Covid Christmas; The Bright Side
Looking for the bright side of celebrating a Covid Christmas? You're in luck! Many of us won't be able to celebrate in our usual ways, making it the perfect time to bring back some ye old Holiday traditions that have fallen to the wayside over the years. Join me on a journey into Christmas past (there might be a reason why some of these traditions are not currently in practice!)
Tradition 1: TERRIFY YOUR CHILDREN with a good old fashioned Christmas ghost story! The Victorians loved the spooky and scary which took precedence at Christmas over our current warm fuzzies. The Victorians set many of our current cultural Holiday ideals, but this one didn't make the cut...
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| Victorian Holiday revelers (Getty Images) |
Tradition 2: DITCH YOUR TREE! Not many people outside of Germany used to decorate trees but that changed when a sketch of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was published in 1848. The image was titled "Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle." After that, we all had to have one (but not before!)
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| (image credit: British Library Board) |
Tradition 3: SLEEP WITH A FRUITCAKE! Holiday revelers of the 17th century believed that if you placed some fruitcake under your pillow, you would dream of the person you will marry. Sweet Dreams!
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| yummy and comfortable fruit cake (image credit: Elise Bauers) |
Tradition 4: PICTURE SANTA AS NOT HUMAN! Santa was always thought of as a gnome or elf (Which makes a lot more sense when you think of him coming down the chimney). But that all changed in 1938 when a Coca-Cola advertisement depicted him as a full grown human grandpa. And that has been our Santa image ever since. (The power of advertising!)
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| (image credit: Coca-Cola) |
Tradition 5: MAKE SANTA'S HELPERS SINISTER (Your kids will love this)! Before our modern adoption of cute elves, The Saint Nick mythology was a bit more creepy. These characters would walk around with Santa and dole out the punishment. Krampus, one of these helpers, was a horned goat-demon who punished naughty children. Krampus can still be seen today in Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Slovakia.
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| An ACTUAL 1900's greeting card reading "Greetings from Krampus!" |
Tradition 6: REINSTATE A LORD OF MISRULE (Or if Scottish, "Abbot of Unreason"). In English mid-evil courts it was popular for a jester or clown to become mayor of the city for the Christmas season. He would then suggest ridiculous thing that everyone would have to do. Apparently Henry VIII didn't find the raucous celebration very amusing and it was banned in 1541.
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| "The Abbot of Unreason" by George Cruikshank |
Tradition 7: HIDE STRING BEANS IN YOUR CHRISTMAS CAKE. Advent used to be a time of restraint (like Lent). The Christmas season didn't begin until Christmas Eve and ran to Epiphany (January 6th). The biggest celebrations were held on the final day, known as the "Twelfth Night." One of the traditions on this night was to serve a cake with something in it (like a green bean or a coin). Whoever was the lucky person to find the item in their cake got to lead the festivities for that night.
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| (Shutterstock image) |
I hope you enjoyed our journey into Christmas past and feel inspired for your upcoming festivities. Although these traditions have mostly been forgotten, there are lingering remnants of them in today's culture: We DO still enjoy terrifying our children during the Holidays...
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| (Pinterest image) |
If you want to learn more, check out Brian Earl's amazing Christmas Past pod cast or The Christmas Past YouTube Channel.
Text by FPAN Staff: Robbie Boggs