Christmas I Sweden in the 1870’s could be wild:
In Veinge, Halland, Christmas commenced at 3 PM sharp with the solemn ritual of "nubbat upp jularken" (toasting the Christmas ale), followed by the far more enthusiastic tradition of firing rifles into the air. Edvard Erlandsson (b. 1865), youngest of ten children in a family, recalls his father meticulously loading his gun for maximum acoustic effect. The louder the bang, the better the Christmas—a sentiment echoed by neighboring farms who responded with their own artillery salutes in what can only be described as a festive arms race.
Post-church services involved additional volleys of 3-4 shots, because apparently one round of celebratory gunfire was insufficient. The evening menu featured boiled pork, headcheese, fried blood sausage, browned kale, and—critically—alcohol for everyone, children included.
Entertainment consisted of "rather neck-breaking" games involving furniture climbing and wrestling matches in straw, with father typically emerging victorious. Less violent options included grinding mustard and weighing salt. Gift-giving involved hurling straw-wrapped packages through doorways and fleeing before being caught and force-fed. Rejected suitors occasionally weaponized this tradition by throwing in wrapped cow dung instead.
The evening concluded with ritual washing in leftover fish-cooking water for good luck, and hopeful vigils for the mythical "jullåga" (Christmas flame) in the sky—which Edvard admitted neither he nor anyone he knew had actually witnessed.
Source: 
Rötter
Så firade släkten jul på 1870-talet
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