The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day 13 -Children Performed Elaborate Christmas Tableaux

0:00 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to the Strange History podcast and

0:03 Speaker 1: day four of our Victorian Christmas countdown the twenty five

0:07 Speaker 1: Strangest Days of Christmas. Victorian families adored living tableau, also

0:13 Speaker 1: called tableau vivant. These were live scenes where family members

0:17 Speaker 1: stood perfectly still, recreating Bible stories, fairy tales, historical events,

0:23 Speaker 1: moral lessons, do not steal, work hard, etc. No speaking,

0:29 Speaker 1: no blinking, just holding the pose for as long as possible.

0:33 Speaker 1: For Victorians, this was high art. For Victorian children, this

0:38 Speaker 1: was torture. Eight year old Henry Whitstone complained that during

0:41 Speaker 1: his family's Nativity tableau he had to hold a wooden

0:44 Speaker 1: sheep for so long my arms did tremble, and mother

0:48 Speaker 1: declared it spiritually appropriate. The performance was considered successful. Victorians

0:54 Speaker 1: did not play.

0:56 Speaker 2: Sponsored by Freeze Frame Holiday Performance Coaching. Learn how to

1:00 Speaker 2: hold still, maintain dramatic eye contact, and convey emotional suffering

1:05 Speaker 2: in total silence. Freeze Frame for when your family insists

1:09 Speaker 2: on holiday performance art Tomorrow.

1:12 Speaker 1: The mince pie, yes, the one with meat. Yes, we

1:16 Speaker 1: will talk about the meat.