London’s Christmas Curiosities

Did you know Christmas crackers were invented back in the 1840s by Tom Smith, a confectioner on Goswell Road? His factory near Finsbury Square churned out the novelties, and if you look closely, a memorial fountain there still hides a cracker motif. It might look a little more convincing after a few pre‑Christmas dinner drinks…

Christmas crackers might be a Victorian invention, but the dreadful jokes inside them have a longer pedigree. The London Mercury was already publishing groan‑worthy puns back in 1828—proof that bad humour is truly timeless! I had to stop reading them in case I damaged my ribs (not)

Fancy a dip on Christmas morning? The Serpentine Swimming Club has been doing just that since the 1860s. Every year, brave souls line up in Hyde Park for the Peter Pan Cup, splashing through icy waters while the rest of us clutch a restorative coffee.

The race got its name in 1904 when J.M. Barrie—fresh from the success of Peter Pan—donated the trophy. Since then, swimmers have battled frostbite and festive hangovers to keep the tradition alive. In 2010, they even had to break the ice before diving in!

Carol Singers. Doorstep carolling was once common, but not always welcome.

In 1886 outside the Rising Sun pub in Clapham, landlord William Thomas fed up with the nightly cacophony outside his pub fired a gun to scare noisy singers. Instead, he fatally shot Robert Janeway, turning festive cheer into tragedy. Victorian London could be as grim as it was merry, even at Christmas.

In the Bleak Midwinter. Christina Rossetti penned this hauntingly beautiful poem in 1872 while living at 56 Euston Square.

Over thirty years later, Gustav Holst gave it the melody we know today, publishing his setting in The English Hymnal of 1906.

The spinthariscope. Proof Victorians could make even nuclear physics a parlour trick. Peer inside and watch atoms sparkle like Christmas lights as they decayed. Sold as a “toy” in London shops, it turned radioactive decay into drawing‑room entertainment. Victorian science at it’s best, a bit of spectacle, and a dash of danger.

Christmas Lights.The Victorians popularised Christmas trees and indoor decorations, but large‑scale public street lighting was a post‑war innovation. Prior to the 1950s, Christmas decorations were largely confined to shop windows, the most noteworthy being Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges and Harrods. Regent Street lit up the season for the very first time in 1954, after shopkeepers decided London looked too drab. The glowing display caused traffic chaos and even a debate in the House of Lords. Oxford Street followed in 1959, and the West End’s sparkle has been dazzling ever since.

A Christmas Carol. There’s a few things that link together here. Charles Dickens published the novel in 1843 and it coincided with the first Christmas card designed by Sir Henry Cole, director of the V&A, illustrated by John Callcott Horsley. It was intended only for Cole’s friends and acquaintances but several years later society got Christmas card fever and the postal service became awash with them during the run up to Christmas. There’s a post on the blog about it’s inception here.

I’ve posted a story for several Christmas’ about my hunt for Dickens’ location of Ebeneezer Scrooge’s home, which can be found at Chez Scrooge. Dicken’s writes that Scrooge’s browbeaten clerk Bob Cratchit lived in Camden Town, likely inspired by his own childhood lodgings on Bayham Street and on a recent trip to the Dickens Museum I happened to photograph the last remaining piece of this house.

White Christmas. London hasn’t woken to snow on Christmas Day since 1999, and even then it was just a dusting. The last proper blanket fell way back in 1938, when the capital looked like a postcard. Since then, festive flakes have been rare, leaving most Londoners to dream of a white Christmas rather than see one.