Victorian Era
Victorian Christmas Tree Ornaments
Many people enjoy antiquing – searching out rare treasures often at bargain basement prices. A good antique store will have lots of different items, some probably in better condition than others. In antiquing, the old adage, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, is definitely true. An increasingly popular item among antiquers is Christmas ornaments, especially Victorian Christmas tree ornaments.
Christmas Tree Ornaments from the Victorian Era
The long period (1837-1901) during which Queen Victoria ruled England – known simply as the Victorian era – is normally associated only with England, but the United States was also hugely affected by Victorian tastes and morals. Victoria was famously rigid, yet her era also saw extremely fine decorations, and Victorian Christmas tree ornaments often reflect this.
For much of the Victorian era, electricity didn’t even exist as a household commodity, or it was very scarce. So instead of strings of Christmas lights, candles were used to light up the tree. While very few candles survive from that time, the candles themselves were set in brass candle holders, and those candle holders are now prized as classic Victorian Christmas tree ornaments.
Those depicting Father Christmas are another example of classic Victorian Christmas tree ornaments. The characters of Father Christmas and Santa Claus are essentially the same — they are both based on the real person known as Saint Nicholas — but they do not have similar appearances. Rather than the familiar red and white suit with a black belt, Victorian era “Father Christmas” ornaments show figures of a man with an ample white beard and flowing robes, more reminiscent of a wizard or old sage than what we think of as Santa Claus. Many Victorian Christmas tree ornaments based on this image of Father Christmas still survive and can be found if you’re determined to hunt for them.
One example of Victorian Christmas tree ornaments that now are rather hard to find now are velvet ribbons. Crimson colored velvet ribbons were prized tree ornaments, and were placed decoratively throughout the Christmas tree. Velvet does not last well over time, so if you are lucky enough to find any examples of these antique Christmas tree ornaments in a shop, chances are they will need some restoration.
Thus, an easier option is to simply go to your local fabric supply store and purchase new velvet for your Christmas decorations and ornaments. In fact, if you know how to sew, you can purchase a yard of velvet, cut it into strips, sew the sides, and make velvet ribbons that way. Whichever method you choose, the key is to have fun decorating your Christmas tree! And of course the Internet always has websites with lots of tips and advice for any and all of your holiday decorating ideas.
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Tags: culture, fashion, history, reference, victorian, victorian era, victorian era fashion, victorian era literature, victorian era names, victorian era women
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.