The Victorians are often credited with the invention of Christmas as we know it. That’s because the culture of Christmas was transformed during this period and expanded into a major holiday. It’s when several familiar Christmas staples emerged, such as decorated trees, cards and crackers.
While shop windows would be full of enticing commodities, and periodicals gave readers advice on what kinds of gifts to purchase (surrounded by columns of advertisements for new things to buy), the Victorians were also mindful of the excesses of the season and its injurious effect on their pockets.
Writing nostalgically about Christmas-time in the 1860s, even novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, the author of Vanity Fair, observed that it’s an excessive – and expensive – time of year. While young people gathered around the tree to enjoy toys and sweets, Thackeray would find himself worrying about bills and settling accounts.
