Gifts were exchanged on New Year's, and foods included German gingerbread made with honey, aniseeds, almonds in the shape of hearts that could be as large as half a yard and a foot wide. Herrings, lentils, wassail-bowls, and Glee wine.
In 1850 the dresses had become so large that the gentlemen had to serve the wine or jelly on a baker's peel... according to satirist George Cruikshank.
