Monday, December 7, 2015

A Regency Christmas -- from the newspapers of the time

Information on the Regency experience of Christmas has always been sketchy. Christmas was certainly not the consumer event that it is today. Scrooge,  in the later Victorian era, was not all that unusual--business often took place on the 25th of December. But families still celebrated and often had the latest fashion in decorations--the Christmas tree.
An American picture circa 1812-19 by John Lewis Krimmel

Most Regency celebrations looked back, as we do, to simpler times, and more whole-hearted enjoyments. But in looking through Regency newspapers, I have come up with some of the events and ideas that formed the Regency Christmas.

Friday January 1, 1819  from Chester Chronicle


  
Charity was not neglected...
from Bury and Norwich Advertiser January 4, 1809
Tuesday 27 December 1814,  Morning Post,  London
but the parties were numerous...
26 December 1809,  Morning Post, London
Northampton Mercury, 1809, an account of Christmas at Woburn Abbey 

Wednesday 28 December 1814,  Morning Post,  London,
There were puzzles...
Westmorland Gazette, Friday 31 December 1819
And entertainments...
Manchester Mercury, Tuesday December 26, 1809
And gifts...
Repository of Arts advertisement December 1811
But most of all, there was family, and friends, and joy...and I wish all of these for you...
from the book "Popular Pastimes" published in 1816



















Merry Christmas!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

1 comment:

Gail Eastwood said...

Lovely and interesting post, Lesley-Anne! I love reading period newspapers, too. There's nothing like it to capture a real feeling for the times. Easy way to get lost in time while reading them in a library!