When we think of a historical Christmas, most of us picture a historical scene complete with a goose or turkey and a Christmas tree lit with candles and strung with toys and lace. You might be surprised to learn that this charming image is largely Victorian and therefore not as ancient as most of us believe. For one thing, the English haven’t always included Christmas trees in their celebration.
Early on, a few people in some parts of England decorated yew trees with small gifts or candy but most English traditions did not include a tree.
The Hanover Influence
Queen Charlotte brought the tradition with her from Germany where Christmas trees had been a part of their tradition, from at least the 1600’s and possibly dating back to the Vikings. The queen decorated a yew tree (with what, I cannot find) and put presents underneath it. In 1800, she decorated a tree at Windsor Castle with candles, fruit, sweetmeats, and toys for the local children.
Albert and Victoria
However, this tradition did become wide-spread until about the 1840’s. Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, also hailed from Germany. After their marriage, he and his young wife decorated the first Christmas tree in Windsor Castle in 1841, using candles, gingerbread, small toys, and candies. They made a small break with tradition by using a spruce fir rather than a yew tree.
The custom spread across England. Before long, all of the English wanted to have Christmas trees just like the queen’s. And shortly thereafter, so did Americans.
Evolution of Tree Decorations
Over time, people started to use more elaborate decorations on their trees, including gingerbread men, marzipan candies, hard candies, cookies, fruit, cotton-batting Santas (a.k.a Father Christmas), paper fans, tin soldiers, whistles, wind-up toys, pine cones, dried fruits, nuts, berries, and trinkets of all kinds. They often hung cornucopias filled with sweets, fruit, nuts, and popcorn on their trees. Small homemade gifts such as tiny hand-stitched dolls or children’s mittens were also popular. Beautiful angels were the tree toppers of choice, and some families set up a Nativity scene under the tree using moss for grass and mirrors for ponds. 
Christmas Balls and Cardboard
By around 1860, people bought German ornaments including glass icicles and hand-blown glass globes called “kugels” which evolved into our modern-day Christmas balls. Here is a picture to the right of a kugel. Isn’t it gorgeous?
Another popular decoration was made of embossed silver and gold cardboard ornaments in a variety of shapes 
called “Dresdens” like the one pictured to the left.
A Real Victorian Tree
Decorating a Victorian tree today would be pretty simple without investing a great deal of money.
Here are a few things you could do to get that old-fashioned, Victorian effect.
1. String popcorn and cranberries to make a garland. My children love to help do this.
2. Shape small paper doilies into cornucopias and fill them with candy.
3. Recycle old Christmas cards. Cut out shapes you like and attach them to the tree with ribbons to make mock Dresdens.
4. Make or buy small cookies to hang on the tree. You can decorate them with glitter if you like. Hairspray works great as a preservative.
5. Fill small mesh bags with colorful candy and tie them with ribbon.
6. Spray nuts in the shell with gold paint and glue a slender cord to them so they’ll hang on the tree.
7. Use electric lights in the shape of candles — some of them even flicker.
8. Decorate the tree with small toys. I love cherubs, another Victorian favorite.
9. Decorative tassels look beautiful on a tree.
10. Use some wide ribbon–Victorians preferred velvet–and shape it into pretty bows or swirls.
11. Fold wrapping paper in the shape of fans and put them on the tree. Kids love to make fans.
12. Add anything made of lace.
Do you have any favorite old family customs you do for Christmas?
Fun research sources:
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a25619292/queen-victoria-prince-albert-christmas-tree-holiday-tradition
How Queen Charlotte and Queen Victoria & Albert introduced the Christmas Tree to Britain
http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com
https://jobev.com/xmasarticle.html
Christmas Traditions from The Regency Era
