Ladies and gentlemen,
Are you already enjoying the delights of the season with mulled wine, gingerbread and visits to Christmas markets? Or are you one of those people who associate Christmas with crowded city centres, stress and too many social obligations? But what was it actually like for people in the 1920s? I've done a little research for you and hope to get you into a festive mood!
Christmas in the Weimar Republic
The first Christmas celebrations in the Weimar Republic were less peaceful and contemplative than most people would have liked. In 1918, following the November Revolution in Berlin, there were the Christmas battles in which sailors and regular troops fought bloody combats on Christmas Eve due to unpaid salaries and other shortages. Even though the situation had stabilised somewhat by 1920, poverty and deprivation were part of everyday life for many Germans. Department stores and shops were soon stocked with goods again, but the sales market for them was initially still very small. The well-to-do were able to buy children's toys or the latest technical achievements, such as the Haltephon (a device that made it possible to make telephone calls without using your hands), the Hekoba (a modern kitchen cooker) or a Selve car (a 24-30 hp automobile).
However, most Germans already lacked the most important staple foods, such as flour and coffee. In the first years after the war, these were often only available on the black market and then only in poor quality. Those who had an aunt or uncle in America were lucky. Around Christmas time, the tradition of sending so-called "gifts of love" (Liebesgaben in German) to relatives in need in Germany became established. These parcels could contain food, clothing or sums of money in dollars, a very welcome gift as the dollar did not lose value as quickly as the ever-depreciating Reichsmark (see article Hyperinflation). There were also Americans who directed their "gifts of love" to institutions such as hospitals or orphanages.
Christmas elsewhere: Great Britain
While conditions in Germany remained difficult, people in the UK were able to enjoy a more festive Christmas. From the 1920s onwards, there was little sign of the shortage of goods that had also prevailed here during the war. Especially on London's major shopping streets such as Kensington High Street, Knightsbridge and Bond Street, those who had the necessary means could enjoy a huge selection of products. If you didn't want to set off on a shopping trip unprepared, you could get advice from newspapers such as The Sphere. It gave plenty of tips on what to get the lady, the gentleman and, of course, the children. Recommended gifts included monogrammed handkerchiefs, writing instruments, tobacco products and accessories. A combination of cigarette storage box and pen with inkwell was quite innovative. Other recommendations included spirits and cabinet bars, razors, hoovers, clothing, gramophones and cameras.
Anyone with money left over for a festive meal could stock up on turkey, pheasant, duck or rabbit in the UK. Glazed ox tongue, ham, cheeses such as Stilton or Cheddar, preserves, gingerbread and other festive biscuits were also very popular. Of course, the traditional Christmas Pudding or Plum Pudding, which had to be prepared several weeks in advance so that it was ready on Christmas Day, was a firm favourite with many families.
USA
Christmas in the USA was no less opulent, but much drier. Prohibition is likely to have dampened the spirits of some people during the festive season. The temperance movement went so far that even mass wine was banned from churches. A tradition introduced in the 1920s and still popular today was the ceremonial lighting of the national Christmas tree by the incumbent president. This was first carried out by Calvin Coolidge on 24 December 1923. Even back then, electric fairy lights were used to illuminate the 47 feet high tree with 2,500 colourful bulbs.
Candles were still frequently used for the Christmas trees in American living rooms, as the use of electric tree lights was initially too cumbersome, unsafe and expensive. At the beginning of the decade, decorations included Christmas pendants made of cotton, which were cheap to buy and could not break. At the end of the 1920s, it became even more magnificent with tinsel and elaborate glass tree decorations imported from Germany.
Of course, gifts were also a must here. Utility and furnishing items such as furniture, carpets, vases and silverware or technical appliances to make housework easier, like hoovers, washing presses or combination cooking appliances, were popular. Gramophones, clothing, jewellery, hats and toiletries were also a good choice. Dolls such as the Raggedy Ann doll from the children's book of the same name, metal play figures, yoyos and even electric trains were favoured as gifts for children. Musical instruments such as guitars or banjos were also found under American Christmas trees.
Christmas nostalgia
Nostalgia at Christmas time is by no means a modern construct. Even 100 years ago, people longed for quieter, simpler and more beautiful times, even if they may never have existed. In the USA in the 1920s, this place of longing was Victorian England as described by the writer Charles Dickens in numerous novels. One of his most famous works is undoubtedly A Christmas Carol, which was made into a film several times in the first decades of the 20th century. Magazine covers were adorned with characters that looked as if they had come straight out of Dickens' novels. Decorations such as antique candlesticks, Victorian paper pictures and sprigs of holly were intended to conjure up a "merry old England" at Christmas time, which was supposed to make people forget the horrors of the war they had just experienced, at least for a while.
Dearest readers,
I hope that I have been able to entertain you a little with this brief excursion into the world of Christmas 100 years ago. I wish you a wonderful Christmas, however and however you celebrate it. In any case, stay healthy and stay with me next year. I would be delighted!
Yours truly,
Marleen Tigersee
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