What comes to mind when you picture a Victorian Christmas. I picture ladies in woolen cloaks and rich velvet hats and hand muffs. I see carriages carrying families to their parent's home for Christmas dinner. I can smell roast turkey or duck, plum pudding and rum punch. In homes everywhere, fires are crackling, chestnuts are roasting and children stare at the lit candles on the Christmas tree. Snow is falling and everywhere you look, you see a Currier and Ives drawing.

Of course, the richer the home, the merrier the time but Christmas had the magic of making even the most meager home festive and warm. Just ask Bob Cratchitt! Scrooges and Cratchitts alike could not escape the magic in the air at Christmas!

Every year I watch a version (and sometimes several!) of the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It may be one of the many made-for-TV versions that are offered at holiday time. My favorite though is the old Alistair Sims version. The "Muppet's Christmas Carol" version is also quite cute as well. Yes, you can call me a kid at heart. I also enjoy reading the actual story. It is a timeless tale of the rich vs the poor and that money does not necessarily bring happiness.

Victorian England took Christmas customs of other lands and added some of their own creating a legacy that we use to celebrate today. Some things have changed. The greeting "Happy Christmas" has become "Merry Christmas" here in America. Father Christmas became Santa Claus. By watching film versions of the Christmas Carol as stated above or the Sherlock Holmes's Mysteries episode - "The Blue Carbuncle" you can catch a glimpse of Christmases in the 1800's.

I could do some extensive research into customs and festivities of that era but I found a wonderful websites of all things Victorian which do a much better job than I could ever do. If you are so interested, then please continue your exploration by clicking the links below.