Linda Lau of Fairfax (left) shows off her collection of Victorian Christmas decorations and toys for Mike Deloose of West Springfield (center) and others at the Nov. 23 meeting of the Burke Historical Society. Photo by Tim Peterson.
Electricity didn’t come to Burke until 1928. That meant no one could power strings of lights to decorate Christmas trees; they had to use real candles and assume the very real fire hazard risk. Fortunately, fireproof fake trees made of goose feathers or chenille had already been around since the 1880s.
Fairfax resident Linda Lau had such a tree on hand as she led a program on Victorian Christmas traditions for the Burke Historical Society (BHS). Lau is the BHS treasurer, a member of the Victorian Society of Falls Church and author and primary researcher for several books on the Victorian period including “Nippon Dolls and Playthings” and “Victorian Falls Church.”
A cozy crowd of roughly 40 gathered Nov. 24 at the Abiding Presence Lutheran Church in Burke to hear Lau discuss the development of the Christmas tree and Santa Claus. For example, the first reference to a “Christmas tree” was in 1531, and Woolworth’s retail company was the first American merchant to sell glass ornaments. And they made a killing on the then-status symbols.
One recurring theme was the light-hearted, secular view of the winter holiday in the 17th and early 18th centuries.
“People have this concept of Victorian period people being uptight, rigid,” said Lau. “But the evidence we have of their Christmas celebrations doesn’t reflect that.” Lau presented a slideshow with greeting cards depicting Santa Claus delivering presents while riding a bike, driving a car.
“We see elements of whimsy, oddities, whatever appealed to them, but no angels or halos,” said Lau.
Mike Deloose of West Springfield comes to meetings like this one because of the well-curated link to local history. “It’s about seeing what other people thought would survive,” he said. “People kept these things somewhere, and this group tries to connect where we’re at to the last century, and the century before.”