The Christmas season is upon us and neighborhoods are full of
houses with bright lights. Families have trees full of ornaments. Cities and
counties decorate streets with ribbons, bows, lights, and huge Christmas trees.
Children anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Party goers
hang mistletoe, giggling with the thought of the “mandatory” kisses bestowed
under the greenery.
Where did these customs and beliefs originate?
Let’s start with the holiday. Emperor Constantine decreed his
people should celebrate the birth of Jesus. He had the ceremony is December,
most likely because it coincided with the old Roman Saturnalia festival. Later,
December 25th was chosen as the birthday of Jesus by Pope Julian I since
the Bible never stated the Christ’s actual birthday. Not every country
celebrates Christmas, and certainly not on the 25th of December. The
reason for this depends on which calendar is used. Pope Julian used the Julian
calendar but other countries and/or faiths use the Gregorian calendar. Many
celebrate Christmas on varying dates in January. Alabama recognized Christmas
as a holiday in 1836. The other states gradually followed suit and by 1893
Christmas was a national holiday.
The tradition of bringing in trees to cover with fancy ribbons,
ornaments, tinsel, and lights started with a pagan rite of Winter Solstice. A
log was brought inside around December 21rst. It was important not to let the Yule log burn
out. For the next twelve days, people would celebrate the “end” of winter as
the days would gradually lengthen. Along with logs, sprigs of Fir branches were
brought inside and set with candles for the month of Advent. This led to an
Advent calendar being created in Munich in the 19th century. The
English loved Christmas but Cromwell was a true Scrooge. He and the Puritans
abolished the wild celebrations. It took the restoration of King Charles II to
the British throne to bring back proper Christmas ceremonies again.
Many of the modern “traditions” came from two popular 19th
century writers: Washington Irving and Charles Dickens. Their novels and
stories set in the Christmas season convinced people what “real” Christmas holiday
practices were like. This includes parties, and fancy dinners. The Christmas
tree gained popularity after Queen Charlotte , the consort of King George III brought over the practice with her. One year Queen Victoria had an
afternoon tea in the presence of the Queen. Her Majesty, Queen Charlotte’s tree was hung
with ornaments and lights and there were presents stacked underneath. Victoria was enchanted and had to have one of her own. Once she was married, Victoria insisted on a grand tree each year. The
Illustrated London Times had a piece about the event with Britain’s Queen gushing
about the Christmas tradition tree in 1848. Victoria allowed the Times to publish a drawing of the Royal Family's celebration. Of course, everyone
had to have a decorated tree after
that. By 1850, Christmas trees were commonplace in America, too.
Christmas cards were “invented” by Sir Henry Cole of London,
England, in 1843. It didn’t take long for the people to embrace the idea of
reaching out with Christmas cards. Before that, greetings were sent by means of
letters or telegraphs.
As for the Big Man, Santa Claus is known world-wide under many
names: BoboNatalie, Kris Kringle, or Sinterklaas. He may be based on a man born
in Turkey, during the third century: Saint Nicholas. St. Nicholas gave
everything he had away and then went travelling. He stopped to help those along
the way. When Dutch peoples immigrated to the US, they brought the legend of
St, Nicholas with them. In 1821, a book called “Children’s Friend” had
illustrations of Santa Claus with his flying reindeer. A couple of years later,
Clement Moore wrote his famous poem, “A Visit From St. Nicholas”. That poem was
updated to become “The Night Before Christmas” Santa soon became commercial
with the image most of are familiar with when Coca Cola depicted him as a fat,
jolly man in a red suit in the 1930’s. Gimbel’s Department Store sponsored the
first Thanksgiving Day parade in 1920, culminating with Santa Claus to start
off the holiday shopping season. Macys soon followed with a parade of their own
in 1924.
I hope you enjoyed my little look at Christmas.
Stay safe out there!
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