So, this is Christmas

Today's world would be a strange and frightening place for our Victorian forebears, yet, on Christmas Day, they would still feel right at home, says

- John Mueller

CHRISTMAS is reassuringly infused with comforting traditions. Cards start fluttering in, Father Christmases appear soon after, a tree is erected and the celebrated (or despised) pudding is finally consumed on December 25. Remarkably, a great deal of these traditions stem not only from one era, but also from the same source: the Victorians practically invented Christmas as we know it. Mix that with a bit of paganism and capitalism to get a uniquely British celebration of a Christian festival.

The need to brighten up our homes during the dark season is probably as old as humanity. Our pagan ancestors used evergreen twigs and lights during the winter months as a symbol of life and hope. These qualities made the same decorations a suitable representation of the birth of Christ, marked at about the time of the winter solstice. Thus, early Christians use the outward manifestations of their heathen feast when celebrating an important date in the calendar of their newly adopted religion.

The use of an entire fir tree as Christmas decoration is much more recent and is first documented in 1539, when a group of German Lutherans set one up in Strasbourg. The custom spread throughout the Rhineland. From here, the Hanoverian monarchies, more specifically Queen Charlotte, introduced the first 'Christmas tree' to the British Isles. In preparation for a children's party at Queen's Lodge, Windsor, in 1800, she had one placed in the centre of the room decorated with candles, sweets and toys. Considering the cost of candles alone, this must have seemed a terribly lavish gesture.