Regency Christmas customs?
Posted by Barbara on November 13, 1997 at 01:14:20:
We see a little bit about Christmas customs in the adaptations of Emma for the Westons Christmas party/dinner. Also in P&P2, there is the scene where Lizzy and Charlotte are talking at a party (at Lizzy's aunt Philips'???) and Mary is playing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlelmen" on the piano.
Other than this, I cannot recall much mention of Christmas in the novels.
Does anyone know in what ways it would have been celebrated? Would the gift exchange have been on Twelfth Night (January 6) as it was long ago, or were there New Year's gifts? What would people typically eat for Christmas dinner?
It seems that many of the old-fashioned (to us) Christmas customs were in place by Dickens' time, but would they have been around at the beginning of the 19th century?
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