Christmas Wreaths, c.1850s-1870s

After compiling a bunch of early Victorian Christmas decoration info, I had to try some of the instructions out. Fortunately, Christmas at Fort Steilacoom is just around the corner, so I had motive and opportunity to try making some historically accurate decorations. Also the means, because I was given a bunch of rosemary and holly that some friends needed removed from their garden.

I based these wreaths on instructions in the 1858 Practical Hints on Church Floral Decorations and the 1875 Illustrated Queen Almanac. Between them, wire, buckram, and string are all mentioned at the basis for building wreaths, along with the idea of using no base at all beyond the branches themselves. I went with an option from the later source, and made my wreath forms out of old crinoline wire. I did however cheat and close the loop with scotch tape and narrow wrapped wire rather than sewing it into place.

Wreath number 1, with the first round of rosemary on the base.

For the first wreath, I put a base layer of rosemary on the wire form, wrapping it around with even thinner wire. Most of the rosemary pieces I had were very long, unbranching, and pliable, so this worked well. On the second pass, I added a row of rosemary on the inside of the crinoline wire to cover it, and put my first layer of holly on the outside, choosing the most flexible pieces than could bend to the curve of the wreath.

Nearing completion of the first holly layer.

Even with a gloved hand holding the wreath (I needed the other free to manipulate wire), the holly had its revenge. Just the sources warned me. I didn't like how narrow the whole wreath was with just one layer of holy. For the second layer, I chose smaller pieces, and set them on tangent to the wreath, aiming to get each secured with one or two passes of the wire, and letting the ends stick out. I also worked my two pieces of ivy into this layer, wrapping them around the holly to help secure it in place (along with the wire). The ivy mostly disappears into the holly thicket, but it pleases me to have an song allusion built into this wreath.

Second layer of holly being added to bulk out the wreath.

When I couldn't add any more holly pieces without pricking my hands even more (getting the wire wrapped tight through a layer of holly being the most hazardous part), I called it good. I finished the wreath with 6 bunches of three artificial holly berries made earlier that evening.

  

Holly wreath aptly modeled by the door of an 1858 house.

After using all my other greenery, I has a moderately large pile of those long, flexible rosemary branches left, so I used the rest of the crinoline wire to make a second wreath frame, and started covering it with rosemary. The first layer went just like the holly wreath, though I did both the inside and outside rosemary layers at the same time. From there, I wrapped a second layer of rosemary directly over the whole (no wire, wrapping the very bendy branches themselves), and for the third layer placed the branches on straight, wrapping a red velvet ribbon around to secure them. I let the very ends of each branch stand out to give the wreath more width, and liked that well enough that I did a fourth pass sticking additional branches into the ribbon loops and letting the ends fan out. To complete this wreath, I made a four-loop bow of the same ribbon and tied it with wire over the join where I'd started and ended the ribbon-wrap. 

Rosemary wreath on the door of a different 1858 house.

 

I'm generally satisfied with how both wreaths turned out, though it took a while to get all the rosemary residue off my hands and to forget the holly's prickle. I'll probably do this again if the opportunity presents itself. The swags (for which I have no explicit documentation beyond the general use of 'boughs' and 'greenery') are much faster than the wreaths--I made three of those in about 15 minutes, and spent the rest of a 4-hour session on these two wreaths and the berries--but I think that they have a lot of character and add a fun visual effect that neither a swag nor a neat, professionally-made wreath has.

Artificial Holly Berries, 1870s

Time to try some of the Victorian Christmas decorations I've been gathering references for. 

I found two different methods for making imitation holly berries: one in the 1871 Illustrated Queen Almanac, and the other in the 1875 volume of the same publication. Even though these are instructions from the 1870s, imitation holly berries are mentioned in some of the 1850s sources, and all the materials they call for were available at the time, so I feel comfortable using them for my 1850s-1860s events.

The 1871 instructions call for affixing peas to wires, then dipping them in sealing wax varnish (sealing wax diluted with spirits of wine, aka ethanol), which is straight-forward enough. The 1875 instructions instead use a pea-sized piece of cotton wool attached to a wire, which is dipped in white wax and then dyed or painted red. I opted for a combination of the two, using cotton and wire for the base, but dipping them in the red sealing wax which I had on hand rather than dyeing white wax.

Raw materials, the assembled forms, sealing wax for dipping, and completed berries.

The actual process started by dissembling some extra large cotton balls, tearing them into 8ths or 12ths. Each bit of fluff was then roughly shaped into a tight ball, and wrapped around with a bit of wire until secure. Meanwhile, I melted a small piece of left-over sealing wax.  Once it was nicely melted, I dipped about 5 of the prepared cotton cotton-wire-pieces in it, letting each one dry while dipping the next, and doing a second coat of wax as needed. When my hand was full of drying berries, and paused to let them finish hardening, then set them down on a plate to fully cool. I then set the wax back on the fire, added another fragment to melt when it ran low, and prepared more bases.

When the berries were all made, I twisted them together in clusters of 3 (and in once case 5) for future use.

All told, I made 29 berries out of 3 cotton balls and about 3/4 of a stick of sealing wax (though it was hard to judge exactly how much wax because I was using little scraps).  Even the rather rough berries actually look very well once they're set among greenery, and the wires almost disappear into the leaves.  

One berry cluster, used in a modern centerpiece.

Honestly, this went very easily, and I'm pleased with the results. For next time, I'll want to remember that the smaller berry forms work best (~1/12 of a large cotton ball or slightly more), and that allowing a bit more that the 4" of wire called for the directions will make it easier to attach the completed berries to boughs and wreaths . Also, the wax finish on the berries looks best if the wax is fully melted at the time of dipping, which allows it to spread more easily and gives a nice sheen as it dries. The wax stays malleable as it first dries, which allowed me to slightly re-shape berries that were lumpy or had a missed spot, but that handling ruined the sheen.

Decorating for Christmas, c.1840-1865

It's been awhile since I did a deep-dive into Victorian Christmas practices, so let's look at references to and resources for Christmas Decorations in the first decades of Victoria's reign. [Previously in this series: Christmas Menus, Christmas Trees, Christmas Craft Projects, and Christmas Games] 

The Ghost Christmas Present, with Victorian decorations and food. 

Evergreens & Botanical Decorations

" When the winter has fairly folded our homes in its snows, and abroad we mark no trace of the beauty we have loved, very pleasant is it to see, as the season comes, the green Christmas wreaths, bright with crimson berries, glancing out from the windows as we pass..." --The Ladies' Wreath, 1852

The overwhelming majority of references I've found to Christmas decorations in the early Victorian period are to greenery in various forms.  The Family Friend (volume for Christmas 1862) writes that "green boughs are indispensable for Christmas decoration" and that "no room could be properly decorated without them." It lavished attention on holly as "the best thing that can be used for the purpose [of decorating rooms for Christmas]," but also names laurel, aucuba, sweet bay, euonymous, laurestinus, box, yew, and fir as suitable evergreens for decorating with. Mistletoe and Christmas trees ("and for the Christmas tree, a young spruce or silver fir tree") are also discussed among the seasonal flora. Several years earlier, in 1856, the same publication ran a short article on mistletoe, tracing its Christmas associations to the 17th century, and commenting on its current usage: a good luck charm and the ideal place to kiss one's sweetheart.

 The London Review (1865), concurs with the importance of greenery, observing that "wreaths and sprays and masses of evergreen" are to be found in privates homes, in shops, and in churches, from late December through Candlemas (Feb 2). This article names many of the same plants as before, with holly, rosemary, mistletoe, laurel, fir, pine, and box-tree names as contemporary favorites; historical reference to bay and ivy in 'ancient' carols; and praise for the newly introduced Christmas tree. It also mentions that wreaths of cypress may be seen on the doors of households that are in mourning during the holiday season. 

A weirdly didactic 1863 dialogue between a mother and children, which seeks to contrast Elizabethan Christmas decorations with those of the present day, also focuses on greenery, once again emphasizing holly, bays, laurels, "evergreens of all descriptions" and mistletoe. The Intellectual Repository (1864) mentions holly, ivy, and mistletoe as customary Christmas decorations.

Common Wayside Flowers (1860) names holly, ivy, and mistletoe as the famous plants of Christmas, but observes that ivy is no longer commonly used for decorating. I have noticed in assembling these references that ivy is still frequently named, though it does not appear in all of the sources.

In Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843), the arrival of the Spirit of Christmas Present is heralded by greenery (along with food): 

"The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked a perfect grove; from every part of which bright gleaming berries glistened. The crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there; and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney as that dull petrifaction of a hearth had never known in Scrooge's time, or Marley's, or for many and many a winter season gone." 

So important is holly to the Christmas decoration that English Botany (1864)'s entry on the plant states that "its bright green shining leaves and brilliant scarlet berries are associated in the minds of most Englishmen with Christmas rejoicings and merrymakings." For those without access to this iconic plant, substitutes can be found or made. The Canadian Settler's Guide (1860) describes cranberries being used instead of holly berries to add some red accents to the local evergreens; it also describes a coral necklace being used to the same effect, wrapped around a wreath of cedar boughs. The Illustrated Queen Almanac (1871) has instructions for making imitation holly berries by dipping peas in sealing wax. A farce set in Australia bemoans the lack of holly, bay, and laurel for Christmas decoration, but allows that ivy can be substituted.

Mottos & Methods

All this greenery can be arranged in multiple ways, including general 'boughs' and the familiar wreath. There are also mentions of garlands, tucking greenery behind picture frames, and even elaborate devices with leaves and flowers sewn onto paper/fabric wall-hangings to make pictures or spell out messages. There are also mentions of similar "devices" and "mottos" in fabric, but I'm including them here because they keep appearing in discussions of how to arrange greenery (specifically for churches).

The Wild Flowers, Birds, and Insects of the Months (1865) mentions houses and churches being decorated in "wreaths and branches of evergreens," and again names holly, ivy, and mistletoe.

The Bromley Record and Monthly Advertiser (November 1861) mentions "the usual practice" of putting pieces of greenery behind picture frames or mantle ornaments, and gives--admittedly terse-- instructions for making festoons, bouquets, and an unnamed article in which leaves and branches are mounted on fabric in different designs. Once again, the plants of choice are ivy, laurel leaves, different colors of holly, arbor vitae, fruit, berries, mistletoe, and general 'evergreens.' Interestingly to me, this article also invokes the old heraldic rules of tincture to decorate in high color contrast (putting dark greens behind gilt frames and saving the white/silver 'frosted' ones for display against dark surfaces). 

The Illustrated Queen Almanac (1875, but included here for the usefully clear instructions and because it came up mislabeled as 1855 during my initial reading) gives advice for decorating churches, including helpful instructions for how to make wreaths, artificial holly berries, and glazed leaves. Mottos, paper stars, and various arrangements of ferns are also discussed (mostly for Christmas, though the article is a little vague about which decorations are also appropriate for other church festivals). In a secular context, the 1871 Illustrated Queen Almanac describes making Christmas mottos with rice pasted over cardboard.

Another pamphlet, Practical Hints on Church Floral Decorations (1858), describes making wreaths, devices (cut-outs of zinc, pasteboard, or buckram in meaningful shapes, to which flowers are attached), floral mosaics with seasonal messages, as well as "mottos" for the walls (phrases spelled out in ribbons, calico, or layered leaves). In addition to the familiar plants and symbols for Christmas (seen in all the above sources), this book also discusses the plants to used in churches at other times of the year. Dried flowers are also mentioned as sometimes being used for church decorations at Christmas, in preference to "tawdry artificial ones."

The Building News and Engineering Journal (Jan 14, 1859 issue) has an article describing the Christmas decorations in London churches, very much in line with the aforementioned instructions. This article includes descriptions of festoons, mottos, and bands of evergreens wrapped around pillars. Both natural holly and artificial red holly berries are mentioned.

The Yule Log from The Book of Days (1864).

Fire and Candlelight

While these things are obviously useful comforts in a dark, cold season prior to the advent of electricity and central heating, and thus not exclusive to Christmas, they are also not irrelevant. The above excerpt from A Christmas Carol, for instance, describes and unusually large fire as one of The Ghost of Christmas Present's accompaniments--the only one besides than food and greenery.

A "yule clog" [yule log] burnt in an unusually large fire is likewise described in The Book of Christmas (1852); primarily discussed as a historic tradition, the author allows that burning the yule clog is still practiced in parts of England. After it, the author also mentions unusually large "Christmas Candles":

"Another feature of this evening, in the houses of the more wealthy, was the tall Christmas candles, with their wreaths of evergreens, which were lighted up, along with the Yule log, and placed on the upper table, or dais, of ancient days. Those of our readers who desire to light the Christmas candles, this year, may place them on the sideboard, or in any conspicuous situation." 

The yule log or yule clog, lit from the last bit of last year's log, and accompanied by one or more large Christmas candles are also referenced in Brand's Observations on Popular Antiquities (1853) and in Chambers' The Book of Days (1864) which appears to be using Brand as a source. Thayer's Merry Christmas: A Christmas Collection for the Youth (1853) mentions Christmas candles, albeit in a discussion of symbols, emblems, and superstitions. 

One source which treats the yule log (no "c" this time) and Christmas candle as contemporary is the short article "Christmas Belowstairs" in The London Journal (1858), which treats them as a customary part of celebrating Christmas in the servant's hall (where mistletoe also makes its appearance). The Wild Flowers, Birds, and Insects of the Months (1865) also mentions the yule log in contemporary terms. 

Outliers

One outlier is a description of schoolboys decorating their desks with colored tapers (and drawings and paper-and-cardboard buildings) at Christmas time; though this story appeared in The Kentucky Garland (1854), it is supposed to be reminiscences of a school in the Rhineland. I've not been able to find similar corroborating stories in the English-speaking literature. 

While not explicitly given as a Christmas craft, Godey's series on knitted flowers gives instructions for holly and mistletoe in the same issue. Admittedly, this is in April 1852, so it might be that the knitted plants are merely paired out of the their long, shared association with Christmas.

One of the few references I've found to paper chains (a personal favorite) at Christmas is in the  February 1854 issue of Willis's Current Notes, as part of a description of artificial German Christmas trees. These are "pyramids" made of wood pieces, covered in green paper and decorated with paper chains. Another reference, in the 1861 Leisure Hour Monthly Library, isn't fully available, by appears to allude to gilt paper chains decorating a Christmas tree. 

Conclusion

Greenery, in whatever forms it may be available, are far and away the most easily documented Christmas decorations in the first quarter-century of Victoria's reign. Traditional holly and mistletoe have the most name recognition, but a wide variety of green plants can and have been used. Wreaths and boughs are most commonly named, but the greenery can be hung up in a variety of ways, and (particularly in churches) may be incorporated into elaborate displays.

Special large candles and yule logs are also often mentioned, though they may be slipping into obsolescence. Stockings and Christmas trees are popular activities and means of giving gifts, though they have not fully moved into the realm of being "decorations" in their own right. Most of the small craft projects I found before are associated more closely with Christmas trees than with decorating a room or house (except for the paper roses), and those sorts of projects have no where near the prominence of evergreen boughs in depictions of Christmas decorations.

Knit Sleeves, 1849

Plain under-sleeve.

I needed a set of knit undersleeves to go with my new wool basque, which, being red, would not look well with the blue-edged sleeves I usually wear with my blue wool dress. Being pressed for time, I wanted something that would translate well to the circular knitting machine, and ideally was fairly plain. I ended up opting for the 'Under-Sleeve (long)' in Esther Copley's The Comprehensive Knitting Book (1849).

Starting from the cuff, the sleeve is to be knit with 12 rows of 1-1 ribbing, and is then knit plain for the rest of its length. The instructions call gradually increasing the number of stitches (making a sleeve that fits fairly close to the arm), and describes both shoulder-length and elbow-length variations. They do not, however, specify whether the sleeve is to be knit in the round or knit flat and then seamed. I take that to mean that it is left to the maker's choice (or was so obvious at the time as to not need to be said).
 

The main departure in turning this into a circular machine project was adding the hung hem at the upper edge, and working down from there. I used the machine tension to give the sleeve a little shaping, and ran a waste thread 13 rows before my the desired length. Off the machine, I then frogged those 13 rows, transferred the live stitches to a size 1 circular needle, and re-knit them as 12 rows of 1-1 ribbing, with 13th used to cast off.

I'm fairly satisfied with the sleeves. I wish I'd made them a little bit longer; I was calculating for an upper-arm length, but ended up about 4" shorted than desired (when worn, they go about two inches past the elbow, which should be sufficient even if it wasn't what I wanted). In retrospect, I could have just run an entire ball through the machine for each sleeve, tried them on, marked the cuff, and then frogged back to there. The process worked just fine though, with the waste thread being very helpful to mark the appropriate location and to transfer the stitches. The size 1 knitting needles were a close match to the stitch size of the machine, though it took a few rows for the tension to even out, which looked pretty rough at first, though blocking helped a lot. If making these again, I would opt for double-points rather than a circular needle, since the cuff was so much smaller than the needle that I was constantly fighting with the excess length.

Similar instructions for 'Lambs-Wool Sleeves' appear in Miss Watts' The Ladies' Knitting and Netting Book (1845) but with 3" ribbed cuffs and a 1.5" ribbed upper edge, the sleeve in between being otherwise knit plain, to whatever length is desired. Interestingly, this sleeve doesn't call for adding stitches to shape, but instead seems to be more of a straight tube.

Foods in Season: December, 1861

Coming to the end of the year, it's time to see what Beeton's Book of Household Management has to say about foods available in December:

Fish- Barbel, brill, carp, cod, crabs, dace, eels, gudgeons, haddocks, herrings, lobsters, oysters, perch, pike, shrimps, skate, sprats, soles, tench, thornback, turbot, whitling.

Meat- Beef, house lamb, mutton, pork, venison.

Poultry- Capons, chickens, fowls, geese, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, teal, turkeys, widgeon, wild ducks.

Game- Hares, partridges, pheasant, snipes, woodcocks.

Vegetables- Broccoli, cabbages, carrots, celery, leeks, late cucumbers, onions, potatoes,  Scotch kale, turnips, winter spinach.

Fruit- Apples, chestnuts, filberts, grapes, medlars, oranges, pears, walnuts, dried fruits, such as almonds and raisins, dates, figs, &c.,--crystallized preserves.

Overall, most categories have either expanded or held consistent (in number if not exact content) from November to December. Fish gained barbel, dace, herrings, lobsters, perch, shrimps, skate, sprats, and thornback. Pork has returned to the meat list, with house lamb replacing veal. Capons have returned to the poultry list, while larks have moved out of season. Game is unchanged, beyond venison moving into the meat category. Broccoli, leeks, parsnips, Scotch kale, turnips, and winter spinach replaced beetroot, lettuces, salading, spinach, sprouts, and 'kitchen herbs' (very neat--six old vegetables out and six new in). In the fruit category, bullaces have gone out of season, but medlars, oranges, and various dried and crystalized fruit have come in.

Looking back/ahead to January, options are actually going to grow as the season progresses. Fish will gain the addition of crayfish, flounders, and lampreys and no removals. The meat category will contract slightly with the loss of chickens and the various ducks, though some of those might simply be counted in the "wild-fowl" which will join the game list, along with grouse. Beetroot, chervil, cresses, forced cucumber, endive, lettuces, savoys and 'various herbs' will be added to the vegetable list, with only the loss of Scotch kale. And finally, the fruit category will gain (dried) French and Spanish plums and prunes.

I hope you've also found this an interesting exercise to look at ingredients available throughout the year. I mostly found the vegetable category to line up with my own garden (except for the cucumbers and tomatoes), and appreciated the chance to reflect on how things like fruit and meat go in and out of season. Though I try to keep such things in mind when planning historic menus, I find these sorts of reminders helpful, as most of my lived experience of food availability has been colored by cold-storage and international shipping.

Original: Open-work Stockings, 1855

With all the Christmas presents in progress, I have knit stockings on my mind. This pair of openwork cotton stockings in the MFA is certainly worthy of admiration:

Cotton stockings, 1855. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

In addition to being from one of my main reenacting years, the things that caught my eye about these stockings is the placement of the pattern work along the lower calf and top of the foot. While these could have been worn with the popular ankle-boots and gaiters of the period, those options would entirely cover the detailed open-work design. And while plenty of undergarments have decorative elements that would never be seen by anyone but the wearer, it does leave me wondering whether these specific stockings were meant to be worn with a slipper. Such a low, open shoe style would leave all the patterned areas of the stockings visible (should the foot/ankle be seen) rather than specifically covering them.

Plain Collar and Cuffs, Late 1850s

I didn't have much mending to do this month, and instead I was mostly finishing new projects. One of these was a simple collar and cuff set. Several of my white collars need replacing, and I have fewer pairs of white cotton cuffs than I have bishop-sleeved dresses which need them, so this was a timely project.

The aforementioned accessories.

The collar was traced from one of the 1850s examples in Liz Clark's collar pattern (and adjusted to fit my new green dress's neckline), and the cuffs are simply drafted from that dress's wrist measurements. Both are constructed of a single-layer of white cotton batiste, hemmed on three sides, and finished with a bias-band of the same fabric.