Victorian and Edwardian New Year's resolutions advice

By | December 30th, 2021|Categories: Edwardian Era, Holidays, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: |

I love the fresh start of a new year! I think that even if it is just symbolic, the rare opportunities that we have in life to start a new chapter can be great chances to reevaluate our lives and make changes that ensure we are making the most of our time on this planet. [...]

Victorian New Year's Blessings: Pigs and Clovers

By | December 26th, 2021|Categories: Christmas, Holidays, Victorian culture, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: , , |

When it comes to the holidays, some things change and some things stay very much the same. One thing that has changed since the Victorian era is that fewer cards are now sent for the holidays. While we now typically see mass amounts of cards being sent for Mother’s Day, Christmas, and to a lesser [...]

Snapdragon: Extreme Victorian Parlour Game

By | December 22nd, 2021|Categories: Christmas, Entertainment, History of the home, Holidays, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: , , , |

How do you spend time with family and loved ones over the Christmas holiday? Are there games or traditions that you enjoy? Do any of them involve trying not to catch on fire? In the Victorian era, that is exactly what one could anticipate with the playing of a popular Christmas eve parlour game, snapdragon.  [...]

Holiday Conversation-Starters Roundup

By | December 22nd, 2021|Categories: 19th Century Literature, Christmas, Entertainment, Holidays, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|

I have loved blogging for Recollections for the past two years! One of the things that has been so special is that I have had the chance to do a lot of research into holiday traditions of the past. This has added a lot of depth to my holidays and I noticed at Thanksgiving dinner [...]

The history of mistletoe: from naughty Georgians to a Victorian courting custom

By | December 19th, 2021|Categories: 19th Century Literature, Christmas, Holidays, Victorian culture, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: , , , |

Do you hang mistletoe in your home over the holiday season? Do you know that of all the holiday traditions that have both ancient and pagan roots that this is one is among the oldest? Or that it was ever-so-saucy Victorians that turned it into the kissing ritual as we know it today? The history [...]

The TRUTH about sugar plums

By | December 12th, 2021|Categories: 19th Century Literature, Christmas, Holidays, Victorian Era Celebrations|

The word “sugar plums” automatically puts me into a pure winter romance mood. And yet, like many if not most people, I don’t enjoy my holiday eating them. I have never bought or made them. And having done a lot of research on Christmas traditions from the past, although they are widely referenced, I can’t [...]

A very, merry 1950s Thanksgiving

By | November 21st, 2021|Categories: 1950s Fashions, 1950s fun, Entertainment, History of the home, Holidays|Tags: , |

The 1950s was a fun time for holiday celebrations. The post-war glee was still at a high level and there was an emphasis on domestic life that made for parties and get-togethers that were more festive and creative than they had been in the past. Thanksgiving in the 1950s was an especially great opportunity for [...]

The surprising history of hot chocolate

By | November 11th, 2021|Categories: Christmas, Entertainment, Holidays|Tags: , |

I enjoyed learning about the history of ice skating last week and spent many evenings thinking about what it must have been like to enjoy a night of outdoor skating during the Victorian era. What kept coming to mind were images of bundled-up Victorians enjoying porcelain cups of hot chocolate at some point during their [...]

Fun and Happy Vintage Halloween Images

By | October 17th, 2021|Categories: Entertainment, Halloween, Holidays|Tags: , |

Every Halloween I see blog posts and social media posts go around with images of “creepy vintage Halloween costumes.” I do enjoy reading some of them, especially those that source images involving spiritualism or with images that are new to me. But each year I also start to think to myself about what a fun [...]