History of the Christmas Wreath: The Victorian Christmas Wreath

Written by Jordan Dickie - DeLong Farms

 Please follow this link to the first half of this article - History of the Christmas Wreath: Germanic Tradition and Victorian Craft-lore

     The 19th century’s Victorian Era of Britain is best defined as the development of the Industrial Revolution and the influx of wealth from throughout the English Empire to its capital of London.  England’s new wealthy entrepreneurial aristocracy was enjoying prosperity and luxury otherwise unheard of in Europe.  When the popular symbol of this time of economic success, Princess Victoria, was engaged to be married to her cousin, Prince Albert of Germany, the English people where quick to observe any new and exciting “English” Christmas traditions the young family would exercise during the holiday season.  When the German Prince brought with him the Christmas tradition of a German Christmas tree, it took only a single 1848 print of the royal family with a Christmas tree in the London Illustrated News, and every English home had a Christmas tree of their own.

     During the Industrial Revolution, much of England’s wealthy and successful moved from the countryside to be closer to economic centers and cities.  Rural life, though very luxurious during the Victorian Era, was still relatively dark and characteristically unwholesome.  The people who lived in cities such as London would have appreciated the appeal of Christmas in the countryside and the image that evergreen Christmas trees and other evergreen crafts would evoke during the holidays.  The countryside was a place where life was slower and quaint traditions were still a part of religious holidays such as Christmas.  This image of “Christmas in the country” became a Victorian favorite.  Evergreens and other winter greens were quickly adopted after the royal introduction of the Christmas tree; their lush coloring and fragrance becoming a cornerstone of holiday decoration.  In many ways, evergreen Christmas trees and Christmas wreaths became a symbolic way of bringing a country Christmas to the city.

     It was during this time in the Victorian Era that the Advent wreath found itself on windows and doors as the popular Christmas wreath we have today.  Victorians, characteristically crafty and always appreciative of fine foods, furniture and décor, quickly found virtue in the hanging and gift-giving of an evergreen Christmas wreath.  Decorated in much the same way as a traditional Advent wreath, the Victorian Christmas wreath had dried apples, berries, seed pots, pine cones, and other country-esque trimming.  Perhaps one of the best distinguishing qualities of the Victorian Christmas wreath, besides it being hung from a string, was its adornment of a large red bow.  The color scheme of the Christmas wreath could very well have inspired the traditional colors of Christmas we enjoy today; the red of the crab apples, holly berries, and red ribbon contrasting with the dark green of the evergreen Christmas wreath, perhaps incidentally being intrinsically associated with the spirit of the Holidays for the many years to follow.

     The Victorian Christmas wreath is a centerpiece of Victorian Christmas craft-lore, but its origins sprung forth from the Pagan Germanic mysticism of pre-Christian Germany.  After its incorporation by the Holy Roman Catholic Church in the 8th century, a symbol to represent the cycles of the season and an evocation of Spring, it became a holiday symbol of the everlasting life of the Christian savior, Jesus of Nazareth.  The Christmas wreath exists today, as a symbol of the Holiday season and Victorian tradition, only because of its far reaching roots back to the dark winter forests of the Germanic North.  The Christmas wreath is a tradition celebrated further back than almost any other winter celebration.