Our Georgian and Victorian ancestors probably celebrated Christmas with more modest wine consumption than we do today – if the size of their wine glasses are anything to go by. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found that the capacity of wine glasses has increased seven-fold over the past 300 years, and most steeply in the last two decades as wine consumption rose.
Nothing quite says ‘Christmas party’ like the smell of mulled wine drifting around an office. It’s an easy drink to make – all of the ingredients can be purchased at your local supermarket. But have you ever wondered where the ingredients come from? Like Santa Claus, many of them have travelled halfway round the world to get here, say students from the Cambridge Global Food Security strategic research initiative.
Moving letters sent by the academic John Crook while he was a prisoner at the notorious Stalag Luft VIII-B camp in World War II reveal his indomitable spirit and brave resolve to remain positive for the sake of loved ones back home.
Lucy Blake (Centre for Family Research) discusses family estrangement and the particular difficulties associated with Christmas.
Natalie Lawrence (Department of History and Philosophy of Science) discusses the history of monsters, and what they say about the people who invent them.
Some of Britain’s traditional Christmas favourites are losing their appeal, a new study of spoken English has revealed.
With Christmas upon us, Cambridge historian Dr Shane McCorristine and geographer and psychologist Dr Jane S.P. Mocellin take us back to the heroic age of Polar exploration, when festive celebrations served as essential emotional, psychological and nutritional functions during winter’s darkest months.
Each year hundreds of people queue day and night in the cold to experience the magic of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in King's College Chapel. At the head of the queue this year is Tim Wotherspoon who lives in Cottenham and studied maths at Cambridge. He is spending five nights on a camp bed on the cobbles to ensure his seat on Christmas Eve.
The conventional colours of Christmas – red and green – are not, as many might suppose, a legacy of the Victorians. Instead, they hark back to the Middle Ages and perhaps even earlier, according to Cambridge research scientist Dr Spike Bucklow.
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