New Year’s History A’la Carte 2022 edition
Grab a cup of cocoa, put your feet up and enjoy a little bit of the season’s history with a look a New Year’s Day history.
Tag Archives: New Year’s Day
New Year’s History A’la Carte 2021 edition
Grab a cup of cocoa, put your feet up and enjoy a little bit of the season’s history with a look a New Year’s Day history.
Regency era Holiday Gift Giving
Gift giving in Jane Austen’s Day. What might she have given or received for Christmas? Though gift giving was not the primary focus of the Christmastide season, gifts were commonly exchanged. St. Nicholas Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Twelfth Night were the most likely days for gift exchange. Old traditions called for gifts to be exchanged on New Year’s Day. Many gifts exchanged were gifts of obligation between unequal parties. Landowners and the well-off … Continue reading →
Regency Christmas Traditions: Ringing in the New Year
A number of traditions formed for celebrating the new year. Some varied by region or county. Family traditions for good luck prevailed over general social convention. Some families gathered whomever was in the house in a circle before midnight. At the stroke of midnight, the head of the family would open the door and usher out the old and welcome the new. Some who held to old superstitions went further, removing ashes, rags, scraps and anything … Continue reading →
Regency Christmas Traditions: Special Days of the Holiday Season
Each year it seems we complain that the holiday season begins earlier and earlier with some shops bringing out holiday goods even in the last months of summer. The holiday calendar during the Regency era was a little more clearly defined, with a very predictable set of dates and events for celebration. Holiday celebrations and traditions extended from a week before Advent all the way through to Twelfth Night in January. During the entire season … Continue reading →