Dating back over fifteen hundred years, to the fourth and fifth centuries, Advent remains one of the oldest Christmas traditions. However, its original significance has changed much since its conception, when Christians dedicated the period of Advent to prayer and reflection. Now, Advent is a time that promotes and garners festive excitement, not just for the big day, but also for the month of December.
In the countdown to the 25th, developments in Advent celebrations have turned to visual indicators, such as wreaths, candles, and calendars which have been used popularly across the world. In China, for example, Christians light colourful paper lanterns in their homes, and may cut out red paper pagodas and place them in windows. These celebrations of Advent follow in the traditions that were brought by Western missionaries [1].
The tradition of the Advent calendar is itself founded on the importance of visual celebration. The excitement of an Advent calendar was originally dependent on graphic images. In a children’s book by Elise Averdieck dated 1851, Christmas day is signified by the completion of 24 pictures: “In the evening when little Elisabeth goes to bed, her mother always tells her a little bit about the Christmas story and they learn and sing Christmas carols. Every evening a new picture is added to the wallpaper and the children know that when all twenty four pictures are hanging on the wallpaper then Christmas is here.”[2] This is an early piece of evidence for Advent calendars, however, it wasn’t until the start of the 20th century that Advent calendars went into print, where festive images were the excitement behind each window.
It was Gerard Lang who popularised Advent calendars, earning his reputation as the “inventor of the Advent calendar”, as he regularly published a variety of designs by well-known children’s book illustrators from 1904 onwards.
In the 1950s the first chocolate Advent calendars were first produced. Cadbury began commercially producing their chocolate Advent calendar in 1971 and the fashion of chocolate calendars quickly took hold. In 2023 a survey published by YouGov found that chocolate calendars were the most popular choice of Advent calendar among respondents. The survey also found that 43% of respondents who were not considering purchasing Advent calendars were doing so because they believed that Advent calendars are primarily for children.[3]
The perception that Advent calendars are just for children is rapidly changing, as consumers are made more aware of other types of Advent calendars that they can choose from. In fact, YouGov also found that 42% of respondents agreed with the statement that “the tradition of chocolate-filled calendars is fading with the influx of diverse Advent calendar options.”[4]
One such type of Advent calendar that provides an adult-only option is the alcohol-filled calendar. These can be calendars like those we’ve been producing since 2020 for Laithwaites Wine, in which bottles of wine are hidden behind the doors.
One of the immediate challenges in creating these calendars was designing an elegant box despite the bulkiness needed to contain 24 bottles of wine. Our approach was to design the box as a château in a snowy Christmas scene. The design transformed the wine box into a beautiful Christmas decoration to display throughout Advent. Each year the designs have adapted. This year the design is based on the concept of travelling far and wide to discover wines from around the globe.
These Advent calendars are always a joy to create, developed from initial sketches, to fully drawn illustrations and animated videos. Even when all the windows have been opened, these Advent calendars leave you with something that is just too beautiful to throw away.
[1] Forrest Brown, What is Advent? And what traditions do people follow worldwide (2023), CNN travel < https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/advent-traditions-world/index.html>
[2] Advent Calendars, German Christmas Museum < https://www.weihnachtsmuseum.de/en/adventskalender>
[3] Janice Fernandes, The rise of the Advent calendar. Just how much are Brits willing to pay? (2023), YouGov < https://business.yougov.com/content/47986-the-rise-of-the-advent-calendar-just-how-much-are-brits-willing-to-pay>
[4] See 3.
Author Warwick Buckland, November 2024