Topic description and stories

Christmas Comes But Once A Year

Mistletoe and (a large) wine: seven-fold increase in wine glass size over 300 years

14 Dec 2017

Our Georgian and Victorian ancestors probably celebrated Christmas with more modest wine consumption than we do today – if the size of their wine...

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Mulled wine: a recipe for sustainability?

19 Dec 2016

Nothing quite says ‘Christmas party’ like the smell of mulled wine drifting around an office. It’s an easy drink to make – all of the ingredients can...

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One of several letters Crook sent from his prison camp, Stalag Luft VIII-B

Christmas Letters from a Second World War prison camp

22 Dec 2015

Moving letters sent by the academic John Crook while he was a prisoner at the notorious Stalag Luft VIII-B camp in World War II reveal his...

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Alone on Christmas

Opinion: Christmas is the hardest time of year for those estranged from close family

09 Dec 2015

Lucy Blake (Centre for Family Research) discusses family estrangement and the particular difficulties associated with Christmas.

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Nikolaus and Krampus in Austria

Opinion: Frankenstein or Krampus? What our monsters say about us

04 Dec 2015

Natalie Lawrence (Department of History and Philosophy of Science) discusses the history of monsters, and what they say about the people who invent...

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Ian and Tim

Queuing for the magic of King's on Christmas Eve

23 Dec 2011

Each year hundreds of people queue day and night in the cold to experience the magic of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in King's College...

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Santas

Who colour-coded Christmas?

18 Oct 2011

̽»¨Ö±²¥conventional colours of Christmas – red and green – are not, as many might suppose, a legacy of the Victorians. Instead, they hark back to the...

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