Christmas decorations, you might enjoy knowing some of the background of all of our different Christmas traditions. It wasn't always the case that we decorated our homes with Christmas trees, stockings and colored lights. You can thank Germany and Queen Victoria of Great Britain for many of the holiday traditions that we celebrate today.

The Christmas tree was not a British innovation, but history has it that the German husband of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, brought and introduced the Christmas tree from Germany to the United Kingdom in the 1840s. From Windsor castle, the tree's popularity spread rapidly, becoming even more popular in the US than it ever was in England, and now the Christmas tree is practically synonymous with Christmas, even though were banned by the Puritans as being far too pagan in its symbolism.

While evergreen trees have been ever popular as Christmas trees, we did go through a period when fake trees were all the rage -- it was extremely popular during the modern era - 50s, 60s and into the early 70s -- to use an aluminum Christmas tree for decorating. And while real trees are back in style, in today's homes you can find quite a large variety, everything from vintage aluminum Christmas trees, to real evergreens to artificial trees that are pre-lit, all you need to do is put them together.

But our Christmas decorating and celebrating doesn't end with the Christmas tree. How about the Christmas cracker? Two London-based sweets makers, James Hovell and Tom Smith invented Christmas crackers in 1846. The confectionery makers wrapped their sweets in colored paper twisted around the shaft. The wrapped candies became further popular when love notes, small toys and other bits and pieces were also tucked inside the crackers.

While Christmas crackers are not very common in the US, they are still quite popular in Britain and Australia. You also can find them in US stores if you know what you are looking for -- I've seen them at Target, Walmart and Macys, as well as lots of other stores.

The traditional visitations of carol singers also started in England during the Victorian era. Popular Christmas carols became crowd favorites. Among them were 'O Come All Ye Faithful', 'See Amid the Winters Snow' and 'O Little Town of Bethlehem'.

The next time you exchange gifts with friends and family, remember that the traditional Christmas practice was started during the Victorian era. During the reign of Queen Victoria, the middle class people started making hand-made toys that were then given to children for free on Christmas Day.

The hugely popular Santa Claus is a very characteristic Victorian tradition, as well. In England, Santa Claus was first known as Father Christmas, who was committed to giving out gifts to children on the eve of Christmas Day.

These are just a few examples of the more celebrated Victorian Christmas traditions. They surely add color and fun to everyone's Christmas.