Hideaway Cottage Christmas 1850

The Penrith Christmas of 1850 (the year Hideaway Cottage was built), would have been very different to today.

Gift giving was traditionally part of new year celebrations and Father Christmas didn't appear in England until around 1864.

The Christmas stocking wasn't introduced until around 1870 and even then only included an apple and a few nuts.

In 1843 Charles Dickens wrote and published "A Christmas Carol" a book that was to become a classic. A tale that encouraged wealthy Victorians to redistribute some of their wealth to the poor which was a small but significant change in a society divided by inequalities.

Turkeys had been brought to England hundreds of years before Victorian times, in the 1850's, however, chicken and turkey were too expensive for most people. The middle class in the north generally had roast beef while those in the south had goose for Christmas dinner. The poor on the other hand, had to be satisfied with rabbit.

Thanks to the slow redistribution of wealth, by the end of the century most of the population ate turkey on Christmas day.

The Cracker and the Christmas card were both introduced around 1850. The cracker was invented by a London pastry chef named Tom Smith who came up with a new way to package and sell the sweet almond bonbons he made.

The Christmas card was popularised after the introduction of the penny post. In 1840 Sir Henry Cole printed 1000 cards for sale in his gallery at one shilling each.

In 1848, the London News published an image of the royal family celebrating Christmas around a decorated tree. The custom quickly became popular around the country. The poor however would have made do with branches and holly boughs.