Seduction on a Snowy Night By Mary Jo Putney, Sabrina Jeffries, and Madeline Hunter

In honor of their new story collection, Seduction on a Snowy Night, grand dames of Regency-era romance Mary Jo Putney, Sabrina Jeffries, and Madeline Hunter share favorite Christmas customs from times past.

MARY JO PUTNEY

What is a more joyous symbol than glittering boughs? The use of trees and greenery to celebrate winter holidays goes deep into the European past, but the Christmas tree in Britain sprang from German roots in 1800 when George III’s bride, Charlotte of Mecklenburg, introduced the custom to the British royal family. As a child, Queen Victoria loved Christmas trees, and her 1840 marriage to her German cousin Albert was the catalyst for the custom spreading to all classes.

Hessian mercenaries brought Christmas trees to America during the Revolution. As in Britain, the custom began to attain widespread popularity around 1840, as magazines and newspapers wrote stories about this new holiday pleasure that has continued to delight generations.

SABRINA JEFFRIES

When I was researching my contribution to Seduction on a Snowy Night, I learned that a favorite Yuletide treat was gilded gingerbread. It’s exactly what it sounds like: gingerbread that was made in moulds, baked, painted with an egg-white wash, and then covered with gold leaf. Since the earliest documented gingerbread figures were baked for Elizabeth I, and Germans were gilding gingerbread figures and houses as early as the eighteenth century, the practice was widespread by the Regency period.

But was it dangerous to ingest all that gold? Probably no more so than eating the latest trendy dessert or cocktail containing gold leaf. The problem came when bakers tried to save money by using Dutch foil, made of copper instead of gold. Several period texts warned against this, since you might poison your primary customers: children!

MADELINE HUNTER

During Regency and Victorian times, the holidays extended to January 5, the eve of the Epiphany. Decorations remained up until then, and people closed the season with parties and balls.

One special dish served at these events was the Twelfth Night Cake. Though similar to a modern-day fruit cake, this was a huge dessert heavily iced and topped with elaborate sugar figures and settings. Baked into each confection was one bean and one pea, and the man and woman who found them in their slices would be crowned the king and queen of that evening’s festivities.

Today, our season precedes Christmas, but there are still homeowners who do not take down the decorations until January 6 because of this old tradition.