Everything has a History | Written & Presented by @DrSamWillis & @JamesDaybell | #UnexpectedPod @UnexpectedPod| https://xitter.gq/t.co/wDcLQQi2IL
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This is fun! Histories of the Unexpected @UnexpectedPod is back for Xmas with @JamesDaybell
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It’s history…but not as you know it. And the world is waking up to the genius of Histories of the Unexpected.
Who knew that clouds had a history? Or Courage? @UnexpectedPod @JamesDaybell
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From the brilliant Histories of the Unexpected @UnexpectedPod we discuss the history of APOLOGIES.... youtu.be/d_JI-8it2_U
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KLAXON: NEW PODCAST from @JamesDaybell & @DrSamWillis for @UnexpectedPod on the Unexpected History of the HOMESICKNESS, which are all about space travel, sexism, US civil war, WW2 and kinder transport! Get it from your local podcast monger and @acast
shows.acast.com/historiesoft…
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We're back! So very very SORRY it was late. New Histories of the Unexpected @unexpectedpod - on the history of APOLOGIES.
#Twitterstorians #HistoryPodcast
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We're back! New Histories of the Unexpected
@unexpectedpod episodes coming soon - on the history of APOLOGIES and HOMESICKNESS. One from the (huge) archive today on GLOVES to keep you going! 🎧📷#Twitterstorians #HistoryPodcast
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I’ve recorded the history of ROBOTS for latest Histories of the Unexpected Pod @UnexpectedPod with @JamesDaybell Get listening! 🎧🙀💥play.acast.com/s/historiesof… #history #Robots
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For your Christmas pleasure! Histories of the Unexpected @UnexpectedPod is back with the history of SNOW. 👇 👏👏play.acast.com/s/historiesof….
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Feeling festive? Check out our back catalogue of Christmas specials, starting with this one from 2017! Christmas 2017
historiesoftheunexpected.com…
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I'm catching up on @UnexpectedPod and their great episode about bears reminded me of a remarkable bear from WW2 which you can learn about on Futility Closet 122 here: futilitycloset.com/2016/09/1…
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Discover more unexpected history of Christmas by Professor James Daybell and Sam Willis on the History Extra website.
historyextra.com/period/norm…
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An alternative to Christmas pudding – and first produced in Canada during the First World War – the war-and-peace pudding was made with carrots instead of mincemeat. So popular was this that many never went back to eating a richer pudding.
ALT An advert for carrot pudding, courtesy of the World Carrot Museum
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During the world wars, luxury Christmas treats were a pipe dream. The carrot, in particular, was much lauded as a versatile and plentiful foodstuff, so much so that during the Second World War a recipe booklet was produced with instructions for thrifty carrot-based dishes.
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In 16th-century Holland, this led to the tradition of children placing their shoes on the hearth on the eve of the feast of Saint Nicholas and awaking in the morning to find them filled with gifts and sweets.
ALT Nostalgic Christmas decoration including antique toys and old shoes filled with sweets.
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Shoes were not simply a noxious deterrent for evil sprites, but also a precursor to the now customary stockings as receptacles for Yuletide gifts. Earlier depictions of Saint Nicholas associate him with dropping gold coins down the chimney.
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A way of preventing these evil beings from descending your chimney was to light a Yule log over the festive season. A further precaution was to throw a pair of foul-smelling shoes onto the flames.
ALT An illustration of people collecting a Yule log from Chambers Book of Days (1832).
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In Greece and Serbia, for example, Kallikantzaroi or Christmas goblins, were believed to live underground for most of the year, surfacing during the 12 days of Christmas to slip down chimneys in order to wreak havoc.
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Romantic accounts of Saint Nicholas descending chimneys to deposit presents in stockings stem from earlier traditions connected to evil spirits. The chimney in European folklore was associated with the supernatural and as an entry point into the home, whether for good or evil.
ALT A Victorian illustration of Father Christmas on a snowy Christmas eve.
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Likewise, if holly was brought into the house at any time of year – with the exception of Christmas – it was seen as a harbinger of death and even in the Christmas period was either burned or ceremonially disposed of once the festive period was over.
ALT Gathering Christmas Holly – an early 1900's vintage 'Currier and Ives' type illustration.
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The robin is viewed today as a charming symbol of wintertime and one that adorns many a festive card. Yet evidence suggests some greeted the receipt of such cards with horror, stemming from a belief that a wild bird entering the house signified an impending death in the family.
ALT An illustration of a dead robin on a Victorian greetings card.