Pretty accurate, although commercial Christmas starts about September and gets into full swing after Remembrance day (November 11). And obviously we watch the King now.
It doesn’t mention alcohol enough…
Starts off like a Victorian Christmas. Not a single child is hoping for fruit and nuts in their stocking nowadays. It’s roast potatoes not mash, and it’s pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon) not sausages.
Got the tea part right though!
Bear in mind they’re describing generic traditions, and everyone has their own. In general, it’s pretty accurate of a middle class Christmas, especially holly, ivy etc as decorations. Here’s how it differs from my family:
* We don’t make Christmas biscuits
* Christmas breakfast is not tea. OJ, croissants, coffee, jam.
* Christmas dinner is at 4pm. Canapés before hand, usually smoked salmon
* Mashed potatoes? Nope. Roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, sprouts, braised cabbage, pigs in blankets (sausage wrapped with bacon, not pastry), bread sauce, stuffing, turkey and gravy.
* Presents come after dinner. Stockings are your morning presents.
* Normally go to Church for midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and not on Christmas Day. We’ll go for a walk between breakfast and dinner if the weather is nice.
However that’s just **our** family tradition..
It’s fairly accurate but I don’t think the Christmas stocking tradition is common anymore, that’s a relic from olden days.
I’d like to add a few extra things – mince pies are a popular and traditional Christmas sweet in England dating back to the Middle Ages. They’re small pies filled with spiced fruit.
Christmas lights are also very popular in England. Not only in cities and towns; a lot of people decorate their entire home front and garden with them, wrapping the lights around bushes and trees, etc. Some put wreaths on their front doors.
Christmas carols are quite popular here still. Many of the most famous ones originated in England, like Coventry Carol, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Good King Wenceslas, etc.
It’s worth mentioning that we’re more atomised as a society than we used to be, so that means people may celebrate Christmas in different ways (or not celebrate it at all).
Pretty good except they have missed the part where everyone gets shit faced, plays board games and has a massive argument before going to bed in a huff.
Also, the dinner needs roast potatoes instead of mash, and lots and lots of pigs in blankets.
Some confusion between Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, both of which are eaten (as well as mince pies) at Christmas. Other than that I’d say, yes fairly generic and highly traditionally old-school!
I mean a little dated perhaps but I know people that still put oranges in stockings for tradition. The only one thing that really stands out as wrong is sausage on Christmas dinner. I have never heard of this or seen it.
Ive never heard of paragraph 2. Most people dont have an open fire anymore though. However kids certainly do write a letter. We have mash potato as well as roasties. We open our presents one by one in turns to see what everyone got. My sons have small Christmas bags rather than stockings but they do the same thing. They put them by the fireplace.
Where’s the booze? You should be starting off with Buck Fizz (Mimosa with more champagne), then move on to port with lemon or sloe gin after opening the presents. Then you move on to mulled wine or cider (hard cider) and then you finish off with various spirits and hopefully some chocolate baileys with raspberry liquer.
Most of it quite accurate. Definitely not mashed potatoes – always roasted potatoes. Stocking are still a thing. Children tend to write Christmas lists before Christmas Eve.
Christmas crackers always part of dinner.
Almost accurate, although it is written a little strangely. I’d say that the day isn’t started with tea, but rather with a pint of beer or a glass of baileys cream on both xmas and boxing day. It’s tradition that my mum gives me an orange on Christmas in a stocking, even though I’m allergic… We gather with immediate family on Xmas day, and will have a roast, but it’s more often been another meat than turkey, like gammon, beef, or chicken – because turkey is so expensive. Don’t forget the Yorkshire puds. On boxing day we gather with extended family and the kids open more gifts!
Maybe 50 years ago, this was accurate.
My observations:
The baking cookies are more of a German/Austrian thing. They go hard for them. The UK is more meh. Buying biscuits. Making mince pies *maybe*.
Sending a letter on Christmas eve is bollocks, if kids are doing it, they do it way in advance cos hello, parents need a look. They do however leave it by the fire place if they have one or another designated place in the house if they don’t. My nieces, for example, leave their letters on the TV unit. I don’t know why, but it does feel a logical place in their house. My nieces send a letter around first week of December.
Kids don’t look forward to nuts, apples and oranges in their stockings. That’s very 50 years ago. There maybe some old school nan who puts a satsuma in for the crack but no kid is expecting that these days!
The Christmas morning is accurate – except we in my house couldn’t do anything until my mum had drunk the tea. But that’s a “my family” thing most likely. “We’re not doing anything until I’ve finished my tea”.
The Christmas dinner is a late lunch usually, but mash is an absolute no no. Roast potatoes. Some people might have mash but this is niche and not the standard. Christmas pudding is a hot steamed dessert, it has fruit in it like a fruit cake but that’s where the similarity ends. It’s a hot steamed pudding, they used to put a silver coin in it for luck and someone would get it in their portion, but it’s has suet in it, spices etc and then for serving you pour brandy on it and light it up, then serve with custard, or cream, or Brandy Butter, or Brandy Cream, or ice cream, or if you’re my dad, a splodge of all 5.
Obviously, ya know, the Queen bit….
Boxing Day is a public holiday and usually you go see the other side of the family but yes it really is a time to sit around and eat. I don’t think watching the horse racing is big, and only the usual football fans watch the football. There’s no casual viewers watching it just cos it’s football, it’s not event TV like American football on Xmas day or Thanksgiving is. It’s just a normal fixture in the football calander.
12 comments
Pretty accurate, although commercial Christmas starts about September and gets into full swing after Remembrance day (November 11). And obviously we watch the King now.
It doesn’t mention alcohol enough…
Starts off like a Victorian Christmas. Not a single child is hoping for fruit and nuts in their stocking nowadays. It’s roast potatoes not mash, and it’s pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon) not sausages.
Got the tea part right though!
Bear in mind they’re describing generic traditions, and everyone has their own. In general, it’s pretty accurate of a middle class Christmas, especially holly, ivy etc as decorations. Here’s how it differs from my family:
* We don’t make Christmas biscuits
* Christmas breakfast is not tea. OJ, croissants, coffee, jam.
* Christmas dinner is at 4pm. Canapés before hand, usually smoked salmon
* Mashed potatoes? Nope. Roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, sprouts, braised cabbage, pigs in blankets (sausage wrapped with bacon, not pastry), bread sauce, stuffing, turkey and gravy.
* Presents come after dinner. Stockings are your morning presents.
* Normally go to Church for midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and not on Christmas Day. We’ll go for a walk between breakfast and dinner if the weather is nice.
However that’s just **our** family tradition..
It’s fairly accurate but I don’t think the Christmas stocking tradition is common anymore, that’s a relic from olden days.
I’d like to add a few extra things – mince pies are a popular and traditional Christmas sweet in England dating back to the Middle Ages. They’re small pies filled with spiced fruit.
Christmas lights are also very popular in England. Not only in cities and towns; a lot of people decorate their entire home front and garden with them, wrapping the lights around bushes and trees, etc. Some put wreaths on their front doors.
Christmas carols are quite popular here still. Many of the most famous ones originated in England, like Coventry Carol, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Good King Wenceslas, etc.
It’s worth mentioning that we’re more atomised as a society than we used to be, so that means people may celebrate Christmas in different ways (or not celebrate it at all).
Pretty good except they have missed the part where everyone gets shit faced, plays board games and has a massive argument before going to bed in a huff.
Also, the dinner needs roast potatoes instead of mash, and lots and lots of pigs in blankets.
Some confusion between Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, both of which are eaten (as well as mince pies) at Christmas. Other than that I’d say, yes fairly generic and highly traditionally old-school!
I mean a little dated perhaps but I know people that still put oranges in stockings for tradition. The only one thing that really stands out as wrong is sausage on Christmas dinner. I have never heard of this or seen it.
Ive never heard of paragraph 2. Most people dont have an open fire anymore though. However kids certainly do write a letter. We have mash potato as well as roasties. We open our presents one by one in turns to see what everyone got. My sons have small Christmas bags rather than stockings but they do the same thing. They put them by the fireplace.
Where’s the booze? You should be starting off with Buck Fizz (Mimosa with more champagne), then move on to port with lemon or sloe gin after opening the presents. Then you move on to mulled wine or cider (hard cider) and then you finish off with various spirits and hopefully some chocolate baileys with raspberry liquer.
Most of it quite accurate. Definitely not mashed potatoes – always roasted potatoes. Stocking are still a thing. Children tend to write Christmas lists before Christmas Eve.
Christmas crackers always part of dinner.
Almost accurate, although it is written a little strangely. I’d say that the day isn’t started with tea, but rather with a pint of beer or a glass of baileys cream on both xmas and boxing day. It’s tradition that my mum gives me an orange on Christmas in a stocking, even though I’m allergic… We gather with immediate family on Xmas day, and will have a roast, but it’s more often been another meat than turkey, like gammon, beef, or chicken – because turkey is so expensive. Don’t forget the Yorkshire puds. On boxing day we gather with extended family and the kids open more gifts!
Maybe 50 years ago, this was accurate.
My observations:
The baking cookies are more of a German/Austrian thing. They go hard for them. The UK is more meh. Buying biscuits. Making mince pies *maybe*.
Sending a letter on Christmas eve is bollocks, if kids are doing it, they do it way in advance cos hello, parents need a look. They do however leave it by the fire place if they have one or another designated place in the house if they don’t. My nieces, for example, leave their letters on the TV unit. I don’t know why, but it does feel a logical place in their house. My nieces send a letter around first week of December.
Kids don’t look forward to nuts, apples and oranges in their stockings. That’s very 50 years ago. There maybe some old school nan who puts a satsuma in for the crack but no kid is expecting that these days!
The Christmas morning is accurate – except we in my house couldn’t do anything until my mum had drunk the tea. But that’s a “my family” thing most likely. “We’re not doing anything until I’ve finished my tea”.
The Christmas dinner is a late lunch usually, but mash is an absolute no no. Roast potatoes. Some people might have mash but this is niche and not the standard. Christmas pudding is a hot steamed dessert, it has fruit in it like a fruit cake but that’s where the similarity ends. It’s a hot steamed pudding, they used to put a silver coin in it for luck and someone would get it in their portion, but it’s has suet in it, spices etc and then for serving you pour brandy on it and light it up, then serve with custard, or cream, or Brandy Butter, or Brandy Cream, or ice cream, or if you’re my dad, a splodge of all 5.
Obviously, ya know, the Queen bit….
Boxing Day is a public holiday and usually you go see the other side of the family but yes it really is a time to sit around and eat. I don’t think watching the horse racing is big, and only the usual football fans watch the football. There’s no casual viewers watching it just cos it’s football, it’s not event TV like American football on Xmas day or Thanksgiving is. It’s just a normal fixture in the football calander.
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