"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" - Victorian Style

Cookies-Holiday-Ornaments-GTL1206-de.jpg


Another homemade Christmas gift that the Victorians enjoyed was making dough ornaments. They looked like cookies, but they were not meant to be eaten. The "recipe" is easy:

1 Mix 3 cups of flour, 3/4 cup of salt and 1-1/4 cups water.
2 As you mix the ingredients together, take care that the dough remains very stiff. If the dough becomes sticky while you’re kneading it, add flour to it.
3 Coat a rolling pin with a light dusting of flour and roll out the dough as you would if you were making edible cookies.
4 Use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes you want for your ornaments. (Popular shapes in the nineteenth century were angels, animals and children.)
5 Cut a hole in the top of each ornament so that you can pass ribbon through it later when you want to hang it.
6 Once everything is cut out, bake your ornaments at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours. Do not start painting (most people today paint with acrylics) until the ornaments are completely cool.
7 Poke a ribbon through the hole at the top and hang it on your tree or wherever you wish.

Source: Jessica Jewett Online
 
candycane.png


According to America's National Confectioners Association, August Imgard, a German-Swedish immigrant, used candy canes to decorate a small Christmas tree in Wooster, Ohio in 1847. It was approximately 50 years later when red stripes finally appeared in candy canes. No one seems to know who first added the stripes but, Christmas cards prior to 1900 show that before the turn of the century, candy canes were available in only one color — white. Around that same time, peppermint was added as flavoring.

Source: America's National Confectioners Association
 
Homemade gift ideas included greeting cards, knitted mittens (@LoriAnn), embroidered bed slippers and handkerchiefs, stenciled lampshades, hand-painted button boxes and a hand-stitched black apron for a lady in mourning.
I've done the mittens and the embroidered handkerchief so far.

But remember, kids...Christmas is no time for being indelicate. Special handmade gifts were for ones closest to your heart. So don't be handin' out your 2x2 rib and 6 stitch cables to just anyone, or the ladies will be gossiping about you and your strumpet stitches next Sunday at church. :redcarded:

The button box idea is adorable! I think I may consider this in the future, and I might make some fabric buttons to include.
 
Our Victorians loved flowers as many of us do today. Thus, the poinsettia is a favorite Christmas decoration. In 1828, Joel R. Poinsett, then U.S. ambassador to Mexico, was introduced to the plant and brought it back with him to America. Poinsett's love of botany led him to cultivate the plant at his home in South Carolina and share specimens of it with friends and botanists. The plant was later christened the 'poinsettia' in honor of the first American to discover it, and in 1836 Congress declared December 12 National Poinsettia Day to commemorate the death of Joel Poinsett.

Source: Altogether Christmas

edf4c80dbcb4de75263f05d89d215f33.jpg

Pinterest
 
I've done the mittens and the embroidered handkerchief so far.

But remember, kids...Christmas is no time for being indelicate. Special handmade gifts were for ones closest to your heart. So don't be handin' out your 2x2 rib and 6 stitch cables to just anyone, or the ladies will be gossiping about you and your strumpet stitches next Sunday at church. :redcarded:

The button box idea is adorable! I think I may consider this in the future, and I might make some fabric buttons to include.

Love your new avatar by the way!
 
Did you know that the names of Santa's team of eight flying reindeer were established in the poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas," published in 1823? However, it wasn't until 1939 that the character of Rudolph, "the most famous reindeer of all", was first introduced. @christian soldier, I hope you enjoy this piece of Christmas trivia.

Source: The History of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

rudolph.jpg

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1939
Source: Shiloh Museum of Ozark History
 
Did you know that the names of Santa's team of eight flying reindeer were established in the poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas," published in 1823? However, it wasn't until 1939 that the character of Rudolph, "the most famous reindeer of all", was first introduced. @christian soldier, I hope you enjoy this piece of Christmas trivia.

Source: The History of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

View attachment 169907
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1939
Source: Shiloh Museum of Ozark History
Eleanor. As always. I enjoyed this immensely. Thank You. Keep up the Good Work. David.
 
This is not strictly period, but if one wanted to dust one's Christmas with a little more Victorian influence (more than what we do already, that is): Victorian Trading Co.

From fashion, beauty, and jewelry to items for the home and garden, this site has an interesting variety. Nice range of prices too.

* They have calling cards! I don't know why I'm so charmed by this, but I am.

* It's Raining Men umbrella. (Kidding. Though that's what I would have called it.)

* "Cheeky" note cards. For some giggles.

* Ornaments, including chocolate mice. :unsure:

* I actually own this parasol. They come in handy during summer events.

* Mistletoe wreath :whistling:

* Ladies, your elegant Christmas card for next year? I might start sending them out with this beauty.
 
Last edited:
This is not strictly period, but if one wanted to dust one's Christmas with a little more Victorian influence (more than what we do already, that is): Victorian Trading Co.

From fashion, beauty, and jewelry to items for the home and garden, this site has an interesting variety. Nice range of prices too.

* They have calling cards! I don't know why I'm so charmed by this, but I am.

* It's Raining Men umbrella. (Kidding. Though that's what I would have called it.)

* "Cheeky" note cards. For some giggles.

* Ornaments, including chocolate mice. :unsure:

* I actually own this parasol. They come in handy during summer events.

* Mistletoe wreath :whistling:

* Ladies, your elegant Christmas card for next year? I might start sending them out with this beauty.
The cheeky note cards was a surprise but should I expect anything else from you @LoriAnn .
 
I'm rather enamored with the Scarves & Wraps section. I don't know what's period and what is kind of stretching it. I may have to do a forum search to see if this topic has been covered already. And if not, I may have to dig into this myself.

Shawls were something I had never even considered wearing until I knit my first one. Now I love shawls, wraps, etc.

And in keeping with the theme of this thread, a shawl or wrap would have been a much more intimate gift considering how long a woman would keep one. So darnit, Harold...pass up that Merlot Peacock Wrap. Find Myrtle some nice scented soaps and give the girl a little breathing room already!
 
Christmas is almost here folks!
I started sharing Victorian Christmas fun facts with extended family members today (whether they wanted to hear it or not :D ). Based on their reactions...

Biggest surprise so far: No plums in sugar plums. It's funny how shocked everyone is. They're like, "WHAT?!"

Least surprising fact: The paper chain was common decoration back then. I was surprised. My family wasn't.

Most interesting fact: A book is considered an "intimate" gift.

Biggest chuckle: Getting a perishable item means you aren't on the hook with the giver for long.

Best phrase: "A bribe upon your affections" (I knew that would be popular.)
 
I started sharing Victorian Christmas fun facts with extended family members today (whether they wanted to hear it or not :D ). Based on their reactions...

Biggest surprise so far: No plums in sugar plums. It's funny how shocked everyone is. They're like, "WHAT?!"

Least surprising fact: The paper chain was common decoration back then. I was surprised. My family wasn't.

Most interesting fact: A book is considered an "intimate" gift.

Biggest chuckle: Getting a perishable item means you aren't on the hook with the giver for long.

Best phrase: "A bribe upon your affections" (I knew that would be popular.)

I was shocked to learn there were no plums in sugar plums. Who knew??? Something about, "A bribe upon your affections," is oddly romantic.
 
Back
Top