The Victorian era was seen as a time to reward Children with gifts; a celebration and one which was embraced by rich and poor alike. The gifts however differed greatly. At the beginning of the Victorian era the rich would have handmade children toys which were expensive and not readily available due to the handmade nature of the production.

The poor however would focus on stockings commonly filled with fruit and nuts. A tradition we still adopt today.

With industry came the factories and in turn industrialisation and mass production. This allowed for toys to be more accessible to those other than the elite rich. These were still out of reach for the poor.

The size of the gifts throughout the Victorian era continued to grow with larger more enticing gifts available. Initially gifts would be hung from the tree similar in nature to the small chocolates we hang from the tree today. As the gifts began to increase in size ‘under the tree’ as a place to put these gifts was used.