christmas | The British Newspaper Archive Blog - Part 2

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The Spirit of Christmas Fake

The Vice Chancellor’s court in Westminster must have been chilly indeed on Thursday January 11th 1844. We don’t know if the court room was busy or if crowds had gathered to get a peek at one of England’s literary darlings. They might well have. When A Christmas Carol was published on December 19th the previous year, it had been to near universal acclaim. The first edition had sold out by Christmas Eve. But for author Charles Dickens, there was no

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Just a traditional Christmas

Tradition is inescapable at this time of year. Whether you are retreading the paths of your childhood on a visit home with nostalgia and memory driving your actions or you are building new traditions with your children while they are young, Christmas is a time of familiarity. These days what we think of as a traditional Christmas is steeped in Victorian imagery. We’ve been looking through the newspapers to see how people celebrated the season of good will in days

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The story of the 1914 Christmas Truce, as reported by WW1 newspapers

After watching Sainsbury’s Christmas advert, Kate Cole was inspired to research the real story behind WW1’s Christmas Truce. She used The British Newspaper Archive to unearth the experiences of soldiers on the Western Front in 1914.   **************   In December 1914, during first year of World War One, a remarkable event known as the Christmas Day Truce occurred in small pockets along the Western Front. 100 years later, one of Britain’s largest grocery shops has released a Christmas advert re-enacting

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1914’s must-have Christmas gift: the ‘British-made’ toy soldier

Today’s most-popular Christmas toys include Frozen dolls and tech gadgets, but it was a very different story 100 years ago. Newspapers from the time reveal there was a clear trend for ‘British-made’ military toys in the year that Britain joined World War One.   Daily Mirror – Friday 04 December 1914 Image © Trinity Mirror. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. View the whole newspaper page The ‘Great Miniature Battle’ of 1914, with trenches and barbed wire An

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Merry Christmas to all the Visitors to the BNA Website!

We wish all the visitors to the BNA website a Merry Christmas! Best wishes, The BNA Team. The Press and Journal – 25 December 1946 Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000578/19461225/023/0002 The Graphic – Saturday 30 December 1893 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000057/18931230/002/0003 The Evening Telegraph – 22 December 1933 Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19331222/193/0013 Evening

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Kissing Under the Mistletoe and Origins of the Christmas Tree

We love these two newspaper articles that seek to explain ye olde tradition of kissing under the mistletoe, and the origins and history of the Christmas tree. Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser – Saturday 26 December 1891 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000206/18911226/176/0014 Nottingham Evening Post – Thursday 27 December 1928 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/19281227/008/0003

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‘Etiquette of Christmas Parties’ – as Reported in a Newspaper from 1863

An etiquette guide for how to behave at Christmas Parties, from ‘The Leicestershire Mercury’ of Saturday 26 December 1863 Oh, we’re sure that none of the visitors to the BNA need to read an etiquette guide for how to behave at Christmas parties. But, just in case some of you out there would like a quick refresh on the correct behaviour required, here is a Christmas Party etiquette guide from 1863. We’re sure that the etiquette described is, er, pretty

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Christmas Stories on the British Newspaper Archive’s Facebook Page

With Christmas Day almost upon us, we’ve gathered together some Christmassy stories in a gallery on our Facebook page. This story gallery contains a real mix of Christmas tales: from eye-witness accounts of the Christmas Truce of 1914 (including thoughts on the football match in “no-man’s land”), to a very strange yarn about a burglar who was caught because a woman was so conscientious about cooking her Christmas pudding. There are also stories about Christmas ghosts, a lyrical Victorian eulogy

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