Department 56, Dickens' Village Chelsea Lane Christmas Display

Dept. 56, "Dickens' Village,"
"Chelsea Market Curiosities Monger and Cart,"
#58270

Shopaholics in the Department 56 Christmas Village community could not have failed to notice the preponderance of Chelsea Lane shoppers and vendors in Dickens' Village.  Just pause and consider the genetic reality:  a village addict...crossed with a shopping addict...in Chelsea....in Dickens' Village.....equals a critical mass of consumerism!  Department 56 "Chelsea Market Curiosities Monger & Cat" Set of 2 Retired

With no less than 7 Dickens' Village accessories specifically named after Chelsea, and many more implied, market place commerce is in full swing in a good Dickens miniature  village display.  But why Chelsea?  Why are there more vendors there than in any other part of London?  If you are questioning that, you have a great mind, and great minds think alike...

Chelsea, map from
Maps-of-london.com
So let's talk geography first, since, asTom Biebrach said, "Geography allows us to see the world more clearly."  Chelsea is located on the Thames, just a couple of miles upstream (southwest) from the London center, Westerminster Abbey, and Big Ben.  Chelsea sits on the north bank of the Thames, and is due south of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.  The Battersea Bridge links Chelsea with Battersea.

Family of Thomas More, painted by the great Hans Holbein.
Thomas is in black in the center, with his head still firmly attached.

Chelsea became fashionable in the 16th century, when Thomas More built a large home there to accommodate his extended family.  More was the Chancellor of England, appointed by King Henry VIII.  From Chelsea it was convenient for More to row (not that HE rowed, mind you) downstream to attend the affairs of state.  Likewise, it was convenient for important personages of the day, including the King himself, the humanist Erasmus, and the painter Hans Holbein the Younger to row (read: be rowed) to visit Thomas.

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Tower of London," # 58500

The King revered Thomas at first, but it didn't last.  When Henry dissolved the Catholic Church in England and took over the its lands, monasteries, and administration, a devout More balked and refused to sign an oath that the King was head of the Church.  Sadly, Chelsea's location on the Thames once again proved convenient, but this time it was for More to be rowed to the tower of London for his trial and execution. Department 56 "Tower of London" Set of 5 Dickens Village

Chelsea All Saints Church

Henry sent More to his death in part because the King wanted to dispose of his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Bolyn.  But Henry soon rid himself of Anne also, only to marry Jane Seymour, in All Saints (Old Chelsea) Church.  Ironically, Old Chelsea church was very near the home of his longtime, and by then beheaded, friend Thomas More.  More had commissioned a chapel in this church, and had sung in its choir, and one wonders if Henry thought about his deceased friend and chancellor during his marriage ceremony Jane.

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Whittlesbourne Church," #58211

It is uncanny how closely Department 56's Whittlesbourne Church resembles the reconstructed Chelsea All Saints.

After Thomas's death, King Henry seized More's house on what is now Beaufort Street, evicting the widow of his former Chancellor.  Later Henry decided to have a residence in Chelsea as well, he chose to build his Manor House near More's old home, on what was to become a famous address, Cheyne Walk, next to Old Chelsea Church.  Two other wives of Henry, Catherine Parr and Anne of Cleves, lived in Henry's new digs here.  Indeed, Chelsea became one of Henry's playgrounds.  It also became the playground for future generations of the noble and wealthy.

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Chelsea Lane Shoppers," #58165

By 1692, Chelsea had become a "village of palaces," 3000 strong, where the rich went to see and be seen. Department 56 "Chelsea Lane Shoppers" Village Collection

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,

"Chelsea Market Mistletoe Monger and Cart,"

#58262

Of course, where the rich go, go also the merchants, to separate them from their money.  Dept 56, Heritage Village Collection "Chelsea Market Mistletoe Monger & Cart"

Dept. 56, Dickens Village,
"Chelsea Market Fruit Monger and Cart,"
#58130

Nonetheless, Chelsea also remained largely rural with a substantial market garden economy.  Local farmers provided London with seasonal fruits and vegetables,  generally produced in small plots throughout the area.  HERITAGE VILLAGE COLLECTION "CHELSEA MARKET FRUIT MONGER & CART

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Chelsea Market Flower Monger and Cart,"
#58157

Chelsea became particularly noted for its flowers, especially in the Chelsea Physic Garden.  This garden was founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, to allow its apprentices to study the medicinal qualities of plants.  It evolved into an important center of botany and "plant exchange."  For example, cotton seeds collected in the South Seas were sent to the Physic Garden, who disseminated them to Georgia.  India received tea saplings from China, through the efforts of the same staff. South American rubber plants ended up in Malaysia, because of work done at the Physic Garden.  Dept. 56, Heritage Village Collection "Chelsea Market Flower Monger & Cart"

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Chelsea Lane Fish Monger and Cart,"
#58149

It is not a stretch to think that local fishermen also provided London with fresh catches of the day.  Department 56 Heritage Village Collection ; Christmas in the City ; Dickens Village Chelsea Market Fish Monger & Cart Set of 2 1993 ; Handpainted Porcelain Accessories #5814-9

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Mulberrie Court Brownstones," #58345

By the 19th century, Chelsea's many gardens and farms had been encroached upon by London's growth.  Rows of vegetables became rows of houses near the water.  A series of these rowhouse was in Cheyne Walk.  This famous street followed the Thames River eastward alongside More's original estate, then cut along Chelsea Old Church, dipping inland near Carlyles' House and running beyond Queen's house.                                                                                                                                      

James Whistler, Portrait of his friend Thomas Carlyle,

"Arrangement in Gray and Black, No. 2"

This part of Chelsea became an enclave for artists, writers, and philosophers.  Jonathan Swift, Henry James, George Elliot and Thomas Carlyle took up residence there.  It also became the hangout of painters, like James Whistler, who painted his friend Carlyle shown to the right.

J.M.W. Turner, Watercolor,
"Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons"
Photo grom Cleveland Museum of Art.

J.M.W. Turner also resided in Cheyne Walk, using the pseudonym Admiral or 'Puggy' Booth, so he could remain anonymous.  Turner was famous for his impressionistic paintings, such as those depicting the burning of London in 1834.

Dept. 56, Historical Landmark Series,
"Victoria & Albert Museum," #799992

Approximately 25 works by Turner are house in the Victoria and Albert, which is just over 1 mile north of Cheyne Walk, near Kensington Gardens.  Department 56 Dickens Village Victoria and Albert Museum

D.G. Rossetti, Pre-Raphaelite Movement,
"Ecce Ancilla Domini!"
("The Annunciation")

Residing in Queen's House in Cheyne Walk was the poet and painter D. G. Rosetti, who hosted meetings of the new artistic movement called the Pre-Raphaelites. To historians looking back, the Pre-Raphaelites were a group of artists and writers who formed a movement to test and defy previous conventions of their genres.  They imbued their paintings with symbols and references to magic, and were not afraid to use new and unconventional subjects, drawing upon Shakespeare, Keats, and other sources for inspiration.

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Chelsea Market Tea Monger," #4020194

To the various artists, writers, and painters, living in Chelsea was stimulating.  They could visit one another's homes, discuss the newest trends, and even meet on the street to chat over a cup of tea. To their neighbors, the Pre-Raphaelites were just annoying because they kept a bestiary of animals, including peacocks, who disrupted everyone's quiet.

All in all, Chelsea is full of colorful history.  It is understandable why More lived there, Henry played there, artists and writers created there, and shoppers shopped there.  And Department 56 commemorates it all!

"Navvies": Builders of English Canals and Railroads in Dept. 56 Villages

One of my most popular historical blogs is from Feb. 25, 2011, entitled "Abington Canal Series."  I re-posted this article just below today's blog, should you wish to reference it after reading about "Navvies":  Builders of English Canals and Railroads!
______________

"English Navvies and the Iron Horse, Acton Grange,"
Birtles, Warrington, from Salford Local History Library,
published: www.transportarchive.org.uk/ getobject.php?rnum=T2176&searchitem=&mtv=&pnum=

The canal and railroad building-spree that gripped England in the early 19th century contributed to the rise of the industrial age by providing a safe, efficient, and economical means to transport raw materials to factories and to distribute the manufactured products to cities.

New Jobs and New Ways of Life:  The men who built the canals and railroads spawned a new and distinct subculture in Victorian society.  This is a story of the builders of canals, and how they lived.

Navvies near Sheffield, Yorkshire,
Digitally repaired by Andre Hallam,
Published by Brett Payne, "Photo-Sleuth."

Navvies:  Colorful Guys who Built the Big Stuff:  Building canals and railroads was hard, dirty, dangerous work performed by men called "navvies," or laborers, who worked during England's Industrial Revolution on large-scale civilian projects.

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Keeping Sidewalks Clear," 808830
Surrounded by dirt, this figure would
look like the men in the photo above. 

Since workers such as these frequently had a say in plotting routes of canals and railroads, they became known as navigators, or "navvies."  Most of their work, though, was physical.  They used pick axes, shovels, and back-breaking strength to dig canal ditches and shape rail tip slopes, and dry acerbic wit to dampen the hardness and isolation of their existence.Department 56 Christmas in the City Village Keeping Sidewalks Clear Accessory Figurine

If you would like to see some dramatic images of canal-building, with a wonderful musical accompaniment by author and musician Foster Brown, click on this YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcDJ5hmTkpo  You can find information about Foster Brown at www.FosterBrown.net.

Navvies in front of their hut in Leicester, circa 1897.
Leicestershire Co. Council,
Pub. by Railwayarchive.org

Often working in sparsely-populated and inaccessible locations, navvies were housed in temporary buildings, dormitories, or shoddy huts, which distanced them from local residents and culture.  Our own Villager Charles John Buffam (Boz) Dickens himself described one of these huts in "All Year Round," Vol. 74:

...poor thin edifices of a single storey, facing the Canal...as higgledgy-piggledy as the Canal banks in the neighborhood...Disorder and dirt were rampant.  And the walls of the room were loosely papered with fragments of fifty different patterns, which from they grime might have been rescued from a Runcorn Ashpit.(1)

Dept. 56, Dickens Village,
"Fagin's Hide-A-Way," 56.55522

Fagin hardly lived better, and his Dickens' Village house could stand as a Navvie home:Dept. 56 Dickens Village Oliver Twist Fagin's Hide-a-way 55522

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Constables," 56.55794

Most often "navvies" were single men or living away from their families.  Their living conditions were so bad that it was difficult to stay clean or prepare food in a normal manner.  Because of this transitory lifestyle, they did not integrate with surrounding towns.  This isolation from conventional society brought on violence, heavy drinking, and lack of conventional morality, which further isolated them. It was a vicious cycle, and the police were frequently called in.  When navvies completed their work and left the area, local communities celebrated.

Yet Dickens had kind words for the men, and gave hope for an improvement in their lives:

Navvies...big ruddy fellows, most of them, walking advertisements of the virtues of honest open-air toil....And yet, I daresay, when the "Ship Canal" job is over, the tenants of this dismal camp will settle down elsewhere and form as neat a home as need be.  The transitory does not stimulate like the permanent. (2) 

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Keeping the Streets Clean," 56.58532,
Surrounded by dirt, these would work well in
a construction scene with "navvies."

Navvie Names:  Their names for themselves belied their humor, and said a lot about them.  "Lank" would hail from Lancashire, or was lanky.  "Yorkie," from Yorkshire;  "Moonrakers" were Wiltshire men; "Taff," a Welshman.  A "Punch" was a man from Suffolk, named after their big horses, or sometimes the name just referred to a wide-shouldered squat man, like "Punch and Judy."  A common nickname was "Scan," short for "Scandalous...a name so common it's a mystery how so many navvies managed to scandalize so many others as to earn it."  (Read that again if you didn't get it the first time.)  (3)Keeping the Streets Clean #56.58532

From http://www.victorianweb.org/history/work/sullivan/4.html
Notice the "pantry" and the metal tea bottles.

Navvie Language--Colorful as the Men Themselves:  To the "navvie," food was called "tommy," and it was purchased in a "tommy-shop,"
and wrapped in red and white fabric called a "tommykerchief."  The "tommy" was carried to work in a straw bag called a "pantry."  Tea was the "navvie's" drink, made onsite in a "drum," which was any biscuit tin or basket with a handle.  Making tea was "drumming up," and the tea was carried by the "navvie" in a metal tea bottle.  A "nipper" was a boy who "drummed up." (4)

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Bucket Lunch," 799984
Notice how similar he is
to the men in the photo above.

Department 56 Christmas in the City provides a perfect fill-in for a lunching "navvie," the "Bucket Lunch."Department 56 Christmas in the City Bucket Lunch 799984

According to a "navvie," to "welsh" or to "slope" was to do a "midnight flit," or sneak away without paying your debts.  The worst sort of "sloping" was for one "navvie" to steal from another, though that was not wide-spread.  "Sloping" was considred dangerous, since you never knew when you would meet up with your victim again. "Slopers" were not considered "navvies," but rather "...moochers (that) have no business working with decent men, and bringing disgrace on our respectable class.  I wish every (sloper) was back and starving where they came from." (5)

Gang of navvies near Haddenham,
Buckinhamshire, from
www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/getobjectstory.php?rnum=L2202&enum=le123&pnum=0&maxp=8

Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"London Gas Worker," 56.58576
Surrounded by dirt, a good representation
of man in a navvie costume.

Navvie Dress:  The most common clothes for navvies were knee-breeches or long sturdy woven pants, vests, white shirts, and thick-soled shoes.  Apparently in the early railway period, navvies dressed more gallantly, with "scarlet waistcoats, glowing neckerchiefs, velveteen coats, white felt hats with the brims turned up, breeches buttoned at the knees, high-laced boots.  The "navvies" above, and the Dept. 56 worker to the left, however, seemed more sensibly attired. 6)London Gas Worker Dept. 56 Dickens Village D56 Dv


References:  (1) http://books.google.com/books?id=1N4RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA178&lpg=PA178&dq=charles+dickens+canals+navvies&source=bl&ots=VwHNBIRyKF&sig=z63ImNMTF4eJqYBPpdTFSCXweR0&hl=en&ei=yZu1Ta-iOsffiALbq7ivBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false  (2)  See #1 above.  (3), (4), and (5) http://www.victorianweb.org/history/work/sullivan/4.html

Hot Cross Buns in England's Easter Tradition

Dept 56, Dickens Village,
"WM. Wheat Cakes and Puddings,"
56.58087

It's almost Easter, and my culinary standards must be slipping.  Instead of imagining the perfect holiday menu, I find myself lingering on thoughts of marshmallow Peeps, chocolate bunnies, Cadbury eggs, jelly beans, and Hershey's kisses wrapped in pastel foils. Not the stuff of a woman of "taste."  And yet, I have a plan..... On Good Friday morning, I am going to my local bakery, where I will stand outside the front door, waiting for it to open.  When it does, I will lean forward, to catch the first whiff.  My nose will absolutely quiver as a warm fragrance wafts out to embrace me, and I will be drawn inexorably in, by the aroma of hot cross buns.Dept 56, W.M. Wheat Cakes & Puddings

Dept 56, Dickens Village,
"Seton Morris Spice Merchant Gift Set"
56.58308

What are Hot Cross Buns?  These are small sweet and spicy bread buns that have been made with yeast, so they will rise.  Hot cross buns typically contain spices such as coriander, cinnamon, caraway seeds, and mace, along with dried fruits like currants, lemon peel, raisins, or sultanas.  Before baking, the buns are first brushed with beaten egg or a sugary glaze, which is why they appear shiny.  Then a sharp knife is used to cut intersecting lines in the form of a cross on top of the bun.  Frequently, but not always, this cross is filled with frosting after baking.Dept. 56 - "Seton Morris Spice Merchant Gift Set

Hot cross buns from
Marks and Spencer.
Picture:  Andrew Twort

Early History of Hot Cross Buns There is much speculation as to the origin of hot cross buns.  They may be derived from a custom in Saxon England, when an ox was sacrificed to the goddess Eastre, who may have been a goddess of dawn or spring or fertility.  The cross would have symbolized the crossed horns of the ox, and in fact, the word 'bun' is probably derived from the Saxon word for 'sacred ox,' which is 'boun.'

Another version of the story is that the bun is divided into four parts, to commemorate the four phases of the moon.  And the relationship to Easter.....?  Well, the lunar calendar is used to determine the date that Easter is to be celebrated each year.  Easter always falls during a specific time or phase, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.  It is actually more complicated than this,  in part because the Roman churches use a Gregorian calendar and the Eastern Orthodox use a Julian calendar to calculate Easter.  Hence the different churches celebrate Easter on different days.

Dept 56, Dickens Village,
"St. Luke's Church," 808858

Symbolism of Hot Cross Buns Today hot cross buns are firmly associated with the story of Easter.  Steve Jenkins, spokesman for the the Church of England, said, "You have got the bread, as per the communion, you have got the spices that represent the spices Jesus was wrapped in in the tomb, and you have got the cross.  They are fairly full of Christian symbolism." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8598312.stm

Dept 56, Dickens' Village,
"Windsor Castle," 56.58721.
One of Elizabeth I's residences.

Elizabeth I's Influence on Hot Cross Buns!  In the time of Elizabeth I, hot cross buns were eaten year-round.  During the 16th century, however, religious tension between Catholics and Protestants ran high.  Elizabeth, a Protestant, feared that the symbolism of hot cross buns was a little too 'Papist.' In 1592 she signed an edict forbidding the sale of "any spice cakes, buns, biscuits, or other spice bread except it be at burials, on Friday before Easter or at Christmas."  Yes, the Queen of England feared the influence of a sweet bun.  Anyway, from that time on, the relationship between Good Friday and hot cross buns was sealed by law.   www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/8451569/Hot-cross-buns-Warm-soft-and-best-with-butter.html

Dept 56, Dickens Village,
"Boz's Books,"  8055113

Charles Dickens on Hot Cross Buns  Our very own Villager, Charles John Huffam (Boz) Dickens wrote about Easter and then hot cross buns in Vol. 64 of "All the Year Round:"

"Good Friday, as the presumed anniversary of the Crucifixion of our lord, has for centuries been observed with the greatest solemnity throughout the civilized world....Good Friday probably derived its name from God's Friday, though by our Saxon Ancestors it was known as long Friday, on account of the length of the fastings and offices ordained by the primitive Church...."Department 56 Dickens Village Boz's Books

Dept 56, Dickens Village,
"Chelsea Market Fruit Monger
& Cart," 56.58130

Dickens goes on to discuss the brisk sale of hot cross buns at Chelsea's market:

"For a century and a half Chelsea was famous for its special buns, as much as two hundred and fifty pounds having been taken on one Good Friday morning at the Chelsea Bun House.  On Good Friday morning, 1839, nearly a quarter of a million buns were made and sold."  HERITAGE VILLAGE COLLECTION CHELSEA MARKET FRUIT MONGER & CART

www.books.google.com/books?id=TNkRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA370&lpg=PA370&dq=charles+dickens+hot+cross+buns&source=bl&ots=M4W8wRHbsQ&sig=OnH9_RLyXMQMvKffKY_FJiRpw8U&hl=en&ei=rgStTaLMIMrjiAKq4ti-DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false 

Dept 56, Dickens Village,
"Begging for Soul Cakes," 56.58412

Soul Cakes Hot cross buns were normally served during Easter, but a virtually identical bun is called a soul cake, and it was served on All Souls Day, Nov. 2.


www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/8451569/Hot-cross-buns-Warm-soft-and-best-with-butter.html

Dept 56, Dickens Village,
"Golden Swan Bakery, Ann. Edition"
805517

Hot Cross Buns in Contemporary England  Today hot cross buns are among the most popular pastries in England.  Over 114 million hot cross buns are sold there each year.  Between January and Easter, 8 million packs, or 32 million buns, are sold at Marks and Spencer stores alone.  This equals 28% of the total country's consumption during the Easter season.Department 56 Dickens Village Golden Swan Baker - Anniversary Edition
www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/8451569/Hot-cross-buns-Warm-soft-and-best-with-butter.html