Tempting treats & festive feats: Christmas shopping down the ages
Annie Gray journeys through the history of Christmas shopping in Britain, from department store stunts to the must-have items for the dinner table

As we get closer to Christmas, many people will be heading out to the shops to look for the perfect presents. And this mad dash in search of festive gifts is nothing new. In this episode, Annie Gray, author of The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street, takes Emily Briffett on a tour of our historical festive spending habits, from the horrors of visiting a Victorian butcher's shop to enormous seasonal turkey parades and outrageous stunts involving elephants.
Annie Gray is the author of The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street (Profile Books, 2024).
Authors

Emily is HistoryExtra’s Content Producer (Podcasts). Before joining the BBC History team in 2021, Emily graduated with an MA in Public History from Royal Holloway, University of London