Our Favourite Christmas Traditions

Christmas is built on traditions. Everything we do throughout the Christmas period has an origin in the long ago that we uphold, and, sometimes change. What are the main traditions and how are they changing? Every year more people are breaking from these traditions in favour of starting new ones, but there are many that are definitely here to stay! As always, we’re here to dive into a few of these and look at how they’ve shaped Christmas and where they’re going.

The Christmas Tree

Let’s start with the obvious, the Christmas tree! Christmas trees have been around forever, when it comes to Europe, but they didn’t make their way to the UK until the 1830’s, before finally being popularised by Prince Albert when he decorated Windsor palace in 1841. Since then Christmas trees haven’t changed all that much and the tradition has stuck fast. The main change since has been the introduction of artificial trees and here we met the great Christmas split! As close as a few years ago there was a case made that artificial trees were better for the environment than the real deal. However, more recently people have been beginning to understand that this is simply not the case! A real tree, by all accounts, is the greenest way to go. So, if you ask us, this tradition isn’t going anywhere.

Advent Calendars

The history of the advent calendar goes all the way back to the early 19th century. The first recording of the creation of a physical advent calendar was in 1851! Since then advent calendars have evolved. They originally showed illustrations, or would have the owner physically light a candle to count down each day. In the 1950’s these were commercialised and chocolate gifts took over. Advent calendars today are so far removed from their humble origins, but the tradition remains the same! We’ve now got beauty calendars from huge brands filled with all sorts of products. In fact, there’s just about an advent calendar for anything you can think of, if you’ve got the budget…

Christmas Dinner

The Metro recently published an article detailing the history of everything we tend to eat at Christmas. From the turkey, through the stuffing, to the bucks fizz, everything we consume at Christmas was built on previous traditions. The biggest change to this tradition has been the incorporation of dietary changes. With M&S showcasing more vegetarian options than meat options this year for Christmas, it’s now clear that Christmas eating has become more about the flavours associated with the period rather than foods themselves. So, if it makes you feel Christmassy, tuck in!