Christmas is coming, which means it’s time to gripe about the materialism of the holiday. But can you really imagine Christmas without toys and games for children? In a 2013 paper, the historian Joseph Wachelder explains how giving toys for Christmas first became a thing, in early nineteenth century England.

Before the Industrial Revolution, Christmas in England was a “public, exuberant, turbulent feast,” Wachelder writes. With the harvest complete, it was a time for laborers to celebrate and for patrons to present their servants with fresh meat and plenty to drink. But by the early nineteenth century, more people were earning their livings through wage labor, and that kind of carnival-style holiday was on the decline. In this new social reality, Christmas transformed from a public holiday to a family one. Where gifts had been for servants, now they were for children.