Blitz bombing damage near St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
The City of London, including the area around St Paul’s was bombed during the night raid of 29/30 December 1940. Somehow the cathedral survived, and went on to become a symbol of Britain standing strong against the Nazis.
Nikiphoros Lytras, Carols, 1872. Greece.
26th December, 1924. Washington D.C. “Nevine and Nemai Yousry.” Children of the Egyptian ambassador, with their Christmas tree.
German POWs repair a barbed wire fence at Glen Mill Prisoner of War camp, Oldham, England on Christmas Eve, 1940.
Source
St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics was founded for paupers in London in 1751. However, by the time Christmas was celebrated there (in one way or another) at the end of the Victorian era, their focus had moved onto the middle classes and people from more fortunate backgrounds.
As far as Victorian asylums went, it could be said St Luke’s was one of the better options, with a “cure” rate of 67-70% of patients, compared to around 15% in such establishments for paupers.
Here is an illustration of patients dancing to celebrate Christmas in around 1900.
18 December 1947, a Norwegian Christmas tree arrived for the first time in London, to be placed in the middle of Trafalgar Square.
I wish Santa Claus/Saint Nicholas/Father Christmas wasn’t always depicted in red these days. In Ukrainian culture he is still often blue, but the red takeover is spreading more and more…
