A Dickensian Christmas
How Charles Dickens has shaped the holiday we all know and love
When it comes to the holiday season, Charles Dickens and Christmas go hand in hand. He is often credited with inventing Christmas as we know it and while it is an exaggeration, his vision of the perfect festive holiday has continued to persevere to this day.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Christmas was rarely celebrated with many treating it like the average workday. As new traditions began to emerge such as Christmas cards and crackers, the festive season soon developed into one of the biggest holidays of the year.
It was also during the Victorian era that Christmas really started to become about families spending time together. Images of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their many children enjoying the holiday together, whether it was by the tree or eating their large, decadent dinner, helped to influence others to do the same.
So what about Dickens? Well, thanks to his Christmas novels, in particular A Christmas Carol, published in 1843, he helped to spread the festive traditions that are so dear today. Through his novels he encouraged the message that Christmas was a time for love, family and goodwill, which struck a chord with moral Victorian society. The story also served as a way for Dickens to promote the need for charity with the use of poor Tiny Tim, having experienced poverty as a child himself.
As the popularity of his novels spread throughout the country, Dickens helped to revive the idea of the perfect family Christmas. His novel was so well loved that the author began to do public readings in 1849 and they continued right up until his death in 1870.