Christmas Lunch not Dinner

Ok let’s talk about what Christmas dinner was like back in the late 1800’s. As those first Australians were from Britain more or less it isn’t surprising that our idea of a Christmas feast involved the type of food from there.

Now of course for many Christmas Dinner or what most of us now call Christmas Lunch was made up of whatever they could find with money being short or absent.

That said many still had money and some a lot of it and they would rush the stores after the imported goods had arrived from the far corners of the globe. It was during the mid 1800’s that the sale of Christmas foods and beverages swelled a bloody lot, with shopkeepers furiously competing for trade. Their shelves were stocked with ever more tempting delicacies and some would offer special services to customers in isolated areas.

Family and bachelor packets containing that need for the season were prepared for immediate delivery, with the festive thirst being taken care of in the form of champagne, wines and spirits and even in some cases French cocktails.

The food consisted of things like ham, turkey veggies, mince pies, plum pudding and such. Of course the preparations for the meal would begin in early December with the housewife and their staff and often the children all chipping in to help. The Christmas pudding took time to prepare, cook and then be stored ready for the day.

It was around the mid 1800’s that shopkeepers made an attempt to do up or “dress” their windows for Christmas, with an example set by Messrs, Soloman & Nephews of Henry Street in Fremantle whose windows were splendidly lit and decorated with green Christmas Trees, toys, plums, currants and candied peel as well as other Christmas delicacies.

Until the 1870, most people would chose to have their Christmas meal beside a popular watering hole or under a leafy tree of some sort. However, this fell out of favour and was replaced by the English style Christmas Lunch.