A central theme for women of the 19th century -- at least in middle and upper class western society -- was the "domestic sphere," which was supposed to be women's proper place. And even today, many women take more time at the holidays to focus on household and family than they do the rest of the year. (I can tell in part by how many newsletters this time of year are returned with "out of office" notices. You're either making more family/domestic sphere time, or on vacation somewhere warm!)
So this week's image is drawn from the 19th century, showing a mother at a traditional holiday task, making the Christmas pudding. For generations more used to commercial instant pudding: this is not the same thing. Click through to the image to see a related image and some 19th century recipes for Christmas pudding, and a bonus: a 19th century menu for a White House Christmas dinner.
Image: Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Comments
I love to read historical recipes. A friend sometimes has plum pudding at her Christmas celebrations, but I’ve never tried to make one of these old-style puddings. Maybe next year!
It’s actually a very time-consuming process, making a Christmas pudding. It’s a bit like making fruitcake…another yummy treat that has fallen out of favor (because of bad press, in my humble opinion).