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

There was an important Mistletoe rule for the ladies apparently: Refusing a gentleman's kiss was frowned upon, and doing so could mean NO marriage proposals for at least one year. Sheesh.

Also, the whole "pluck one berry for every kiss" thing had a problem. Once you ran out of berries, the game was over. The Victorians must have thought, "Well, this is BS. We can't be running out of berries." So they tossed the berry rule and...I don't know how to say this, so I'm just gonna say it... Kissing Balls came back into style. Quit laughing ~ it's a thing!

History of the Christmas Kissing Ball

"During the Victorian era, the concept of the kissing ball or holy bough came back but in a different form. People would take a potato or apple and tie a pretty ribbon around it as a hanger. Then they would stick sprigs of evergreen, holly and sweet herbs into the potato or apple until it bristled with them. The resulting "sweet ball" not only looked beautiful, it smelled good too, which was a plus in the days before daily showers!"

"By the end of the 19th century, the kissing ball now symbolized romantic love. It wasn't uncommon to find ballrooms adorned with dozens of decorated kissing balls hanging from the ceiling. One custom had a kissing ball with a sprig of mistletoe hanging from it. This ball would be hung up in a special place at a party. Unmarried maidens would line up and stand underneath, and the unmarried men would line up to kiss the ladies!"

Now you have something interesting to discuss at all your holiday office parties. :smug:

 
Somehow I won't be bringing up the subject of Christmas Kissing Balls at the next party I attend. While it might be an innocent subject, it just might get a little weird. You know how people's minds are, but it was an interesting subject. Thanks @LoriAnn.
Understood.

Hand on heart, it's a lovely traditional thing that we likely have seen at weddings but didn't realize what they were. If you Google the term, they come right up. I didn't know what they were until I started reading up on Mistletoe.
 
Eleanor. I completely agree with LoriAnn that this is another award winning thread. I love the Victorian Age and most of my friends tell me all the time that my thinking and way of life is too Victorian and not in tune with the 21st Century. Incidently, I love all of the historical photographs and information attached to this thread at present. LoriAnn is absolutely correct in that the Germans were the first to use Christmas trees inside their homes. Ironically I just heard that piece of information tonight on a radio program I was listening to earlier this evening. Please continue to provide those wonderful tidbits of Victorian trivia and general knowledge. David.
 
We may have our Germans to thank for that.

"The first Christmas tree was introduced into England in the early 19th century. In 1841 the German Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, decorated a large Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, reminiscent of his childhood celebrations in Germany (the Christmas tree had been a deep-rooted German tradition since the 18th century)."

And here come those candles...

"Soon after, it became a Victorian Christmas tradition in England to set up a large tree at Christmas and decorate it with lighted candles, candies, and fancy cakes hung from the branches by ribbon and by paper chains."

Source

Danke!
Didn't you ever sing "O,Tannenbaum, O,Tannenbaum."
 
Grandma always liked to tell us about the Christmas when my gr. aunt, who would have been eight in 1912, decided that she would light the candles on the tree herself. The outcome was predictable and, fortunately, it was a small tree so when it caught fire they only lost the tree and the curtains. Of course, Grandma had nothing to do with it and, according to her, Aunt Eva was the one who did all the naughty things.
 
And, dare I say it? There were no hours of commercials bombarding the senses
Is that " Maryland My Maryland" in German?
Same tune. Translated, "O, Tannenbaum, O, Tannenbaum" is "Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree". And there is no mention of "Howard's warlike thrust" in "O, Tannenbaum, O, Tannenbaum....
 
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Pinterest

I hesitate to share any more about Victorian Christmas trees and those pesky, but beautiful lighted candles. As @mofederal said, a Christmas tree can "go up very fast. A lot like the deep fried turkey stories." However, I trust that you know this was a tradition from a long time ago and not an idea to try today!

"Cracked mirrors must be taken to the glazier’s, and ask him to cut it into two inch squares. Around the edges and across the backs colored paper must be pasted, and long ribbon loops attached to the backs by which to suspend them behind the tiny wax candles, where they will do duty as reflectors.

Fancy glass balls of all colors can be purchased for a few cents each; and several dozen of colored wax candles, with tin rests to attach them to the tree, can be bought. Self-balancing candle holders can also be found at most toy shops, and need only to be placed on the branches. If these cannot be obtained, common copper wire can be heated a little way, and the other end can be twisted firmly about the branch. If the wicks are brushed over with a little kerosene put on with a camel’s hair brush, they will light very quickly."


Source: The Cottage Hearth, December 1876

Gotta love the times when "fancy glass balls" could "be purchased for a few cents each." However, these folks seemed intent on helping their patrons start a house fire! Yikes!
 
Victorians liked to hang their Christmas gifts on the Christmas tree, at least the light, showy gifts. The heavier gifts were placed on a piano or table or wrapped in paper and arranged around the base of the tree. Any good hostess knew to have a pair of scissors handy to cut the gifts from the branches. I love this description of the finished product:

"When such a tree is trimmed, filled with gifts and lighted, it is indeed a beautiful sight — a graceful green pyramid, with the numberless little jets of flame, trembling and flashing mirrors, garlands of bright hues — all brightness, sparkle and color. Try it, fair friends, and see for yourselves how lovely it is."

Source: The Cottage Hearth, December 1876

christmastreechapman.jpg

Illustration by F.A. Chapman, titled "The Christmas Tree," from the 1866 edition of Christmas Poems and Pictures.
 
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Speaking of history, this is the earliest American image of a Christmas tree. It was done by John Lewis Krimmel (German-born American artist,1786-1821) who was painting in Pennsylvania. A few years after this image was sketched, one of the the earliest known written references to the actual phrase “Christmas tree” occurred in Pennsylvania in 1821, when a father in Lancaster, wrote, that his children had gone to a local mill “for Christmas trees.”

The Christmas tree in American literature was mentioned in a story in the 1836 edition of The Token and Atlantic Souvenir, titled "New Year's Day," by Catherine Maria Sedgwick, where she tells the story of a German maid decorating a tree for her mistress.

Source: It's About Time
 
We mustn't forget the slave's Christmas memories. Their stories are important and significant. The Slave Narratives, a collection of over 20,000 pages of typewritten interviews with more than 3,500 former slaves, collected between 1929-39 is an excellent resource. Those interviewed ranged in age from 1 to 50 at the time of emancipation in 1865. More than 2/3 were over 80 when they were interviewed for this collection.

This is Ellen Butler, born a slave to Richmond Butler, near Whiska Chittein Louisiana and her simple, yet poignant Christmas memory:

Ellen+Butler,+Age+about+78,+ex-slave.jpg


"On Christmas time they give us a meal. I 'member that. I don't 'member no other holidays."

Source: The Slave Narratives
 
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