Welcome to our newest feature, Journey through Christmases Past. This series is a nostalgic celebration of the holidays we all remember...
- The history and traditions of the holiday.
- The décor that filled our homes.
- The toys that defined each decade.
- The television and movie shows that brightened the season.
- The outfits we adored (and the ones we definitely didn’t).
There are a few hours left in this Sunday, so it looks like it is time for another Journey through Christmases Past post. Only 104 more days until Christmas! By this time next week, we will be down to double digits. How does that make you feel? Here, the mantle is still awaiting its fall decorations, but I am getting there a bit at a time.
This week, we are traveling way back to the year 1813. The Napoleonic Wars have been raging for a decade. The Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, is still a year away from being signed. Late in October, the Treaty of Golestān will be signed to end the first Russo-Persian War. Early in December, French forces will besiege Hamburg, Germany. Fifteen days before Christmas, the residents of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) in Upper Canada watch as their houses burn to the ground.
In contrast to the darker moments of 1813, the literary world produced memorable chapters in history:
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is published in January.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge's play Remorse: A Tragedy in Five Acts premieres in January.
- Robert Southey is named Poet Laureate, a title he holds until his death in 1843.
- The Philomathean Society is founded.
In music, the Philharmonic Society of London is founded. In December, Beethoven's Seventh Symphony premieres at the University of Vienna in Austria as a benefit for Austrian and Allied veterans of the Napoleonic Wars.
The Christmas of 1813 was deeply shaped by troubling times across the globe. For some, it was a season of displacement and fear. Still decades from becoming a major national holiday, Christmas was modest and focused on family. Decorations were minimal and taken from the natural elements around them: evergreen branches and boughs, holly and mistletoe, fruits, and nuts. Tallow and beeswax candles glowed from their holders in the window.
Some of these traditions have been carried forward into modern times. No longer flame-lit candles, we see LED candles flickering their artificial flames through windows, calling us home. Garlands of faux evergreen frame hearths and doorways or wrap around lampposts and railings, inviting nature and texture indoors. Families still make pomanders and paper chains. Homemade gifts continue to find their way under the tree. In these enduring traditions, the spirit of Christmas still finds us, offering the same quiet comfort it did centuries ago.
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