Victorian Family at Christmas (set of six)

Here we have an upper class English family celebrating the kind of Christmas that is still depicted on cards and calendars today.

Victorian Father at Christmas

Prince Albert is credited with making the Christmas Tree popular in England and so we have here Father with the Tree.

Victorian Mother at Christmas

Mother holds a holly wreath.

Victorian Boy at Christmas

This lucky Victorian boy holds some of the first Christmas crackers, which were invented in 1846 by Tom Smith, a London sweet maker, as a unique presentation for his wares. Crackers became more popular when he added love notes, paper hats, and of course the ingenious device that made them go Bang!

Victorian Girl at Christmas

This Victorian girl is pictured with her newly opened presents. At the start of Victoria’s reign, toys were still handmade and very expensive, but mass production throughout the nineteenth century made it more and more affordable for middle class children to receive games, dolls, books or clockwork toys. A poor child, of course, would have to be content with an orange or some nuts in their stocking - if they were very lucky!

Victorian Butler at Christmas

All rich Victorian households had servants, of course. Boxing Day was so named because this was the day when servants and other workers received their “Christmas Box,” a gift of money from their employers. This cheerful Butler holds 2 glasses of Christmas Cheer.

Victorian Maid at Christmas

The Maid holds the sumptuous Christmas Pudding. This concoction of suet, breadcrumbs, raisins and spices was stirred up at the beginning of Advent (it was lucky for everyone who had a stir, so even the privileged folk went down to the kitchens for this event) and boiled in beef broth on Christmas Day. Thimbles, rings and coins were sometimes stirred into the mixture - and the lucky person whose slice contained one of these charms would have good fortune.

Victorian Carol Singers (set of five)

Our Victorian Carol Singers are rugged up for the snowy weather with hats, scarves, and muffs as they clutch their music sheets. While the carol singers on Christmas cards are invariably fine ladies and gentlemen, in reality many of them were beggars who were certainly not welcome at the door! But Victorians loved their music, and many old medieval carols and anthems were revived at this time, and sung in the streets in the hope of receiving a cup of cider or mulled wine.

Victorian Carol Singer Gent

This gentleman carries the candle lantern to light the way for the carol singers. The lantern is a traditional Christmas icon mainly because of its association with the carol singers of the Victorian era, who are often pictured as struggling through the wintry streets to share their music.

Victorian Carol Singer Lady

This lady is rugged up warm for the snowy weather with her muff and scarf. Victorian Christmases were very cold, and snow is associated with the festival even in countries where Christmas happens in summer!

Victorian Carol Singer Boy

This Victorian boy looks rather hungry! Traditionally, gifts of food and drink would be offered to the carol singers in return for their music.

Victorian Carol Singer Girl

This Victorian girl holds music sheets in the hope she won’t forget the words! There were so many Christmas songs, both religious and historical, heard in the streets at this time of year, and the new publishing industry made the song notes available more widely than ever before.

Victorian Carol Singer Small Girl

This tiny Victorian girl is trying to keep up with the bigger children. Surely she's too young to be out in the snow! Like her brother and sister, she carries her music sheets.

Father Christmas

The Victorians depicted Father Christmas in many colours, always with a benign bearded face, a decorated tree and a sack of toys. This is one of our favourites: a gown of holly green, a reindeer staff and a head wreath of mistletoe and ivy. This green Father Christmas represented the hope of coming spring, and comes from a different tradition than the red-garbed Santa.

Christmas Angel

Our Christmas Angel is gowned in white and gold and carries a snowflake.

Christmas Cherub

Our Christmas Cherub is gowned in white and gold and carries a lighted candle.