In previous festive blog posts I have written about carols (complete with video of the Library carols from 2015), St. Nicholas, crib scenes and Christmas cards, always with reference to relevant holdings in the UL. This year I am more limited in what I can highlight as I am unable to visit Rare Books or go up the Tower to view interesting material. However, what I can do is feature items available online (to Cambridge staff and students) which have a Christmas theme.

In the last twenty years or so the history and culture of Christmas celebrations seems to have been an area of research interest for quite a few academics, both here in Europe and in the United States. Here are some titles (newest first) which can be accessed online:

• • Christmas as religion: rethinking Santa, the secular, and the sacred (2016) by Christopher Deacy. Deacy’s subject is theology and religious studies and here he examines the relationship between religion and consumerism but includes a chapter devoted to Christmas films.
  • Christmas and the British: a modern history (2016) by Martin Johnes, a most thoroughly researched and detailed social history covering the 20th century, with many references to diary entries of both ordinary people and famous names, and newspaper archives richly mined.
  • Inventing the Christmas Tree (2012) by Bernd Brunner, translation of a work by the German cultural historian. This is a brief history enriched by some charming illustrations.

• Christmas in Germany: a cultural history  (2010) by Joe Perry, a historian who argues that cultures of domesticity, emotion, and private life played a central role in the construction of communities and national identities.
• The psychology of Santa (2009) by Carole S. Slotterback. This book has an American focus and includes analysis of over 1000 children’s letters to Santa.
• Christmas, ideology and popular culture (2008) edited by Sheila Whiteley which looks at the social and cultural practices surrounding Christmas with several contributions on music, Whiteley’s own area of interest.
• Merry Christmas!: celebrating America’s greatest holiday (2000) by Karal Ann Marling. Again with an American focus, the author looks at all the things connected with Christmas.

If you are pushed for time as Christmas approaches Now you know Christmas (2007) could be the one for you. At less than 100 pages long and taking a more popular approach in the form of questions and answers, this book is part of the Now you know series (we also have online access to volumes on extreme weather and crime scenes!) by Doug Lennox, the Canadian film and TV actor.

Another ebook aimed at a general audience is Christmas: a candid history (2007) by Bruce David Forbes, a professor of religious studies but with an interest in popular culture.

Christmas food is, of course, an important element of the celebration and I can suggest here two books which may just give you inspiration:

• The Turkey: an American story (2006) by Andrew F. Smith. This naturally widens the history out to take in Thanksgiving as well as Christmas and a small part of the book is devoted to historical recipes. Three which caught my eye are New Orleans gumbo, a Carolina recipe from 1847 requiring a turkey, a piece of beef and 100 oysters plus mucilaginous sassafras leaves; turkey soused in imitation of sturgeon, a 19th century suggestion for preserving the meat for several months; or the early 20th century mock turkey for vegetarians.
• Delicious December: how the Dutch brought us Santa, presents, and treats, a holiday cookbook (2014) by Peter G. Rose, a food historian who emigrated to the United States from the Netherlands. In the first part she talks briefly about St. Nicholas but part two represents the bulk of the book and contains more than 100 recipes, lots of mouth-watering ideas particularly for sweet treats. Making festive German biscuits (Weihnachtsplätzchen) is part of my family Christmas tradition but this year I may include some Dutch ones from here such as pepernoten or anise cookies.

For many people the Christmas season means a trip to the ballet or to a pantomime. This may not be possible this year but stepping back and reading about them could be the next best thing. I bring you:

• Nutcracker Nation: how an Old World ballet became a Christmas tradition in the New World (2008) by  Jennifer Fisher
• and British pantomime performance (2007) by Millie Taylor.

Finally, if you don’t have time to delve into longer more academic works on the history and meaning of Christmas you could turn to A Christmas revel by Winifred E. Howe (Metropolitan Museum of Art Children’s bulletin 1919). A mere 14 pages with illustrations, this is perhaps a somewhat dated but delightful story in which some of the characters from works of art in the museum come to life on Christmas Eve along with their visiting creators.

Happy Christmas from all of us in Collections and Academic Liaison!

Katharine Dicks