|
Christmas Dinner
During Victorian times in northern England roast beef was traditional for Christmas dinner while in London and the south, goose was favourite. Many poor people had to make do with rabbit.
In contrast Queen Victoria and her family had both beef and Swan for Christmas dinner in 1840
In the main course of the traditional Christmas dinner there are 956 calories, if you add Christmas pudding there's an additional 423 calories! The average person will need to walk 14 miles to burn off the calories!
At the start of the 1900s Turkeys used to start their journey in October, they were made special leather shoes and they were then made to walk 80 miles from the Norfolk farms to London. When they arrived they were scrawny and then spent the final few weeks before Christmas feasting to fatten up.
Boxing Day
26 December was traditionally known as St Stephen's Day, but is now more commonly known as Boxing Day. The new name relates to the money collected in alms-boxes in churches in the run up to Christmas, which was distributed to the poor after Christmas.
Christmas Slogan
The long serving slogan "A dog is for life, not just for Christmas" is 30 years old this Christmas time. It was first thought up in 1978 by Clarissa Baldwin who was chief executive of Dogs Trust. Back in 1978 one in five of all dogs was a gift, today that number is one in fifty!
Christmas Crackers
Tom Smith, a London sweet maker in 1846, invented Christmas crackers. He started by wrapping his sweets in a twist of fancy coloured paper, but found that they sold better when he added small toys, hats and love notes in them and even better when they made a big bang sound!
|
|
'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...
How to live in a world that's politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to "Elves".
"Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.
And labour conditions at the North Pole
were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,
Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear
That Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid
Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!
The runners had been removed from his sleigh;
The ruts were termed dangerous by the E.P.A.
And people had started to call for the cops
When they heard sled noises on their rooftops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened.
His fur trimmed red suit was called "Unenlightened."
And to show you the strangeness of life's ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorised use of his nose
And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,
Demanding millions in over-due compensation.
So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,
Who suddenly said she'd enough of this life,
Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,
Demanding from now on her title was Ms.
And as for the gifts, why, he'd never had a notion
That making a choice could cause so much commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,
Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.
Nothing that might be construed to pollute.
Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot.
Nothing that clamoured or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls, or just for the boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.
Nothing that's warlike or non-pacifistic.
No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.
And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,
Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.
For they raised the hackles of those psychological
Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.
No baseball, no football...someone could get hurt;
Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe;
And Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.
So Santa just stood there, dishevelled, perplexed;
He just could not figure out what to do next.
He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,
But you've got to be careful with that word today.
His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground;
Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.
Something special was needed, a gift that he might
Give to all without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision,
Each group of people, every religion;
Every ethnicity, every hue,
Everyone, everywhere...even you.
So here is that gift, it's price beyond worth...
May you and your loved ones, enjoy peace on Earth.
|
|
A Victorian Christmas
(Celebrating Christmas in the early 1900s)
At first, Christmas trees were small and stood on a table. The father carefully picked out the best tree, chopped it down and took it home. Setting up the tree was called "planting" it and decorating the tree was called "dressing it".
It was a happy time for children. The Christmas tree was decorated with small toys, candies, cookies, fruit and nuts, paper cutouts, popcorn strings and candles. Before electricity, trees had candles. Lighting the candles was an adult's job and a bucket of water was always kept close by. Candles were probably lit only once or twice.
Stockings were hung by the fireplace. Children could hardly wait to see what Santa had left in their stockings .
Christmas was a time for families to get together. On Christmas day, the father usually handed out the gifts. Many of the gifts were home made. Children would make gifts for father (scarf, socks), mother (embroidered handkerchief, pincushion), brothers (top, mittens), sisters (bookmarks) and grandparents (fudge).
A hobby horse was a popular gift for both boys and girls.
One of the presents would likely be a handmade sled. Children would anxiously wait for the chance to test out their new sled .
Dads often spent many hours carving toy animals for their children.
Girls would be given dolls, homemade cradles, and handsewn blankets and doll clothes. Furniture, such as a rocker, were also homemade.
Later when more stores opened, people would buy gifts like dolls, doll houses, tea sets and sewing kits for the girls. For the boys. they would buy farm sets, train sets, rocking horses, toy guns and toy soldiers.
The parlour was where the family and guests gathered to celebrate. After the gifts were opened, the rest of the day was for games and activities for the whole family. There was lots of good food to eat. If the weather was nice, they would go skating, sledding or have a snowball fight.
Calling on the neighbors and caroling was also done during the Christmas season. When people went out visiting, homemade gifts were given to the hosts.
|
|
Children, and everyone, had such small expectations in those days, no great big lists gleaned from the Argos catalogues for them!
Did you know that Tom Smith's Crackers were made here in Norwich. I think I am right in saying that when the factory closed a few years ago, there was a diamond ring in the safe that someone had sent to be enclosed in a cracker as a proposal but for some reason they didn't come and collect it or the address wasn't enclosed so it never got to the person it was intended for. I can't remember what happened to it now.
Lizx
Here we are, I just googled...
How Crackers Evolved
At the turn of the Century the demand for crackers and especially those which celebrated current trends and events, was high. After Tom Smith's death, his three sons set about developing the cracker designs, contents and mottoes. Walter Smith, the youngest son, introduced a topical note to the mottoes which had previously been love verses. The original early Victorian mottoes were mainly love verses such as this one:
The sweet crimson rose with its beautiful hue is not half so deep as my passion for you.
Eventually these love verses were replaced by more complicated puzzles and cartoons and finally by the corny jokes and riddles which characterize our crackers today. Special writers were commissioned to compose snappy and relevant maxims with references to every important event or craze of the time. The important events included everything from Greyhounds to Jazz, Frothblowers to Tutankhamen, Persian Art to the Riviera.
Walter also introduced the paper hats, many of which were elaborate and made of the best quality tissue paper on proper hat makers stands. He also toured the world to find new, relevant and unusual ideas for the surprise gifts. Some example of these unusual gifts included bracelets from Bohemia, tiny wooden barrels from America and scarf pins from Saxony. Some contents were also assembled in the factory like the thousands of tiny pill boxes filled with rouge complete with powder puff.
The Tom Smith factory was now able to fulfil special orders for both companies and individuals. Records show an order for a six foot cracker to decorate Euston Station in London. In 1927, a gentleman wrote the Company enclosing a diamond engagement ring and a 10 shilling note as payment for the ring to be put in a special cracker for his fiance´e. Unfortunately, he did not enclose an address and never contacted the Company again.
have a look on here: http://www.christmasarchives.com/crackers.html
|
|
The Night before Christmas for Mums.
It was the night before Christmas, when all through the abode
Only one creature was stirring, and she was cleaning the commode.
The children were finally sleeping, all snug in their beds,
While visions of PSP's and Barbie, flipped through their heads.
The dad was snoring in front of the TV,
With a half-constructed bicycle on his knee.
So only the mum heard the reindeer hooves clatter,
Which made her sigh, "Now what's the matter?"
With toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,
She descended the stairs, and saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes and soot, which fell with a shrug.
"Oh great," muttered the mum, "Now I have to clean the rug."
"Ho-ho-ho!" cried Santa, "I'm glad you're awake."
"Your gift was especially difficult to make."
"Thanks, Santa, but all I want is some time alone."
"Exactly!" he chuckled, "I've made you a clone."
"A clone?" she asked, "What good is that?
Run along, Santa, I've no time for chit-chat."
The mother's twin. Same hair, same eyes,
Same double chin.
"She'll cook, she'll dust," She'll mop every mess.
You'll relax, take it easy, Watch The Young & the Restless." "Fantastic!" the mum cheered. "My dream come true!
"I'll shop. I'll read., I'll sleep a whole night through! "
From the room above, the youngest began to fret.
"Mummy?! I scared... and I am wet."
The clone replied, "I'm coming, sweetheart."
"Hey," the mum smiled, "She knows her part."
The clone changed the small one, and hummed a tune,
as she bundled the child, in a blanket cocoon.
"You the best mummy ever. " I really love you."
The clone smiled and sighed, "I love you, too."
The mum frowned and said, "Sorry, Santa, no deal. "
That's my child's love, she's trying to steal."
Smiling wisely Santa said, "To me it is clear, "
Only one loving mother, is needed here."
The mum kissed her child, and tucked her into bed.
"Thank you, Santa, for clearing my head.
I sometimes forget, it won't be very long,
When they'll be too old, for my cradle-song."
The clock on the mantle began to chime.
Santa whispered to the clone, "It works every time."
With the clone by his side Santa said, "Goodnight. Merry Christmas, Mum, You'll be all right."
|
|
Carol, that was lovely.
Lizx
|
