Victorian Literature and Culture

Tea is bound up in the nation's history of colonial expansion. British tea drinkers preferred Chinese tea at first, and had to be convinced on patriotic grounds to drink tea from India.

One scholar sees more in the Christmas food of authors like Charles Dickens—English national identity and class.

Austerity during WWII was hardly the time for pounds of exotic candy. Yet The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe prominently features Turkish delight.

Wax flowers were a major obsession of Victorian women, allowing them to combine art and industry.