Although Christmas often seems that it has been around forever, the Christmas spirit was hard to find in the beginning of the Victorian era, in fact it was in a rapid decline.  The Victorian era had two key players in the revival of Christmas, Prince Albert and Charles Dickens.  Prince Albert has been credited for bringing what was considered a “German custom” of decorating the Christmas tree to England as well as re-introducing the tradition of singing Christmas carols.  Charles Dickens is considered by many people to be the greatest English Novelist of the Victorian Period as well as being called “the man who invented Christmas”.  When you think of Dickens during Christmas time, you automatically think of “A Christmas Carol”.  Dickens describes Christmas as a time for forgiving, being charitable and kind, this should be a pleasant time of year.  A Christmas Carol revived the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ and taught us all that there is more to life than materialistic things.

Although Dickens is most famous for A Christmas Carol, you may not know this was the first of his series of “Christmas books”.  He wrote four other short books that he considered to have strong social and moral messages that he published during the 1840s.

• The Chimes – Published in 1844 – A book that focuses on believing in the good of all people and self-reformation.
• The Cricket on the Hearth – Published in 1845 – Is best read as a fairy tale and is considered to “depict the Victorian ideology of a happy home”.
• The Battle of Life – Published in 1846 – This is the only one of Dickens five Christmas books that does not contain any supernatural or religious elements.  It is a love story that contains a romantic twist and a happy ending!
• The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain – Published in 1848 – This story is focused on the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ rather than the holiday itself.

Traditions such as decorating Christmas trees, sending out holiday cards, hosting holiday dinners, giving out presents to our loved ones or people who are less fortunate than us, and singing Christmas carols were all either created or revived during the Victorian era.  Dickens’ Christmas books had a major impact on seasonal media. Dickens’ approach of conserving cultures, traditions, and his own contributions to joyful custom can be the reason he is often times considered, the ‘Father of Christmas’.

For more details about how Charles Dickens has contributed to the ‘revival of Christmas’, visit: http://charlesdickenspage.com/

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