More Victorian events in San Jose this season!

image from Nikolay Dimitrov, www.e-Cobo.com
Afternoon Tea and Ornament Making: Sunday, November 15th, 1:00-5:00pm. At a private residence in San Jose*. RSVP to Miranda at eurohaus@earthlink.net. Please note: Because of materials and limited table space, you must RSVP for this event. This event is limited to approx 15 crafters, so please RSVP right away. “Please join us for a lively Autumn afternoon of taking Tea and making Victorian Ornaments. The ornaments we are making are to support and raise funds for the operating budget for the Andrew P. Hill House. We hope to participate in the Heritage Holiday event on Dec 6th, where the VPA will have a table at the crafts faire and sell the ornaments. All the supplies needed to create ornaments will be present, but you are welcome to bring your favorite pair of scissors, or scrapbooking tools to help you create works of art. If you have doilies, ribbon, lace or other bits n bobs that you would like to donate to the cause, please feel free to bring them (we would appreciate that). This event is free. We're asking that everyone bring a potluck contribution to the tea table. Tea will be in the English style, so think cucumber sandwiches, scones, lemon curd and such. If there is more interest, we may be able to accommodate more. *location will be sent to you upon receipt of your RSVP. Hope you can make this fun filled afternoon!”

Hill House Docent meeting: Sat Nov 14th, 10:00am till noon, Firehouse (upstairs) at History Park, 1650 Senter Road, San Jose. “Ever wonder what it takes to be a docent? Please come to the Docent meeting where all this (and more) will be discussed. We’ll meet in a comfortable casual atmosphere and learn more about the wonderful world of Docenting from Barbara Johnston. We’ll also chat about the upcoming Docent training session, where you can learn all you need to know to get involved in this fulfilling experience. What can possibly be more rewarding than sharing the beautiful Hill House, and its rich history with an appreciative public. Please pop an email or phone call to Miranda to let us know you are coming.”

Help man the table at Heritage Holiday: Sat Dec 5th from 12:00 noon till 5:00pm, at History Park, 1650 Senter Road, San José, CA 95112. (408) 287-2290. www.historysanjose.org Spend an afternoon celebrating the holidays in old fashioned Victorian style. There will be crafts for sale and other activities. We are looking for a few volunteers to help Diana and Hullene to sit at our table and sell the ornaments and other items to raise money for the Hill House operating fund. It's just a few hours spent in the festive atmosphere of History Park. Please contact Miranda if interested in helping out. Thanks!’

Make your own Victorian Christmas Tree ornaments! (part 2)

Image from Grandma's graphics.

Over the years, the homemade ornaments became more elaborate, especially including edible items like small cakes, cookies, bags of sweetmeats, and garlands of dried or candied fruit, nuts, and popped corn (which resembled snow). Gilded walnut shells and apples were tied on with ribbon, and probably were the inspiration for later ball-shaped ornaments. Paper chains, tinsel garlands, paper cornucopias, and candles also made an appearance. Store-bought, more permanent decorations including glass balls, lead or other metal crosses and stars, and wax angels, were introduced beginning in 1870 and were largely made in Germany.

Aside from providing simple decoration to the tree and the room, the ornaments were often intended as Christmas gifts for the various members of the family and friends, especially children. Small non-edible gifts such as handkerchiefs, bracelets, brooches, neckties, and other lightweight items could be wrapped in plain paper, or left unwrapped, marked with a name, and tied among the other ornaments with a piece of ribbon, to be opened with the other gifts.

To make your own ornaments for your very own Victorian Christmas tree, you need look no farther than your local craft store, if nothing in your desk drawers and closets inspires you. Tie a ribbon to some old costume jewelry – small brooches and earrings work well – and just hang it from a branch. Cut snowflakes, trees, stars or hearts from white or colored paper, or aluminum foil. Tie twigs or pieces of straw into star or asterisk shapes. Draw, color and cut out small angels, doves or dolls out of paper and hang them from ribbons; use stencils or scrapbooking supplies to form shapes if you don’t draw well. Get small wooden beads or balls from the craft store and cover them with glued-on craft moss, ribbon, glitter, or strips of colorful paper torn from magazines or wrapping paper. Then make tiny loops from baby ribbon, attach them to the ornaments and hang them up!

For more information, search on the Internet or in your local library's reference section, or take a look at these web pages: "A Victorian Christmas" http://www.biblicalquality.com/Christmas1.html or "The Victorian Christmas Tree", by Joanne Haug, http://www.victoriana.com/.

Make your own Victorian Christmas decorations! (Part 1)

Image from Godey's Lady's Book, 1860, http://www.victoriana.com/

During the Victorian era, Christmas and New Year’s traditions began to become more standardized across Western Europe, Canada, and the United States of America, influenced by the popularity of Queen Victoria and the economic, political, and social power of English practices. Christmas was generally celebrated with family, and other social entertainments were often saved for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Many traditions originated in Germany and would likely have remained popular only among those of German ancestry, without the influence of the Queen in deference to her German relatives and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

One such tradition was the use of the Christmas tree. The German Christmas tree has origins that reach back to the 15th century, at least: the German theologian and reformer, Martin Luther, is said to have enjoyed a solitary walk in the woods one snowy night, brought home an evergreen tree, and decorated it with tinsel stars and lighted candles, to give the effect of stars and moonlight shining through the forest, for the entertainment of his family. Pre-Christian Germanic and Celtic cultures also venerated certain trees as symbols of fertility and life. From the mid-18th century, with England’s kings being raised in Germany, certain German traditions – like Christmas trees -- had already entered the country, but did not become popular outside the nobility.

When re-introduced to English society, in 1841, by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, the tradition still reflected that simple memory. Engravings of the royal family around their tree, from the 1860s, show a relatively small tree, perhaps 4 feet tall, standing on a round table, its branches rather sparse by modern standards, the spaces being filled in by homemade ornaments and small lighted candles. These engravings, however, were published in the newly-popular magazines and newspapers of the day, and were largely responsible for making the tradition widely-known both inside and outside England.