Thread: How did the Victorians celebrate birthdays and how did they differ from the way we celebrate birthdays today?

What I'd like to know is: Did they typically buy cards and presents for the birthday boy or girl? Did they buy presents? Did they wrap the presents? Did they say 'happy birthday' or 'many happy returns'? Did they sing 'Happy Birthday'? Was it an occasion for all the family or just close family?
Awesome response from Maynard so far - and just as I thought - the Victorian birthday celebration was very different indeed from today's type of celebration. Can anyone top that? Provide more details on what they might have specifically eaten? Would they ever celebrate at breakfast, for instance?

They probably thru grand balls and parties.
and the adults would play children games like hide and seek in the maze of shrubs.
i got that from the movie Marie Antoinette

The Victorian development of Christmas as a time to give gifts might have actually started the tradition of birthday gift giving and birthday parties as this is the time when the tradition starts to show up more among "regular" people. Up until then a birthday party was usually just a cake and well wishing in general because many/most families could not afford such extravagances.

They typically had a cake with dinner during the day or at a small dinner party setting with a few guests, it was the beginning of typical levened type birthday cakes we see today and a pull away from fruitcakes sometimes it would be decorated with things like many happy returns not the happy birthday we have today. Greeting cards were sometimes given but were much rarer as they were a luxury and expensive.

Elaborate "Birthday Parties" were not envouge until later though it quickly caught on.

The happy birthday song was not invented until after 1893.