A Victorian Christmas
This year we decided to take a Victorian Christmas as our theme. We learned a lot about how people would have celebrated Christmas in Victorian times and we had a great time making our decorations.
Sometimes we go to Gawthorpe Hall to experience a Victorian Christmas but, as we couldn’t do that this year, we’ve found this video to put us in the Victorian Christmas mood. Imagine walking through this house in your fine clothes at Christmas.
Food
Just like today, Victorians liked to celebrate Christmas with great food. There were similarities but also differences – for instance turkey would be eaten, but not usually as the main meat. It was often boned and stuffed, and may have been served as a starter.
Plum pudding featured on
Victorian menus and it was during Victoria’s reign that it was given the name, Christmas Pudding. In the video you can see it being made to an original Victorian recipe.
Toys
Toys were very different in Victorian times & there was also a great divide between richer and poorer children’s toys.
Singing
Singing was also a great part of Christmas entertainment – there was no sitting watching a Christmas film together in those days, but richer families often gathered around a piano to sing. Many of the carols we sing today were sung in Victorian times – although you may find that the tunes have changed considerably.
Of course, no Victorian 
Christmas is complete without a reading of the very famous Charles Dickens’ novel, ‘A Christmas Carol’. Featuring three ghosts who visit Scrooge to help him change his ways, Dickens wrote it in just six weeks in 1843. The story had great effect on all who read it and continues to do so today.