Archive

Frost fairs are more commonly known to have been held on the River Thames, the most recent example being in London in 1814. Examples of provincial frost fairs include one held in Shrewsbury in 1739. A printed souvenir held within the archives from 1855 has led us to investigate whether there is any evidence of...

In the past we’ve told you about the Case of the Stolen Christmas Goose, but that wasn’t the only seasonal crime to have taken place in Worcestershire in the past. Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe were also targets, whether by individuals for themselves, or from enterprising people to sell it on. Tenbury is a big mistletoe...

Christmas cards feature in several of our collections, some of which we have shared before on our blog. Within the Vesta Tilley archive there are several Christmas cards which were sent to her, particularly during the First World war. Vesta Tilley, born Matilda Powles, was one of the top worldwide Music Hall artists of the...

Going through the Christmas catalogues was one the great traditions of Christmas for children, writing up a long Christmas list whilst going through it. For many that catalogue would be Kays, especially here in Worcester where it was based. The company employed many people locally, as well as many people being local agents. Over the...

Christmas 1973 was the Christmas of Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade, and Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, with Slade taking the No.1 spot. Other festive records were Gaudete by Steeleye Span and Step Into Christmas by Elton John at 26. But what were people buying? After visiting the Kays catalogues of the...

  ‘An archaeological Christmas present and thrilling to find!’  This is how lucky archaeologists Tim and Jesse describe our December find of the month – a well preserved medieval oven. Cooking Christmas dinner probably conjures up images of gas hobs and electric ovens. Cooking dinner in this medieval stone built oven would definitely have required a...

Mince pies are a popular part of Christmas and we expect most of you have had quite a few already. In the past we’ve shared this recipe for Mince Pyes from 1790, taken from a book in the Lechmere archives. Other recipes include gingerbread, roasting lobsters and stewing cucumber the Hanley way. We’ve always thought...

Hopefully you’ve sent your Christmas cards by now? The very first Christmas card was sent in 1843. Whilst we don’t have any that old in the archives we do have a number of cards from the late 19th and early 20th century. We thought we’d share a few with you, although some of them don’t...

  Father Christmas visiting an Iron Age settlement, a mammoth sleigh ride and festivities at a ruined medieval church – Christmas cards with a difference. Some years ago, our illustrators used archaeological sites we’d worked on as inspiration for festive card illustrations. Below are several we’ve recently rediscovered. Here, Millicent mammoth is pulling Father Christmas’...

Did you ever go through Kays catalogue, looking at toys and gifts to put on your Christmas list? Or did you work at Kays and can remember people sending in their Christmas orders?   Many people have vivid memories of Kays catalogues, especially in the run up to Christmas when hours could be spent going...