Charles Dickens' Christmas : A Yuletide Journey through Christmas Past

Between Charles Dickens’ birth in 1812 and his death in 1870, Christmas had changed from basically a quietly observed day with food and possibly some family musical accompaniment, to a commercial celebration with Christmas editions, cards, advertisements, pantomimes and even some public decorations. His contemporaries such as Thackeray often wrote tongue in cheek pieces on the demands of children who were rarely satisfied by their presents and of course, inevitable family tensions.

Dickens himself was probably one of the first if not the first literary celebrity able to travel on a book tour courtesy of more reliable steamship and railway travel in the 1840s & 1860s. This would have been impossible in the years around Dicken’s birth when wooden sailing ships and horse drawn land transport were the only options.

The pace of change during his adult life pioneered many aspects of our modern consumerism, advertising, communication and mass production. By 1858 the first successful transatlantic cable was laid, enabling schedules to be confirmed and and itineraries agreed before Dickens even left our shores for his second US tour.

We will explore these with a slight reflection on how they were the ancestors of today’s celebrations. Indeed, there was certainly more change between 1812 & 1870 than there has been since, right up to the present day.