Incidentally, what we watched before bed last night was a 1987 London Weekend Television production called Christmas Past, which the Discovery Channel showed for several years in a row before dropping it. This was a delightful "programme" about how British Christmas customs--many of which we also adopted here in the United States--developed in just a short time in the mid-1800s. The special uses old newsreel and film footage, personal reminisces from older people, including the late 6th Marquis of Bath, and a couple of recreated Dickensian scenes to illustrate Britain in pre-Industrial, Victorian, and war times.
I was lucky enough to find the companion book, also named Christmas Past, on the sale table at the original Borders Books in Atlanta many years ago. I love all the Borders branches, especially the big two-story affair in Buckhead, but I miss that original store: they always seemed to have some surprise in store, especially during the holidays.
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