Dec. 1, 2025

Terrifying & True | Dangers of a Victorian Christmas: Fires, Poisons, and Deadly Traditions

Terrifying & True | Dangers of a Victorian Christmas: Fires, Poisons, and Deadly Traditions
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Terrifying & True

A Victorian Christmas looks cozy on greeting cards—glowing candle-lit trees, shimmering tinsel, children gathered around the fire. But behind the snow-globe charm was a season of deadly house fires, toxic decorations, poisoned sweets, and experimental electric lights that turned “old-fashioned Christmas” into a very real nightmare. In this episode of Terrifying & True, we dig into the true history of how festive traditions nearly burned homes to the ground, poisoned entire families, and forced the world to rethink what “safe” even meant.

Inside this episode:

  • Candle-lit Christmas trees as ticking time bombs: How dry fir branches, open flames, and flammable Victorian fashion created instant infernos in parlors across Britain and beyond.
  • Toxic snow, tinsel, and ornaments: From cotton “snow” that flashed into flame to lead-based tinsel and arsenic-dyed decorations that slowly poisoned anyone who touched or tasted them.
  • Deadly toys and poisoned treats: The rise of arsenic greens, adulterated candies, and tainted puddings, and the chilling real-life stories of children who paid the price for “holiday cheer.”
  • Early electric lights and new kinds of danger: How the “safe” alternative to candles—experimental electric light strings and overloaded wiring—brought shocks, sparks, and fresh fears to the Christmas season.
  • From horror to reform: The fires, poisonings, and public scandals that pushed governments, scientists, and ordinary families toward modern safety standards, consumer protections, and fire codes that still save lives today.

This Christmas, as you plug in your UL-listed lights and hang shatterproof ornaments, remember the people who learned these lessons the hardest way possible—and the ghostly echoes of Victorian Christmases that still haunt our holidays. We’re telling that story tonight.

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👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Bobbletopia.com
🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder
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WEBVTT

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A Victorian mother reaches to steady the Christmas tree and

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in a heartbeat, her silk dress is on fire. Candles topple,

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dry needles flash like gunpowder, and the parlor becomes an inferno. Tonight,

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we're not talking about ghost stories. We're talking about real

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Christmas traditions that killed.

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What you were about to teat is believed to be

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based on witness accounts, testimonies, and public record.

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This is.

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Terrifying and treat.

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Hello, my spooky. This episode of Terrifying and True is

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sponsored by save Arista Coffee. They provide half calf and

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knowing that when your heart races, it's not from caffeine.

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spookies for giving save Arista a little love and thank

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you to save Arista for supporting the show. Oh Christmas

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in Victorian England is often remembered as a season of carols,

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crackling hearths, and snowy streets straight out of a Dickens novel.

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But behind the warm glow of candle lit trees and

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glittering ornaments lurked a far more unsettling truth in parlors

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from London to small country towns. Holiday gatherings ended in

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sudden fires, mysterious illnesses, and toxic decorations that slowly poisoned

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the people who trusted them. Tonight will step inside those

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richly furnished homes and watch as a single spark turned

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celebration into catastrophe, as arsenic green ribbons and leaden tinsel

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brings sickness instead of joy, and as the first strands

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of electric lights introduce a new, unexpected danger to the

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Christmas season. What hidden hazards were wrapped up in the

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Victorian idea of a perfect Christmas? How did these festive

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horrors help shape the safety laws, fire codes and consumer

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protections we rely on today? And could echoes of those

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very risks still be hanging on your own tree? Join

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us as we uncover the hidden dangers of a Victorian Christmas,

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and make sure to subscribe every Monday. This month, we'll

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be uncovering new horrors of the Christmas season right here.

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Imagine this a cozy Victorian parlor on Christmas Eve. The

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tree in the corner glistens with ornaments and real wax candles,

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each tiny flame flickering warmly. Children's faces glow with excitement

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as they each inch closer to the German tree, an

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imported wonder decked in ribbon, candies and small gifts. A

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young lady in a gauzy silk gown leans in to

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pluck a bonbond off the tree. When disaster strikes in

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an instant, her delicate dress brushes a candle and ignites flames,

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racing up the fabric. She screams as fire envelops her,

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turning holiday joy into terror. This is no fictional ghost story.

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It really happened. In eighteen forty nine. Miss Gordon was

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nearly engulfed by flames when her dress caught fire from

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a candle lit Christmas tree at an English party. Quick

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thinking guests saved her by smothering the fire with a rug,

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but not before her arms were severely scorched. She was

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fortunate to survive. Many others did not. The Victorian Christmas,

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for all its nostalgic charm, hid lethal dangers lurking in

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plain sight. The flammable decorations, toxic treats, deadly toys, and

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electrifying mishaps that turned celebrations into tragedies. Through real historical

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accounts and spine chilling anecdotes, we'll unwrap how Christmas in

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the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was as hazardous as

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it was heartwarming. So dim the lights, but maybe not

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too low. If you've got a tree nearby, stoke the fire,

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careful with those stockings on the mantle, and get ready

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for a journey into the dark side of Christmas past.

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This is a tale of festive joy mingled with danger,

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a reminder that some of the holly jolly traditions of

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yester year came at a truly frightening cost. Nothing evoked

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Christmas spirit in Victorian times quite like a candle lit

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Christmas tree. Long before safe electrical lights, families illuminated their

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trees with real candles clipped on to the branches. The

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site was admittedly magical, tiny flames dancing among evergreen boughs,

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and it became a beloved tradition from its origins in

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Germany to homes across Britain and America. President Franklin Pierce

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even brought the first candlelit tree into the White House

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in eighteen fifty six. But those delicate flames could turn

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homes into infernos. Victorian era news newspapers and medical journals

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are filled with accounts of Christmas trees exploding into flame,

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often with ghastly consequences. As one modern historian dryly noted, quote,

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we may take as read the thousands, if not hundreds

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of thousands of deaths from fire caused by candle lit

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trees a bit sensational, but you get the idea. Consider

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the grim statistics. By nineteen oh eight, house fires from

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Christmas trees had become so routine that many insurance companies

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flat out refused to pay for any blaze started by

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the festive decoration, and for good reason. In eighteen eighty five,

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a Chicago hospital burned down after Christmas tree's candles ignited it.

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On Christmas Eve of nineteen oh nine, in Pennsylvania, five

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children sneaked out of bed to light the family Christmas

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tree themselves, the results of which killed all five children,

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their parents, and two boarders sleeping in the house. Even

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public celebrations were not safe. In Oklahoma, in nineteen twenty five,

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a Christmas tree fire at a community gathering killed thirty

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six people. These are horrifying numbers. Entire families and communities

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wiped out in minutes, all because of a tradition meant

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to symbolize light and joy. Why were these fires so

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common and so deadly well, Dry trees and open flames

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are a lethal mix. Early Victorian trees were often small,

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tabletop affairs, kept fresh for a day or two. Families

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typically decorated the tree on Christmas Eve, lit the candles

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for a short, supervised spell on Christmas Day, and promptly

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took the tree down the following day. As long as

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the tree was green and moist and candles were never

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left unattended, the risk could be managed. But as Christmas

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trees became more central to holiday festivities, people began using

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bigger trees and keeping them up longer a week or

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more into the season. Inevitably, the needles dried out. A

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tinder dry six foot fir tree can flash into an

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all consuming blaze in mere seconds, burning so hot that

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nearby furniture and curtains across cross the room will burst

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into flames just from the radiant heat. Victorians didn't know

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the exact science, but they learned this through cruel experience.

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Newspapers at the time carried annual warnings. One nineteen eleven

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safety notice pleaded with parents quote, do not permit children

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to light or relight the candles while parents are not present.

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They frequently set fire to their clothing. Instead. The tree

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itself will burn when the needles have become dry. That

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warning proved all too true. Children excited to see the

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pretty lights or frequent fire victims. In one nineteen oh

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five incident, a man in Kansas City dressed up as

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Santa Claus had his costumes set ablaze by the trees candles,

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along with the sack of toys on his back in

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a minor Christmas miracle. However, he actually survived, albeit singed.

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And of course, in the opening story, we saw how

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easily a swish of a dress could ignite. Victorian women's

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fashion favored voluminous crinolines and lightweight, gauzy fabrics that could

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flare up in a most alarming manner from a single

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candle spark. Once a dress or a dried branch caught fire,

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panic often ensued, and burns were severe or fatal Before

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help arrived. Efforts were made to reduce the danger. Inventors

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devised special Christmas tree candle holders. In eighteen sixty seven,

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a weighted pendulum holder was patented to keep the candles upright,

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and by eighteen seventy eight, clip on candle holders appeared

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to better secure the candles to swaying boughs. These gadgets

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helped a bit. At least, candles were less likely to

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tip into the tree or onto the carpet. Wealthy households

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might station servants nearby with buckets of water or blankets,

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ready to extinguish any rogue flame. Some families placed their

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tree in a bucket of sand or used metal stands.

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The water filled stands that most of us are used

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to used to keep trees moist were not common until

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much later, and typically candles were only lit for a

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short ceremonial period, say during the gift exchange, and then

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promptly blown out. But human error and curiosity foiled many precautions.

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An excited child might sneak into the parlor at dawn

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to light the tree on their own, with tragic outcomes,

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as in that Pennsylvania case. A candle clipped on a

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flimsy branch might still topple onto a paper decoration, or

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a sudden draft could blow lace curtains or ribbons into

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the flames. Victorian fire departments certainly earned their keep during

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the holidays. The phrase holiday conflagration became a familiar headline.

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Imagine the horror of fire fighters arriving to a scene

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where a festive gathering had turned into a charred ruin,

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the smell of pine and wax replaced by smoke and ash.

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This dark side of Christmas left an impression on society.

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By the early twentieth century, public pressure to find a

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safer alternative was growing. The obvious solution to candle fires

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was to eliminate the open flame, a topic will explore

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when we get to the advent of electric Christmas lights.

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But fire wasn't the only hazard hanging on Victorian Christmas trees.

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The very decorations meant to beautify a home could be

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ticking time bombs of another kind to modern eyes. A

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Victorian Christmas tree might look oddly sparse and home made

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with paper cones of candy, strings of popcorn, and small gifts.

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But as the years went on, the decorations became more

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elaborate and more dangerous. Starting with the Victorian love of

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a white Christmas snow effect. Lacking spray on snow in

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a can, nineteenth century families simulated snow by strewing fluffy

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cotton batting over tree branches and wreaths. It looked charming

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until a candle's flame touched it. Dry cotton ignites as

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fiercely as dry pine needles. Fire safety advocates eventually realized cotton, candles,

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children and matches make a very dangerous Christmas combination that

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casts a gloom over many households every year. After countless fires,

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authorities began actively discouraging cotton snow by World War I.

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In nineteen seventeen, one American newspaper admonished readers to skip

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the cotton and use less harmful substitutes. Quote let us

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use metallic tinsel, asbestos fiber, and powdered mica for decorations

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and imitation snow instead of highly combustible cotton. The article

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urged yeah, you heard that right. They suggested asbestos and

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led tinsel as safer alternatives to cotton. I guess in

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a way it was less brutal than burning alive. The

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road to a safer Christmas was paved with many ironic twists. Tinsel,

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those shimmering icicles we drape on trees, has its own

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toxic history. Tinsel originated in seventeenth century Germany, where real

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silver shredded into strips created a dazzling sparkle next to

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the candles. By the late Victorian era, few could afford silver,

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so manufacturers tried cheaper metals. In the early nineteen hundreds,

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tinsel was made from aluminum or tinfoil. It gave a

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nice shine for a fraction of the price, but there

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was a catch. The aluminum based tinsel was often backed

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with paper or lacquer that turned it into a fire accelerant.

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It was very flammable. Hanging strands of this early tinsel

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on a candlelit tree was like adding strips of kindling.

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After some scary incidents and material shortages in World War One,

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which made metals scarce, tinsel temporarily fell out of fashion.

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Then came the era of a supposedly safer material to

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make the decorative icicles, a material that would bring death

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in a very different method. We now enter the era

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of leaded tinsel. Around the nineteen twenties, manufacturers discovered that

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lead foil made perfect tinsel. It was cheap, heavy, so

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it draped elegantly on branches, and importantly, it was flammable

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at last, a safe solution to the flying spark problem.

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By the mid twentieth century, lead tinsel, often called icicles,

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was everywhere countless. Baby boomers grew up tossing shiny lead

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strands on the family tree. Early on, even experts believed

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it was mostly harmless. A nineteen fifty nine safety article

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cheerfully noted that quote tinsel is fairly safe because even

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if kitties decide to swallow it, it will not cause poisoning.

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In hindsight, that statement is chilling. Lad tinsel was absolutely

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poisonous if ingested or handled frequently. Lead accumulates in the body,

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damaging the brain, kidneys, and other organs. It just doesn't

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cause immediate dramatic symptoms unless a child were to eat

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a lot of it at once, So the danger went

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overlooked for decades by the nineteen sixties, scientists and pediatricians

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00:21:19.559 --> 00:21:24.440
finally began sounding the alarm on chronic lead poisoning from

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household items. The United States FDA and manufacturers reached an

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agreement in nineteen seventy two to halt all production of

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lead tinsel. In fact, this ban was initially kept hush

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hush for fear people would hoard the old tinsel. Today

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tinsel is made from PVC plastic or milar, non toxic

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to the touch, though not exactly eco friendly, and I

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00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:06.359
don't recommend eating it. It's a dark irony that Victorian

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reformers touted lead tinsel and even asbestos snow as safety measures.

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Asbestos is flameproof, so cotton snow was swapped for fluffy

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asbestos fibers that could be sprinkled on trees or holiday scenes.

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Victorians unwittingly traded a fire hazard for a cancer hazard.

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Asbestos we now know can cause deadly lung disease if inhaled.

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00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:44.559
For decades, though, boxes of artificial snow made of asbestos

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were sold as fireproof Christmas decoration. If you shudder at

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that thought, you're not alone. One author remarked that just

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looking at old packages of asbestos snow quote makes me itch.

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It wasn't until the latter twentieth century that asbestos was

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removed from holiday products. And let's not forget the ornaments

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and toys themselves. Many were essentially time bombs. The late

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eighteen hundreds brought a flood of cheap, mass produced decorations

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and children's toys, thanks in part to industrialization. These new

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products boasted vibrant colors and novel materials, many of which

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00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:43.519
turned out to be deadly. Brightly painted Victorian ornaments often

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got their hues from toxic metals, lead and arsenic, chief

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00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:54.480
among them. A child might unwrap a beautiful new toy

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soldier set on Christmas morning, not knowing the shiny paint

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00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:04.559
was lead based and highly poisonous if they put that

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00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:11.559
toy in their mouth, as children inevitably do. In fact,

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00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:16.599
entire legions of Victorian boys were given lead toy soldiers

246
00:24:17.079 --> 00:24:21.480
to play with. Some even melted them down to recast

247
00:24:21.559 --> 00:24:27.680
their own figures, unknowingly breathing in lead fumes. It's no

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surprise that Victorian children sometimes fell mysteriously ill from lead poisoning,

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and it was only years later that doctors connected some

250
00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:49.279
of those cases to toys and nursery decorations. One historian

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00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:55.039
quipped that quote those shiny new Christmas toys turned out

252
00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:00.359
to be killers, and it's true. Many a victori Orian

253
00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:07.640
playroom was a toxic minefield. Perhaps the most notorious offender

254
00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:11.839
in the Victorian toy box and on the Christmas tree

255
00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:19.440
was shields green, an arsenic based pigment. This intense emerald

256
00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:25.519
green was the fashionable color of the nineteenth century, used

257
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in everything from wallpapers and fake flowers to candies and toys.

258
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Arsenic is, of course, a potent poison, and Victorians gradually

259
00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:45.200
learned that the arsenic that beautified their homes could also

260
00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:50.839
destroy their health. Arsenic green pigments, Shields Green and its

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00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:58.160
even deadlier cousin Paris Green, laced countless Christmas items, Green

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00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:03.960
dyed ribbons on wreaths, artificial missiletoe leaves, which in its

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00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:09.039
natural state is already poisonous, so in a way it

264
00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:14.079
was a very accurate replica wrapping papers, and even the

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wax candles on the tree. One eighteen seventy six public

266
00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:25.480
health report found arsenic in green Christmas tapers or candles.

267
00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:31.319
When burned, the candles released arsenic fumes into the parlor air.

268
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The author of the report scolded this practice as highly reprehensible,

269
00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:43.240
noting that even a small amount of arsenous oxide in

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00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:49.119
a candle could cause toxic symptoms in sensitive individuals who

271
00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:55.839
inhaled it. Think about it, a Christmas tree brilliantly illuminated

272
00:26:55.920 --> 00:27:00.680
with arsenic candles. It sounds like a more bid joke,

273
00:27:01.559 --> 00:27:06.799
but it was a real hazard. In fact, there were

274
00:27:06.920 --> 00:27:12.880
documented cases of people, especially children, getting sick with strange

275
00:27:12.920 --> 00:27:19.079
symptoms during the holidays, which doctors later traced to colored

276
00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:26.200
Christmas candles. A nineteen twelve medical review noted that quote

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00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:31.200
many children have been victims from colored Christmas candles. Yes,

278
00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:37.079
adults were seized with curious and inexplicable symptoms. Attention was

279
00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:40.960
then drawn to the candles on the Christmas tree, many

280
00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:46.680
of which were green. Analysis proved they contained shields green.

281
00:27:47.640 --> 00:27:53.640
The red candles, moreover, were colored with vermilion, a mercury compound.

282
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So if the arsenic in the green candles didn't get you,

283
00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:05.559
the mur in the red ones just might. Victorians loved

284
00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:09.960
a festive glow, but little did they know they were

285
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:15.920
poisoning the very air of their homes with each lit candle.

286
00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:29.440
One particularly eerie story from eighteen sixty nine claims that

287
00:28:29.559 --> 00:28:34.440
Princess Frederica of Hanover was arranging a Christmas tree for

288
00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:39.240
poor children in Vienna when a burning green wax candle

289
00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:45.599
fell on her arm. According to newspapers, the arsenic die

290
00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:52.279
in the candle poisoned her through the wound, causing a

291
00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:59.160
painful death months later. This story was circulated as a

292
00:28:59.240 --> 00:29:05.279
cautionary tale, though in reality the princess survived and the

293
00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:11.799
account was likely exaggerated or confused with another incident. Still,

294
00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:17.279
the fact that it was believed shows how aware people

295
00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:24.200
were becoming of those deadly green dyes. Even the greenery

296
00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:29.559
itself could harbor peril. Homes were often decorated with holly,

297
00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:36.519
mistletoe and other winter plants. Children attracted by bright red

298
00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:44.680
holly berries sometimes snacked on them, with dire results. Holly

299
00:29:44.839 --> 00:29:49.880
berries are poisonous if eaten in quantity. In one eighteen

300
00:29:50.039 --> 00:29:54.160
fifty eight case, an eleven year old boy nearly died

301
00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:59.160
after gobbling a large number of holly berries on a dare.

302
00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:05.640
He suffered violent vomiting and seizures so extreme his family

303
00:30:05.799 --> 00:30:11.319
thought he had died on Christmas Day. Only a last

304
00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:15.880
ditch effort of pouring wine down his throat revived him,

305
00:30:16.279 --> 00:30:24.039
though not a recommended cure. That boy was lucky. Others

306
00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:30.559
were not so fortunate. When sampling toxic mistletoe berries or

307
00:30:30.759 --> 00:30:37.240
ewe sprigs used in decor, the Victorians slowly learned to

308
00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:43.079
keep natural decor out of reach of curious tots, a

309
00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:48.079
lesson still relevant to day, as any veterinarian will warn

310
00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:55.079
regarding pets and poinsettas. For example, we've hung our Christmas

311
00:30:55.119 --> 00:31:00.799
tree with fire and poison. Now let's turn to the

312
00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:06.759
holiday feast. Food and drink are central to Christmas merriment,

313
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:12.000
but in the nineteenth century, they too could be fatal

314
00:31:12.119 --> 00:31:19.640
in surprising ways. One obvious risk was food spoilage. The

315
00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:25.079
concept of refrigeration was rudimentary, germ theory was still new,

316
00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:31.480
and food poisoning often meant actual poison to Victorian doctors.

317
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:37.720
A tragic example occurred in eighteen seventy one. The Harrison

318
00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:42.920
family of London enjoyed a Christmas turkey dinner, only to

319
00:31:43.079 --> 00:31:49.119
fall violently ill with vomiting afterward. Mister Harrison died a

320
00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:53.559
few days later. An inquest was held to find if

321
00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:59.119
someone had deliberately poisoned the food. The analysis found no

322
00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:04.400
arsenic or other mineral poisons in the turkey or condiments.

323
00:32:05.559 --> 00:32:10.880
This baffled the medical examiner. He noted a similarly perplexing

324
00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:16.480
case of a fatal illness after a Christmas goose, where

325
00:32:16.519 --> 00:32:21.559
no toxin was identified. In the end, the coroner concluded

326
00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:26.400
that quote the turkey was poisonous in its nature, and

327
00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:32.240
declared the death natural causes. In hindsight, the poor man

328
00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:38.519
almost certainly died of bacterial food poisoning. Perhaps the turkey

329
00:32:38.599 --> 00:32:44.920
had spoiled, but Victorian science hadn't quite caught up to microbes.

330
00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:51.839
To them, a turkey could just spontaneously be toxic. It's

331
00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:55.440
a small comfort that out of such cases grew a

332
00:32:55.440 --> 00:33:00.759
better understanding of food safety, even if mister Harrison doctor

333
00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:08.000
basically threw up his hands and blamed the bird. More insidious, though,

334
00:33:08.559 --> 00:33:15.039
was the threat of food adulteration. In Victorian times, ingredient

335
00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:21.960
labels and purity standards were practically non existent. Dishonest suppliers

336
00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:28.039
would stretch expensive ingredients with cheap fillers, and sometimes those

337
00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:35.359
fillers were dangerous. Sugar was costly, so candy makers often

338
00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:42.000
mixed in chalk or clay as daft filler, not tasty,

339
00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:48.480
but not deadly either. However, in one infamous incident in

340
00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:54.920
eighteen fifty eight, this practice turned lethal. In what became

341
00:33:55.079 --> 00:34:01.559
known as the Bradford Sweets poisoning, a confectioner's assistant accidentally

342
00:34:01.720 --> 00:34:08.079
used arsenic trioxide instead of the usual harmless filler when

343
00:34:08.119 --> 00:34:15.480
making peppermint Humbug candies. The mistake was tragically caught only

344
00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:21.079
after the candies were sold. Over two hundred people were sickened,

345
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:27.320
and twenty, mostly children, died from eating just a couple

346
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:33.199
of the arsenic laced sweets. Each candy contained enough arsenic

347
00:34:33.639 --> 00:34:39.000
to kill two adults, as it was later discovered. While

348
00:34:39.079 --> 00:34:44.440
this particular poisoning wasn't tied directly to Christmas, it serves

349
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:50.559
to illustrate the ever present risk of Victorian treats. One

350
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:55.400
shutters to imagine a child finding a treat in their

351
00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:01.159
Christmas stocking. Public outrage over the Bradford death did spur

352
00:35:01.400 --> 00:35:06.800
new laws, Britain's eighteen sixty Food Adulteration Act and the

353
00:35:06.840 --> 00:35:11.800
Pharmacy Act of eighteen sixty eight in an attempt to

354
00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:17.719
prevent such horrors. By late century, at least blatant poisonings

355
00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:25.199
by candy were rarer, but lesser adulterants like led chromate

356
00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:30.199
to color candies or copper sulfate to make pickles look green,

357
00:35:31.079 --> 00:35:39.000
still posed chronic health risks. Even beloved Christmas desserts could

358
00:35:39.039 --> 00:35:52.320
harbor danger. Let's take a look at plum pudding, traditionally

359
00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:55.880
doused in brandy and set a light in a blue

360
00:35:55.920 --> 00:36:03.000
flame before serving. It is a spectacular sight and generally

361
00:36:03.079 --> 00:36:08.599
the alcohol burns off quickly, but now and then a

362
00:36:08.679 --> 00:36:16.920
putting explosion or mismanaged flame caused burns and fires. Victorians

363
00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:21.559
also had a charming custom of hiding small trinkets or

364
00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:27.719
coins inside the Christmas pudding for guests to find, which

365
00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:32.800
led to the occasional choking hazard or cracked tooth at

366
00:36:32.840 --> 00:36:39.400
the dinner table. Minor dangers, perhaps compared to arsenic candies,

367
00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:44.039
but still enough to send someone to the infirmary on

368
00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:50.239
Boxing Day. By the nineteenth century, technology began to offer

369
00:36:50.360 --> 00:36:55.400
hope for a safer Christmas. Electricity was emerging from the

370
00:36:55.480 --> 00:37:02.440
laboratories of Edison and Tesla, promising light without flame. In

371
00:37:02.519 --> 00:37:07.360
December eighteen eighty two, just two years after Edison patented

372
00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:12.239
the first practical light bulb. An inventor named Edward H.

373
00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:17.960
Johnson had a brilliant idea, why not string those new

374
00:37:18.079 --> 00:37:23.159
electric lights around a Christmas tree. Johnson, who was a

375
00:37:23.199 --> 00:37:28.440
colleague of Edison, hand wired eighty red, white, and blue

376
00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:33.880
miniature bulbs and wrapped them around a rotating evergreen tree

377
00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:39.239
in his New York parlor. The effect was stunning. One

378
00:37:39.360 --> 00:37:45.199
reporter described a large Christmas tree presenting a most picturesque

379
00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:50.880
and uncanny aspect, brilliantly lighted with many colored globes about

380
00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:57.159
as large as an English walnut, continuously twinkling. Onlookers were

381
00:37:57.199 --> 00:38:02.280
amazed not only by the beauty but by the apparent safety.

382
00:38:02.920 --> 00:38:07.159
Quote electric trees will prove to be far less dangerous

383
00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:14.519
than wax candle parlor trees. Johnson noted confidently he was

384
00:38:14.639 --> 00:38:21.199
right eventually, but at first electric lights were rare and

385
00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:25.679
came with their own hazards. In eighteen eighty four, the

386
00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:29.800
New York Times called the idea of electric Christmas lights

387
00:38:30.039 --> 00:38:34.840
extravagant because at the time less than ten percent of

388
00:38:34.920 --> 00:38:41.199
American homes had electricity at all. Early electric light strings

389
00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:46.800
were battery powered or wired to primitive generators. They were

390
00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:51.559
expensive and finicky. An electrically lit tree in nineteen o

391
00:38:51.719 --> 00:38:57.599
three could cost ten dollars or more to illuminate hundreds

392
00:38:57.599 --> 00:39:02.000
of dollars in today's money. Often people would rent electric

393
00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:06.519
light sets for a party rather than buy them. Those

394
00:39:06.599 --> 00:39:11.880
who did wire up lights faced new risks electrical shock

395
00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:18.920
and fire from faulty wiring. Early wiring insulation was cloth

396
00:39:19.119 --> 00:39:25.000
or rubber that could degrade or overheat. Many homes had

397
00:39:25.079 --> 00:39:31.000
old style fuse boxes, or even just one outlet per room,

398
00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:37.079
leading to dangerous daisy chains of extension cords around the holidays.

399
00:39:38.079 --> 00:39:45.519
Overloaded circuits could spark fires behind walls. Bulbs themselves ran hot.

400
00:39:45.960 --> 00:39:50.199
Those early carbon filament bulbs got so warm that if

401
00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:54.199
one nestled against a dry pine needle, it could ignite it,

402
00:39:54.960 --> 00:40:00.519
just as a candle would. Newspapers of the nineteen hundredsccasionally

403
00:40:00.679 --> 00:40:07.079
reported electrical mishaps, a child shocked by grasping a defective bulb,

404
00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:13.800
or a tree fire blamed on crossed wires. Still, compared

405
00:40:13.840 --> 00:40:18.960
to open flames, the scale of disaster was usually smaller,

406
00:40:19.559 --> 00:40:26.639
and improvements came about rapidly. By nineteen fourteen, competition had

407
00:40:26.719 --> 00:40:29.920
driven the cost of a string of lights down to

408
00:40:30.039 --> 00:40:34.960
one dollar in seventy five cents, or about fifty dollars

409
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.800
in today's money. More households were getting wired for electricity

410
00:40:39.920 --> 00:40:45.400
each year. An oft repeated legend tells of Albert Steca,

411
00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:49.760
a fifteen year old boy in New York whose family

412
00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:55.159
owned a lighting business. In December of nineteen seventeen, a

413
00:40:55.239 --> 00:41:00.599
tragic tenement fire caused by Christmas candles killed several people

414
00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:06.440
in the city. Saddened by the news, young Satica suggested

415
00:41:06.519 --> 00:41:11.639
his family start making affordable electric Christmas light strings to

416
00:41:11.719 --> 00:41:17.119
prevent such fires. Within a few years, the Satica family

417
00:41:17.559 --> 00:41:21.800
helped form Noma Electric Company, which became one of the

418
00:41:21.800 --> 00:41:26.920
biggest makers of Christmas lights. Mid century, the push for

419
00:41:27.000 --> 00:41:31.920
safety and mass adoption of electric lights got a boost

420
00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:39.599
from such entrepreneurs and from groups like Underwriters Laboratories, which

421
00:41:39.639 --> 00:41:44.800
began testing and certifying holiday light strings by nineteen oh

422
00:41:44.840 --> 00:41:50.320
five to ensure they met basic safety standards. By nineteen

423
00:41:50.400 --> 00:41:56.280
twenty one, UL had published its first safety requirements specifically

424
00:41:56.760 --> 00:42:02.719
for Christmas lighting, establishing guidelines that significantly reduced the risk

425
00:42:03.239 --> 00:42:09.039
of electrical fires. As the technology improved, the nature of

426
00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:13.800
the risk shifted. Instead of a whole tree going up

427
00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:18.559
in flames, you might get a localized problem, a short

428
00:42:18.639 --> 00:42:24.119
circuit charring a cord, or a single bulb popping. One

429
00:42:24.280 --> 00:42:29.159
famous incident shows that even by the nineteen forties caution

430
00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:34.400
was still needed. Being Crosby the singer who crooned White

431
00:42:34.519 --> 00:42:39.159
Christmas lost his own home to a Christmas tree fire

432
00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:45.960
in nineteen forty three, caused not by candles but by

433
00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:52.400
faulty electric light wiring. Clearly, one couldn't be complacent even

434
00:42:52.480 --> 00:42:58.119
with the new lights, but overall, as decades passed, the

435
00:42:58.199 --> 00:43:04.239
number of house fires during the holidays dropped dramatically. By

436
00:43:04.280 --> 00:43:08.960
the mid twentieth century, most families in America and Europe

437
00:43:09.519 --> 00:43:14.519
had traded in candles for strings of electric fairy lights,

438
00:43:15.400 --> 00:43:20.480
and in recent times the shift to cool burning LEDs

439
00:43:21.280 --> 00:43:26.119
has further reduced the fire hazard to near zero. You

440
00:43:26.199 --> 00:43:30.239
can actually wrap an LED light in tissue paper and

441
00:43:30.280 --> 00:43:34.920
it won't ignite, though please do not test this theory.

442
00:43:36.440 --> 00:43:41.039
The Victorian fear of candle flames gradually faded into an

443
00:43:41.079 --> 00:43:46.639
almost quaint memory. Yet, if you've ever seen those dramatic

444
00:43:46.719 --> 00:43:51.559
fire safety PSAs showing how fast a dry Christmas tree

445
00:43:52.079 --> 00:43:56.480
can engulf a room in flames, you'll realize the caution

446
00:43:56.719 --> 00:44:03.679
remains relevant. Fire departments still urge watering your tree and

447
00:44:03.800 --> 00:44:09.320
unplugging lights when you're away, And indeed, nobody wants to

448
00:44:09.360 --> 00:44:13.360
be the family that makes the news as yet another

449
00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:19.480
holiday statistic. As one writer Riley put it, in a way,

450
00:44:20.239 --> 00:44:31.840
the ghosts of Christmas past have taught us well as

451
00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:36.639
spine tingling. As these true stories are, they come with

452
00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:43.159
a silver or perhaps lead tinsel lining. Each disaster pushed

453
00:44:43.280 --> 00:44:49.239
society to make Christmas safer. The hidden dangers of Victorian

454
00:44:49.400 --> 00:44:56.400
Christmas traditions spurred changes in laws, technology, and public awareness

455
00:44:56.440 --> 00:45:00.920
that benefit us to this day. It's remarks to think

456
00:45:00.960 --> 00:45:05.079
that our modern holiday safety net was woven from the

457
00:45:05.159 --> 00:45:11.800
threads of past tragedies. The innumerable candle related fires led

458
00:45:11.880 --> 00:45:17.199
directly to the adoption of electric lights. Insurers and fire

459
00:45:17.280 --> 00:45:22.119
brigades essentially forced the issue. By the early nineteen hundreds,

460
00:45:22.159 --> 00:45:26.599
if you insisted on candles, your home insurance might not

461
00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:32.559
cover you. Companies like Edisons and SODCAS seized the opportunity

462
00:45:32.599 --> 00:45:38.559
to market safer electric alternatives, and organizations like the National

463
00:45:38.679 --> 00:45:44.679
Fire Protection Association, formed in eighteen ninety six, started holiday

464
00:45:44.800 --> 00:45:50.159
fire safety campaigns over a century ago. The tradition of

465
00:45:50.280 --> 00:45:55.920
community fire safety announcements around Christmas, like not leaving lights

466
00:45:55.960 --> 00:46:00.760
on unattended or keeping your trees watered, dates back to

467
00:46:00.880 --> 00:46:07.000
those early warnings. Today, thanks to these lessons, Christmas tree

468
00:46:07.000 --> 00:46:11.760
fires have become far less common, and many families opt

469
00:46:11.880 --> 00:46:18.360
for fire resistant artificial trees or at least flame retardant decorations.

470
00:46:18.880 --> 00:46:23.079
As a result of standards that were developed over time,

471
00:46:24.519 --> 00:46:30.960
The Victorian arsenic mania in wallpaper, toys, and clothing eventually

472
00:46:31.039 --> 00:46:37.199
subsided due to public outcry and scientific revelations. By the

473
00:46:37.239 --> 00:46:43.000
eighteen seventies and eighteen eighties, articles like Pretty Poison Wreaths

474
00:46:43.039 --> 00:46:47.800
and expose as on arsenic dyed dresses caused a scandal.

475
00:46:48.599 --> 00:46:52.880
The death of workers like Matilda Shorer, a nineteen year

476
00:46:52.920 --> 00:46:57.599
old who died from making arsenic green artificial flowers, became

477
00:46:57.719 --> 00:47:04.519
a rallying point for reform. Manufacturers like William Morris, famous

478
00:47:04.559 --> 00:47:09.119
for wallpapers, were pressured to remove arsenic from their products.

479
00:47:09.880 --> 00:47:15.440
Laws lagged behind somewhat. Britain didn't outright ban arsenic in

480
00:47:15.559 --> 00:47:21.199
non food products even into the twentieth century, but consumer

481
00:47:21.280 --> 00:47:26.639
preference shifted by the eighteen nineties. Shiel's green had largely

482
00:47:26.760 --> 00:47:32.079
fallen out of use due to its reputation. In nineteen

483
00:47:32.119 --> 00:47:36.760
oh three, Britain passed a law limiting arsenic in foods

484
00:47:36.760 --> 00:47:42.599
and drinks. Over the following decades, many countries gradually eliminated

485
00:47:42.719 --> 00:47:49.880
lead and mercury from consumer goods, though astonishingly lead foyle

486
00:47:50.039 --> 00:47:54.960
tinsel hung around until nineteen seventy two. In the United States,

487
00:47:55.400 --> 00:48:00.800
as we noted, today, we have strict toy safety regulations,

488
00:48:01.480 --> 00:48:06.519
no lead paint, no toxic dyes, precisely because we learn

489
00:48:06.960 --> 00:48:12.000
from an era when children suffered from such poisons. If

490
00:48:12.039 --> 00:48:15.519
you by your child a painted toy now you can

491
00:48:15.559 --> 00:48:19.480
thank Victorian era scandals for the fact that it won't

492
00:48:19.519 --> 00:48:25.119
be covered in arsenic or lead. In many ways, more

493
00:48:25.199 --> 00:48:31.199
important than laws is the cultural knowledge passed down. Victorians

494
00:48:31.320 --> 00:48:35.800
learned the hard way about holly berries, so later generations

495
00:48:35.880 --> 00:48:39.480
taught their kids don't eat those. They'll make you sick.

496
00:48:40.280 --> 00:48:43.639
We now know not to use open flames on a

497
00:48:43.719 --> 00:48:48.440
dried out tree, unless you're really chasing that Victorian esthetic,

498
00:48:49.039 --> 00:48:54.199
in which case be extremely careful. We no longer put

499
00:48:54.360 --> 00:49:00.000
real lit candles on Christmas trees, except in controlled brief situations.

500
00:49:01.440 --> 00:49:06.159
Some European households still do it for tradition's sake, but

501
00:49:06.480 --> 00:49:12.239
always cautiously, often keeping a bucket of water nearby. We

502
00:49:12.360 --> 00:49:16.679
also have inherited a healthy skepticism about too good to

503
00:49:16.760 --> 00:49:22.280
be true food and drink. Those nineteenth century food poisonings

504
00:49:22.360 --> 00:49:26.159
led to modern food safety laws and the basic habit

505
00:49:26.239 --> 00:49:31.400
of checking expiration dates and sources. Even the concept of

506
00:49:31.679 --> 00:49:36.880
holiday safety campaigns from fire departments distributing Christmas tree safety

507
00:49:36.920 --> 00:49:41.400
tips to consumer groups testing the latest high tech toys

508
00:49:41.440 --> 00:49:45.360
for hazards can trace a lineage back to the late

509
00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:52.920
Victorian push for safer holidays. The Victorians loved Christmas, but

510
00:49:53.280 --> 00:49:59.480
they also began the conversation about keeping Christmas safe. As

511
00:49:59.519 --> 00:50:02.920
we can cl lute our journey through the ghostly dangers

512
00:50:02.960 --> 00:50:07.519
of Christmas past, it's worth reflecting on how far we've come.

513
00:50:08.239 --> 00:50:11.639
In a modern living room, a family gathers around an

514
00:50:11.719 --> 00:50:17.440
artificial tree bedecked with cool to touch led lights, UL

515
00:50:17.559 --> 00:50:24.360
certified cords, shatterproof ornaments, and flame retardant tinsel. Children tear

516
00:50:24.440 --> 00:50:29.360
open their gifts toys made of tested plastics with non

517
00:50:29.480 --> 00:50:35.280
toxic paints regulated by strict standards. The holiday treats are

518
00:50:35.639 --> 00:50:40.760
store bought from inspected facilities or baked at home with

519
00:50:41.199 --> 00:50:45.920
known ingredients. It's a scene that would seem almost science

520
00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:51.960
fiction to a time traveling Victorian. Sure there are still risks,

521
00:50:52.440 --> 00:50:55.679
don't let that tree get too thirsty, keep those glass

522
00:50:55.800 --> 00:50:59.760
ornaments away from toddlers, and perhaps go easy on the

523
00:50:59.760 --> 00:51:04.079
egg nog, But nothing like the hidden minefield of the

524
00:51:04.199 --> 00:51:10.559
nineteenth century home. Yet we owe those Victorian families a debt.

525
00:51:11.320 --> 00:51:16.519
Their suffering and loss illuminated, often literally by the light

526
00:51:16.599 --> 00:51:21.800
of a blazing Christmas tree. The path to safer celebrations,

527
00:51:22.679 --> 00:51:27.719
as one commentator from nineteen seventeen optimistically wrote, thanks to

528
00:51:27.800 --> 00:51:32.519
new precautions, quote, the vast majority of families have gone

529
00:51:32.559 --> 00:51:38.880
for generations without a single mishap related to Christmas decorations.

530
00:51:38.960 --> 00:51:42.960
That might have been a bit premature in nineteen seventeen,

531
00:51:43.119 --> 00:51:47.039
but by and large it came true in the years after.

532
00:51:47.760 --> 00:51:52.519
Each generation learned and improved. We learned to respect the

533
00:51:52.639 --> 00:51:57.800
power of fire, to treat mysterious chemicals with caution, and

534
00:51:58.000 --> 00:52:02.719
to prioritize safety in the very ways we mark the season.

535
00:52:03.840 --> 00:52:08.639
So this Christmas, as you enjoy the twinkling lights and

536
00:52:08.760 --> 00:52:14.280
the cozy glow of your safely wired decorations, Spare a

537
00:52:14.360 --> 00:52:19.719
thought for the eerie stories of yesteryear. The next time

538
00:52:19.800 --> 00:52:23.360
you hang an ornament, remember it might once have been

539
00:52:23.400 --> 00:52:28.480
made of lead or arsenic laced glass, and be glad

540
00:52:29.079 --> 00:52:32.639
that it's not. When you flip on the tree lights,

541
00:52:33.320 --> 00:52:37.679
consider how not so long ago that would have meant

542
00:52:37.719 --> 00:52:43.519
striking a match to dozens of open flames. The past

543
00:52:44.079 --> 00:52:51.000
was a different, often scarier place. Now, my spookies, as

544
00:52:51.000 --> 00:52:53.960
you get ready to move on with your holiday and

545
00:52:54.039 --> 00:52:58.639
the ghosts of Victorian Christmas have spoken, heed their warning,

546
00:52:59.039 --> 00:53:05.199
and hear their messay, it's ultimately one of gratitude. We

547
00:53:05.440 --> 00:53:10.519
enjoy a merrier Christmas present because of those very warnings

548
00:53:10.920 --> 00:53:15.960
from Christmas past. Stay safe, keep the fire in the

549
00:53:16.039 --> 00:53:20.280
hearth and off the tree, and have a happy holiday

550
00:53:21.039 --> 00:53:27.159
one hopefully free of any unintended frights. And I'll be

551
00:53:27.280 --> 00:53:31.800
back next week with another terrifying story of the darker,

552
00:53:32.400 --> 00:53:39.039
deadlier side of Christmas. Terrifying and True is narrated by

553
00:53:39.159 --> 00:53:43.320
Enrique Kuto. It's executive produced by Robfields and bobble Toopia

554
00:53:43.519 --> 00:53:47.079
dot Com and produced by Dan Wilder, with original theme

555
00:53:47.159 --> 00:53:49.880
music by Ray Mattis. If you have a story you

556
00:53:49.960 --> 00:53:52.840
think we should cover on Terrifying and True. Send us

557
00:53:52.880 --> 00:53:56.480
an email at Weekly Spooky at gmail dot com, and

558
00:53:56.519 --> 00:53:58.039
if you want to support us for as little as

559
00:53:58.039 --> 00:54:01.320
one dollar a month, go to Weekly Spooky Slash join.

560
00:54:01.559 --> 00:54:03.800
Your support for as little as one dollar a month

561
00:54:03.920 --> 00:54:06.280
keeps the show going. And speaking of I want to

562
00:54:06.280 --> 00:54:09.639
say an extra special thank you to our Patreon podcast boosters,

563
00:54:09.719 --> 00:54:11.519
folks who pay a little bit more to hear their

564
00:54:11.599 --> 00:54:13.280
name at the end of the show, and they are

565
00:54:13.559 --> 00:54:18.400
Johnny Nicks, Kate and Lulu, Jessica Fuller, Mike Escuey, Jenny Green,

566
00:54:18.559 --> 00:54:22.119
Amber Hansburg, Karen we Met, Jack Ker and Craig Cohen.

567
00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:24.400
Thank you all so much and thank you for listening.

568
00:54:24.559 --> 00:54:28.039
We'll see you all right here next time on Terrifying

569
00:54:28.159 --> 00:54:30.719
and True.