#historical advent calendar
The History of Santa’s Reindeer
The idea of Santa’s sleigh being pulled by a team of reindeer is thought to have originated from the 1823 poem ‘A Visit From St Nicholas’ (also known as The Night Before Christmas), written by Clement C Moore. The reindeer were originally called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem. The last two reindeer names were altered over time and translations to Donner and Blitzen. Many different reindeer have been added over the years, however the only one that has become widely accepted is Rudolph.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was first introduced in 1939, by Robert L May. The character was created for the retailer Montgomery Ward, who had been buying colouring books and selling them for Christmas. It was decided that, to save money, they would create their own book and so the story of Rudolph was created. The story was written as a poem, with a similar style to the Visit From St Nicholas poem that had inspired the original reindeer.
There have been many stories and films since their creation that have involved the reindeer team that pull Santa’s sleigh, including L Frank Baum’s ‘The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus’, which listed ten entirely different reindeer. Other alternative reindeer include Robbie, Rusty, Ralph, Leroy and Olive, who was actually a dog, who have featured in various books and films over the last 80 years.
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Places to Visit - Christmas - Osborne House
Osborne House was bought by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and was redesinged by Prince Albert between 1845 and 1851. For December and the Christmas period, Osborne House creates the experience of a traditional Victorian Christmas, with the rooms being festively decorated. There are games and Victorian carols, as well theatre performances of Christmas stories. There’s also a traditional Father Christmas and Queen Victoria to meet.
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A Brief History of Christmas Puddings
Christmas Puddings are traditionally a kind of plum or raisin pudding, and have been eaten at Christmas since the medieval period, from around the 1420’s. The puddings have varied over time, with different ingredients used and the current version was only settled upon in the Victorian era. Since then it has contained fruits and sugar and spices amongst other things. The Christmas pudding became massively popular in the 1700’s, when George I requested it be served at his Christmas feast.
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