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.  [...]

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 [...]

L. Frank Baum's Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

By | July 20th, 2021|Categories: Christmas, Entertainment, Holidays, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: , , |

Did you know that Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum wrote an entire novel on the life and times of Santa Claus? I had never heard this before and came across a reference to it while doing some online research on the history of Mother Goose. The novel, The Life and Adventures of Santa [...]

The anatomy of a perfect Mrs. Claus costume

By | July 10th, 2021|Categories: Christmas, Entertainment, Holidays, Women's History|Tags: , , , |

Christmas in July is here! While many of us will be celebrating with warm pool parties or cocktail get-togethers, it is also a great occasion to start putting together a Mrs. Claus costume to use later in the year. I know a lot of our readers enjoy dressing up, and the world can use more [...]

The 12 Days of Christmas: more than just a song

By | December 10th, 2020|Categories: Christmas|Tags: , |

In thinking about what topics to cover this holiday season I thought that researching a popular song or two may be fun, and The 12 Days of Christmas was the first that came to mind. A song with maids-a-milking, pear trees, pipers piping, and swans must have an interesting background, right? I have been delighted [...]

It's a Wonderful Life: fun facts and setting the record straight

By | December 3rd, 2020|Categories: Christmas, Holidays|Tags: |

Despite being the story of a man down on his luck who is contemplating suicide, It’s a Wonderful Life is considered a feel-good Christmas film for all ages. While I think it has more adult themes than we give it credit for (the black and white tends to cast a quaint impression on a lot [...]

A Victorian Christmas party

By | November 27th, 2020|Categories: Christmas, Holidays, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: , , , |

The Victorians knew how to celebrate Christmas! During the reign of Queen Victoria, the holiday grew more popular with each passing year, becoming a national holiday in America in 1870. A good majority of the traditions we enjoy today were either started or popularized during the late 1800s and early 1900s, though in some ways [...]

The history of Advent calendars

By | November 22nd, 2020|Categories: Christmas, Holidays, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: , , |

Do you count down the days to Christmas with an Advent calendar? What kind? The Advent calendar is a holiday tradition with historic roots that seems to be increasing in popularity each year. There are now the beloved Trader Joe’s version, versions with tiny bottles of booze, luxury versions, numerous food Advent calendars, versions with [...]