
Imagine, you are a child living in the 1950s. It is nearing Christmas and you are just waiting to see whether Santa thought you were good this year. You hope the jolly man in the red suit will make a stop at your house and bring you something nice. One of your friends actually thinks Santa is a she, because only a mother would know so much about children. Of course, nobody really knows, because Santa only visits when everybody is sleeping.
Continue reading "So Many Names and Faces, but one person? Santa Pictures" »

Imagine, it is the late 1800s and Christmas is fast approaching. You have just chosen a Christmas Tree and it is now sitting in the centre of the room. Time to decorate! You carefully hang sparkling glass ornaments from the branches and then you take the candle holders from their box. Each is carefully clipped onto a branch, making sure that there are no branches close enough to catch alight and that the candle is straight and won't drip wax on the rug. Finally, it is time to light the candles. You take a taper and touch it to the candle wicks and stand back to watch the tree sparkle and glow in the flickering candle light.
Continue reading "That's Insane! Christmas Tree Candle Holders" »

Imagine, you are a child living in the 1920s and it is the first day of Advent. This year, your Mother has a special surprise for you. She told you she would give it to you in the morning and you can't wait to see what it is. You hope it will be an Advent Calendar, like the ones you saw in the city recently. Sure enough, when you go down for breakfast with your parents, Mother hands you an Advent Calendar. You search for the first window and carefully pull it open, making sure not to crease the paper.
Continue reading "But It Doesn't Have Windows - Advent Calendar" »

Imagine, you are a French child living in the early 1800s. It is almost Easter and you are really excited. Your parents promised you a special gift to celebrate Easter and you can't wait to find out what it will be. You have heard that some of the chocolatiers have been working on creating eggs to celebrate the day, and you hope you will receive one. You love the beautiful carved and coloured eggs you usually receive, but chocolate is so delicious, and such a rare treat!
Continue reading "Yum! Easter Egg Moulds" »

Imagine you are a child living in the late 1800s. It is Christmas time and you and your family have just finished Christmas dinner. Everybody is stuffed, but there is still room for pudding! Everybody hopes to find something in their slice. Imagine the excitement as you each start to eat. Your Uncle finds the ring and the sixpence goes to Mum. This year, you are lucky too - you found the frozen charlotte. She is so tiny and sweet, and now, you will have good luck all year!
Continue reading "She's So Tiny! Frozen Charlotte Pudding Doll" »

Imagine, you are a wife or mother, at home while your husband or son is away at war. They have been gone for a few year now, much longer than everybody had though when they first went. The war is just dragging on. Now, its coming up to Christmas, another Christmas without him. He sent you a card though, beautifully hand drawn and so moving, using the words to that beautiful Christmas song 'I'll be home for Christmas . . . if only in my dreams'.
Continue reading "That's Kinda Sweet, But Sad - I'll Be Home For Christmas Card" »
Imagine, it's Christmas morning. You wake up early, running to see what Santa has left for you. You can't open your gifts until your parents are awake (and you have strict instructions not to wake them before 6:00am!), so you don't know what is in all those beautifully wrapped parcels. There is one parcel though which isn't wrapped up - a bag of sweets. Guarding the bag is a beautiful little Christmas Elf.
Continue reading "That's not a Christmas elf - Darrell Lea Christmas Elf" »
Imagine, it is the mid 1800s, and your family has put up your first ever Christmas tree. Christmas trees are all the rage, a new fashion which have only just been introduced to England from Germany. It is important to light the tree, but Thomas Edison hasn't even invented the electric light bulb yet. You have to use candles, but this is dangerous. After all, there is lots of oil in a pine tree to catch fire! It was this risk which caused electric Christmas lights to be invented.
Continue reading "OK, why do we get boring ones? - Milk Glass Christmas Lights" »

Imagine, it's the early 1900s and you are wanting to have some Christmas cards made. Instead of simply making them yourself, you take a trip to the letterpress printers. You choose your design and then hand over to the printers. How will your cards be made?
Continue reading "They're So Heavy - Christmas Letterpress Type Blocks" »