DROPPIN CANDLE KNOWLEDGE: 12 Smells of Christmas

If you were asked what are smells that make you think of Christmas or put you in the Christmas spirit, you'd most likely say pine, cinnamon, gingerbread, all things peppermint, eggnog, mulled wine. All home fragrance companies, BBW included, make it a point to make candles with these iconic Christmas smells to further put you into the spirit and maybe conjure some childhood memories as well.

Christmas as well know it now has been congealed in our culture and society for decades with little to no deviation. That said, some traditions and foods and items once associated with Christmas have disappeared from common knowledge; something we have a vague idea what it was and why it might have been a thing back in the day but has little to no bearing on our culture and our modern interpretation of Christmas. That said, as far as home fragrance is concerned, things we associate with Christmas nowadays can be a bit limiting but adding more older traditions and associations can give a bit more options.

So for this post, I picked 12 old school Christmas traditions to talk a bit about (12 seemed like a good number - December is the 12th month of the year and, at one point in time, Christmas was celebrated for 12 whole days). These will be things either vaguely or no longer a part of modern Christmas...and by Christmas, I do mean American Christmas and the British traditions that originally inspired it. And I'll add BBW candles that in some way reflect these traditions.

Pomanders

Pomander comes from the French word "pomme d'ambre" or "Apple of Amber. They were originally a ball of ambergris or musk with scented oils. They graduated to wrapped balls of dried flowers and herbs or metal caged locket like balls with potpourri inside and then fruit (usually some kind of citrus) studded with cloves and spices. It started in the Middle Ages as religious items and then it became a prized possession in the royal court, mainly as a preventive for one's on body odors and smelling other's stanky-stank. Around the time of the Black Plague, it was a method to "protect" you from the disease as it was thought you caught it from funky smells. The clove studded oranges we now know as pomanders was immensely popular with Puritans; it was thought they protected you from witchcraft. Both in England and eventually in America, these pomanders were given to each as gifts (that have pagan roots with oranges given as Winter Solstice gifts as they symbolized the sun). I couldn't find exactly when pomanders became a Christmas thing but I theorize that happened sometime in the 18th or 19th century when Christmas as we know it now really started to gel. Christmas around that time had more emphasis on gift-giving, like giving each other pomanders. And the smell of making of pomanders in the home quickly became something comforting as well as nostalgic.

We see the iconic combo of orange and clove in Winter. Then of course we had an actual pomander scent which probably wasn't popular as most don't know what a pomander is. So when it was brought back last year, the name was changed. Most folks don't know the association with orange and clove with Christmas, but as with most things, it has its roots in our distant past.

Wassail

We all know the Christmas song "Here We A-Wassailing", later changed to "A-Caroling" as we don't wassail anymore but what exactly is wassailing? A "wassail" is a hot punch; originally made with hot mead or ale with spices, and oranges and whole crab apples thrown in the pot and the cooked and exploded as the punch simmered. It eventually graduated to hot spiced cider with some kind of alcohol added to it. Wassailing was the act either gathering at someone's house or going door to door singing carols as you chugged wassail, usually from a wassail pot - a big wooden goblet passed from one person to the next. It's basically caroling but more drunk and rowdy. Bytheway, wassail comes from the German inspired Old English word Wæs þu hæl or "be thou hale" - hale meaning good health/good spirits.

Like I said, while singing carols is still thing,  the hot spicy apple drink to go with it disappeared. Although you do still find some recipes for a modern interpretation of wassail punch (I make a great one with cider, ginger ale and rum). So you may have noticed that in late fall into December, you still see hot cider-y based scents, which most associate strictly with fall. I can't say with accuracy that wintertime cider scents are directly inspired by wassail but there has to be some connection.

Christmas punch

When most think of hot Christmas drinks, it's usually hot cocoa, eggnog, lattes or mulled wine, not so much hot Christmas punch. Modern Christmas punches are usually a thrown together affair at office parties or maybe family get-togethers, almost always served cold and usually consists of some kind fruit juice spiked with flavored vodka...a far cry from the punches of old which were a lot more robust and hearty. Ol school punches were usually red wine and/or port based with a good strong black tea and oranges and/or lemons and spices (I make my annual Christmas Day punch based on mix of old school recipes). One popular punch was called a Smoking Bishop; so popular that it was mentioned in Dicken's Christmas Carol, which made the drink even more popular.

Alas, we don't have any actual Christmas punch inspired candles but we do have a few dark fruity drink candles that have a Christmas punch vibe to them.

Sugarplums

We all know the iconic line "...while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads" from "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as well as the infamous "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" but most of us have only a vague idea of what sugarplums might be without knowing at all what they actually are. Fun fact - sugarplums...AREN'T PLUMS AND HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH PLUMS! Sugarplums are type of candy called comfit - sugar coated seeds or nuts (think of those pastel colored sugar coated almonds you get in little bags at weddings, those are comfit) Sugarplums were originally sugar coated bits of plum but also raisins, nuts and seeds coated over and over in sugar thru a technique called panning. Though first mentioned in 17th century, they were a very popular confection in the 19th century, when both Twas the Night Before Christmas was written and The Nutcracker story and ballet was created. By the way, for centuries up until the 20th, "plums" was an umbrella term for for dried dark fruit, so raisins, prunes, and currants were called plums. Nowadays modern sugarplums are actually plum based - either being a sugared gumdrop or jelly/gummy that's plum flavored or a sugar dusted rolled  upball of mashed together dried fruit and nuts.

We did at one time have an actual sugarplum candle, created by He Who Shan't Be Named, in the before times when there was attention to detail, extensive knowledge and appreciation of vintage old school/old fashioned traditional things and using high blends to capture them. This candle was based on our modern interpretation of sugarplum candies. I'm am ignoring the more recent attempt at a sugarplum scent as it was a hot mess than had nothing to do with past or present sugarplums.

Gumdrops

Gumdrops or spice drops are a wholly American creation, invented in Illinois in the 1800s but becoming popular and part of holiday Americana culture in the later part of the 20th century, particularly the Brach's brand. They seem to have fallen from grace nowadays and you hardly see them are stores anymore. Even when I was a kid, they were already waning in popularity and was considered an "old people candy"; personally, I hated them but I did always associate them with Christmas. For my international or American Gen Z readers, gumdrops/spiced drops are pectin based gummies rolled in hard sugar and flavored in intense traditional holiday flavors - clove, anise, allspice, spearmint, cinnamon and wintergreen.

We did have a gumdrop candle back in 2011 but was never brought back. Because gumdrops are so old fashioned and not popular or well liked, I don't see this coming back. That also probably why we got the very un-gumdrop Pink Fairy Gumdrop instead as that has more mass appeal.

Chestnuts

By the time audiences heard Nat King Cole crooning "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" in the late 50s/early 60s (btw the song was written in the 40s where a young Nat King Cole crooned it then as well as Mel Torme, who actually co-write it), actual chestnut roasting was a thing of the past . It certainly is now...although you can't walk past any block in Manhattan without a vendor cart roasting them on the corner. And I'm sure in most winter markets and villages in the North, there's a food booth selling them. Outside of savory dishes like a stuffing/dressing, you don't see chestnuts, roasted or otherwise, involved in the Christmas meal. Part of the decline in chestnut roasting was ecological; a viral blight obliterated chestnut trees across America decades before the Chestnuts Roasting song became a thing. American chestnuts trees still aren't nearly as plentiful as they used to be with the chestnuts we get now in stores are imported from Asia.  

The only chestnut scent we have that is popular and stood the test of time is Chestnut & Clove. Every other chestnut scent just didn't do well sale wise and failed testing. I do think of part of that is, unless you're a New Yorker, roasted chestnuts just isn't a smell most Americans associate with Christmas anymore; most have never seen or eaten a roasted chestnut ever in their lives; I didn't until I moved up north. 

Apples

I already wrote a long extensive blogpost about the connection between apples and Christmas . Basically, way back in the pagan pre-Christian days when celebrating the Winter Solstice was in full swing, apples would be given as gifts as well as decoration; evergreen trees, symbols of stability and strength as they survived winter unchanged, were decorated with apples. Why apples? They were red and round...like the sun, something they wouldn't see too much of over the course of winter. Sometime later when the Christianity was already the major religion, certain more fun aspects of previous pagan festivities were co-opted by the Church to convert more people and keep the Christians wanting to stay Christians. Because most people were illiterate and couldn't read the Bible and sermons were too damning and/or boring, the popular thing was mystery plays - scenes from the Bible acted out by townsfolk. The stage for these plays usually consisted of one thing - a small tree decorated with apples ie the Paradise tree. These plays with these apple laden trees were oten performed...at Christmas. For centuries Christmas was an off and on thing but didn't really get cemented into Western cultures until the 1800s. King George III and his German wife brought the tradition of decorating evergreen tree to Britain, which at the time was unheard of. Several years later when Queen Victoria assumed the throne and continued the tree decorating trend which swet thru England like wildfire and eventually spread to the US. Tree branches would be decorated with wax candles (eventually becoming electric string lights), little trinkets (...ornaments) and red apples (later replaced by Christmas glass or plastics balls/bulbs)

  

We see a lot of apple notes in conceptual scents as apples were used as decorations. You can still find apples shaped tree ornaments (growing up, my parents and I decorated our tree with fake apple ornaments). You can also find garlands and wreaths with dried red apple slices. And in modern pagan religions like Wicca,  apples are still a popular decorations for the Winter Solstice and Yule.

Yule log

The burning of a log in the fireplace is one of those iconic Christmas things without it actually being a thing. I think closest we come to a Yule Log is seeing one burning on TV after midnight or the hour long videos on Netflix. Most folks don't have fireplaces/chimneys in their homes and those who do, it's usually ornamental especially down South (I have an uncle who had a fireplace in his home in a vain attempt to be bougie but never used it). I'm sure there are folks who do for the sake of tradition (most stores like Walgreens and Whole Foods sell Christmas firewood) but they're few and far in between. And there has been modern decor trends of decorated Yule logs which are just for show. I can't say for sure but I would theorize that burning Yule logs died out in the 20th century with advent of indoor heating. As with 90% of our Christmas traditions, Yule logs has its roots in pagan rituals, particularly the Germanic peoples' Winter Solstice festivities. A fine study tree would be cut down and dragged into the main hall (or modest home); the sturdier the better as it was many to burn several nights - there were many nights for the log to keep warm and bright as there was much partying to do in defiance of the cold and darkness outside. The burning log symbolized a roasting pig/boar ie all of the fine juicy livestock that'll back in the fields and ready to eat in the spring. Also trees were a symbol of long life and something to strong and steadfast that withstand the harshness of winter. Eventually burning logs and bonfires around this time of year spread as Christianity took over and spread and become a tradition to burn the log everyday until the last day of Christmas or 12th Night. Counting the sparks was said to count out the blessings and good fortunes one had in the upcoming new year. 

Again, the smell of burning wood is one so many of us associate with Christmas and winter in general without having never burned an actual one before. It's kinda practical and cost-effective if not more safe to just have a candle.

Mistletoe and Holly

Again, we all associate these 2 things with Christmases of yore...and most things associated with Christmases of yore has roots in pagan rituals and festivities. Green plants like mistletoe, holly, ivy and rosemary were used to decorate ones home around the time of the Winter Solstice - green being the color of life and a glimpse of the all of the green things growing and filled with life in the spring. After Christianity took over, people still continued this tradition although by the Middle Ages this practice lost its pagan connotations. By the time of King Henry VIII ruled and later with his daughter Elizabeth, at the height of Christmas mania, no one questioned why you decorated with green plants. After weeks of fasting and church going, on Christmas Eve you decorated every thing in the house with garlands, wreaths and boughs of green things in anticipation of 12 days of partying.

Holly was a favorite plant the Germanic people used to decorate for Winter Solstice; it was a hardy green plant that could survive winter. Eventually holly took on a more religious symbolism; the leaves looked like the crown of thorns on Jesus's head and the red berries were drops of His red blood. This symbolism has a lot to do with why red and green are the official colors of Christmas.

The hanging of mistletoe over the doorway and greeting one under it as he or she entered the home was started by the Romans for Saturnalia as it was a symbol of love and peace. For the Germanic/Nordic people, mistletoe was a symbol of fertility (the white berries were thought to look like drops of man-milk). With the advent of Christianity, mistletoe was just another fun green plant to decorate with, losing much of its pagan associations. It was said that a kiss beneath mistletoe protected you from witches. We would see this tradition become extremely popular during the Victorian period; as it was unseemly for unmarried men and women to fraternize as well as married couples to show open and brazen affection, kissing under the mistletoe became a convenient and obligatory excuse to get your smooch as well as flirt on. 

Nobody really decorates with holly anymore. And a kiss under the mistletoe is considered corny and old fashioned, mentioned in song but rarely if ever done in real life. Both traditions kinda died out mid 20th century. Because they're so entrenched in Christmases of yore culture, they often found in in home fragrance as a way to conjure mental images of Christmases long ago...despite not actually having a smell in real life.  

Frankincense and Myrrh

We all know the story of the Nativity, including The Wise Men (who actually weren't real kings but scholarly practitioners of sorcery, astrology and alchemy). (Also fun fact - despite what nativity plays will suggests, they didn't visit on the night of his birth nor did they arrive on 12th Night but months perhaps even years later at Mary and Joseph's new home) bearing their gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh. But why those 3 things exactly? They were symbolic items prophesying Jesus's life on Earth - gold (a precious metal) symbolizing his divinity as King of the Jews, frankincense (known for its healing property) symbolizing his life as a spiritual and physical healer and myrrh (used to anoint dead bodies) symbolizing his eventual death for mankind's salvation. Frankincense had a long standing association with spirituality among ancient civilizations of the East, a smell you'd often find in temples and eventually churches. Myrrh, being a common cleaning agent to clean corpses burial (or for mummification in Egypt), was always associated with death. Through the Middle Ages, both scents were associated with Christmas, smells you'd probably sniff in church during Christmas. By the 19th century both scents lost all religious associations in the West but rather they were just lovely pretty smells the remind you of ancient Egypt and the Levant. By the 20th century, both scents disappeared from common knowledge.

 

Lately there has been a slight resurgence of ancient smells in home fragrance but it's rare. Frankincense and myrrh or even incense tend not to be popular as our average consumer (outside of essential oil users, Magick/Wicca practitioners and or fragrance nerds/connoisseurs) just don't know what they're smelling and have no frame of reference or knowledge of what they are or should smell like.

Mince pies

My readers in UK know all too well about mince pies and probably think they are strictly a British thing..and they are...kind of. They are available, sold and eaten in the New England area, the Northeast (my area of New Jersey with its historically Scottish/Irish background has stores that sells them) and, I think, Canada. The rest of America has no clue - I myself had heard references of mince pies via Christmas Carol but had no earthly idea what they were or what they tasted like..until I visited the UK for the first time with my bf for Christmas - I was..am..obsessed with them!

So what are mince pies? They're mini pies filled a sugary jammy mix of candied peel, raisins, currants and spices. They've been a Christmas treat in England for centuries, being most popular in Tudor and Elizabethan periods. Traditionally, they were full normal pie size and had actual chopped (or "minced") beef mixed in with the fruits and spices - inspired by the sweet and savory cuisine of the Middle East that the British were obsessed with. Eventually the beef was taken out of the mix and the pie sizes become more bit sized. 

Mince pies were one of many traditional British Christmas necessities that traveled across the Atlantic to America, where it was eaten with relish every Christmas. Then a little something called the American Revolution happened and mince pies and all other things British (including Christmas) was abolished as they were..well, too British. Christmas came back sometime in the 1800s and a resurgence of a "traditional" British Christmas rose up after the best selling novel of the time, A Christmas Carol, became a hit in America. By the 20th century, most British traditions, including eating mince pie, had already went out of vogue and died out

Alas, we haven't had an mince pie candle as most folks just don't know what it is. The closest is maybe this Indulge candle.

Bayberry

Unlike most of the traditions I've spoken of earlier, decorating with bayberry boughs and more importantly, burning bayberry candles is a strictly American invention. Back during colonial America, particularly in the Appalachian area and parts of the Northeast where bayberries were found, the rich would make candles from them - the berries would be boiled until they released a waxy substance that was skimmed off the top of the water once cooled (bayberry trees/bushes/shrubs were also known as "wax myrtle" because of this). Because this was such a time consuming processes, poorer families had to make do with stinky tallow candles or beeswax if they were feeling (or could briefly afford to be) fancy and hoity-toity. But they could buy or perhaps make a bayberry candle for a certain special time of the year as a luxury. It was..is..said, that if you burn a brand new bayberry candle all the way to a stub on Christmas eve, you'll have nothing but good luck, fortune, health and wealth in the new year - "A bayberry candle burnt to the socket brings food to the larder and gold to the pocket"

 

It's kinda odd that BBW doesn't have a bayberry candle as it is part of the American Christmas culture and almost all major home fragrance candle companies have one. These 2 are probably the closest smell wise to a bayberry candle that we're gonna get.

So I love ol school Christmas carols, especially carols from way backintheday. So to get into the spirit of the post, here are some old carols, both modern versions and original choral arrangements, either not quite as popular nowadays or no longer sung at all

Angels from the realms of glory - Annie Lennox

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/Three Kings - Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan 

Here We Come A-Wassailing - US Army Band Chorus

Lullay lullay/Coventry Carol - Annie Lennox

The Holly and The Ivy - Annie Lennox

Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant - Siouxsie and The Banshee

In The Bleak Midwinter - Erasure

Jólakötturinn/Christmas Cat - Bjork

I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing - Nat King Cole

Oh Come Emmanuel - Bette Midler

Veni Veni Emmanuel - The King's Singers

White Winter Hymnal - Pentatonix

Corpus Christi Carol - Voce8

Down In Yon Forest - Burl Ives

Good King Wenceslas - Voce8

The Boars Head Carol - The King's Singers 

Green Groweth the Holly - New York Ensemble of Early Music's Gleemen

Personent Hodie - Choir of King's Choir

Nicholai Presulis - Anonymous 4

Jolly Old St Nicholas - Oxford Trinity/Regency House Choir

Noel Noel Bells Are Ringing - Roger Wagner Chorale

Seint Nicholaes was borne in towne of Patras - Anonymous 4

See Amid The Winter Snow - Julie Andrews

As Joseph Was A-Walking - Annie Lennox

Star in the East - The Rose Ensemble

This Endris Night - The Sixteen

Gloucester Wassail - Waverly Consort

All Hail to the Days/Drive the Cold Winter Away - The Rose Ensemble

I want to say to all of my readers Happy Holidays! Have a very Merry Christmas!