Victorians were fascinated by the holiday traditions of the rest of the world. Often, a Victorian from Britain or America would share his or her experiences of a holiday spent in some other country - Christmas in the "German Fatherland," for instance, or how the holidays might be spent in a continental boarding school. Other countries also celebrated holidays and traditions that were less well-known to the Victorian reader, such as Italy's Beffania or the Japanese New Year, which took place in February.

Christmas

Arctic Festivities (Leisure Hour, 1860)

Christmas celebrations aboard a ship in the Arctic.

Beffania (Illustrated London Almanack, 1863)

Brief description of an Italian Twelfth-Night Custom

Christmas in the North (Demorest, 1873)

Christmas traditions in Scandinavia and Russia.

St. Nicholas's Eve in Belgium (Demorest 1879)

In Belgium, the visit of St. Nicholas on December 6 is far more significant than Christmas Day!

Christmas in a French Boarding School (Girl's Own Paper, 1887)

Christmas in the German Fatherland (Girl's Own Paper, 1887)

A look at a traditional German Christmas Eve ceremony.

Christmas in Italy (Girl's Own Paper, 1887)

Christmas celebrated in an Italian villa.

How I Spent Christmas in the Fatherland (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1888)

A look at Victorian-era Christmas customs in Germany.

The Worries of a New Chum, by Rev. Frederick Hastings (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1890)

Christmas on the other side of the world -- in Australia, where one is more concerned with mosquitoes than snow!

Christmas in Norway (Girl's Own Paper, 1891)

Big picture, small article!

Reminiscences of Christmas, by an Anglo-Canadian (Girl's Own Paper, 1891)

Reminiscences of Christmas in London and in Canada.

Christmas Customs Here and Elsewhere, by William Cowan (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

Customs "elsewhere" include the feast of onions, the dragging of the bachelors, the Polish "Christmas-guest," and the hunting of the wren.

Popular Christmas Festivities in Naples (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

Christmas Day Festivities in Italy (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

The Christmas Kalends of Provence, by Thomas A. Janvier (Century Magazine, 1897A)

A long but fascinating article on how Christmas was celebrated in Victorian-era Provence, from the gift of grain to St. Barbara to the offering of the lamb on Christmas Eve.

Summer at Christmas-Tide [in Jamaica], by Julian Hawthorne (Century Magazine, 1897A)

Christmas at the Front, by W.B. Wollen, R.I. (Cassell's, 1900)

A reminiscence of Christmas at Modder River, South Africa.

Christmas in Old Germany, by Constance Hill (Sunday Strand, 1902)

Other Holidays & Festivals

New Year's Day in the Vosges (Cassell's Family Paper, 1860)

Part of the celebration in this French region was the erection of a great New Year's tree - part Christmas tree, part Maypole - that was believed to protect the town throughout the year.

The Feast of Dolls [in Japan], by W.E. Griffis (St. Nicholas, 1875)

The Feast of Flags [in Japan], by W.E. Griffis (St. Nicholas, 1875)

New Year in Japan (Demorest, 1879)

New Year's Day in Japan is actually the 6th of February. On that day you'll find door mats whitened with rice powder to look like snow, and pine or bamboo trees bound with rice-straw garlands and decked with oranges and gilded paper.

Shrove-Tide in Ireland, by Narissa Rosavo (Argosy, 1881)

May-Day in France, by Annie Kemm (Girl's Own Paper, 1883)

"In spite of the Revolution," old customs such as May-Day still linger in the French countryside.

A New Year's Day in Japan (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1883)

A Word on Easter Eggs (Demorest, 1886)

A bit of the history of Easter eggs in Greece and Russia.

Easter in Little Russia, by Erica Glenton (Girl's Own Paper, 1894)

The Miracle of the Greek Fire: Holy Week in Jerusalem, 1896, by R.W. Gilder (Century Magazine, 1897A)

St. John's Fires in France, by Georges de Dubor (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

Easter Eggs (Girl's Own Paper, 1899)

A look at the beautifully painted eggs of European tradition, including what we know today as Pysanky eggs.