A brief history of Christmas, Christmas celebration, Christmas meaning, Who celebrates Christmas, Christmas history facts and more!
In 2020, Christmas is
no longer a religious holiday, it is also a worldwide cultural as well as
commercial phenomenon. It is one of the most favorite holidays celebrated by
people globally irrespective of religion and cultural values. They do so by
observing unique traditions and practices that hold both religious and secular
respect.
Source: Christmas Eve
For Christians, this is
a holy celebration, as they celebrate the birth anniversary of Jesus of
Nazareth – a spiritual leader responsible for teaching them the basics of Christianity.
Usual decorum is that people exchange gifts, attend mass at the local church,
share delicious meals with friends and family, decorate the Christmas tree, and
await the beloved Santa Claus. Christmas
is celebrated on 25th of December and it has long been stated as a
federal holiday in the United States of America and many other parts of the
world.
Winter is often
perceived as a time of celebration all over the world. Even before the arrival
of Jesus, Europeans used to celebrate light in the darkest days of winter.
People would celebrate the extended periods of daylight once the winter ends.
In Scandinavia, Yule is
celebrated from December 21st through January. To acknowledge the
return of the sun, male members of the families would bring large logs home and
set them on fire. The feast would continue as long as the log burned – for around
12 days. They believed that every spark that rises from the fire represented a
new calf – hopeful news for the coming year! For many people, this was the only
time they could enjoy fresh meat and wine that was finally fermented and ready
to be consumed.
In the early days of
Christianity, the birth of Jesus was not really celebrated and Easter was the
only holiday. It wasn’t until the fourth century when the church instated the
birth of Jesus Christ as an official holiday. However, it’s interesting to find
out that the Bible has never mentioned his date of birth. In fact, Puritans
have also raised this point to deny the legitimacy of this holy day. There is
evidence that his birth may have taken place in spring.
Source: Christmas – LoveToKnow
Anyway, it was Pope
Julius I who decided upon December 25th and he picked this date so
as to adopt traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. Christmas day celebrations
had spread all the way to the Scandinavia by the end of the 8th
century. Today, all the orthodox churches of Greece and Russia celebrate
Christmas 13-14 days after the 25th. This is obviously due to the
fact that western churches use the Gregorian calendar and the eastern churches
use the Epiphany – 12 days after their own respective Christmases.
Well, among several interesting Christmas facts, in the 17th
century, there was a strict wave of religious reform that changed the way
Christmas was celebrated in Europe. So, when Oliver Cromwell and his forces
took over England in 1695, they cancelled Christmas in their effort to
eradicate decadence from England. However, it was Charles II who restored the
tradition and made the holiday popular again.
The early English
separatists who entered America in 1620 were even more orthodox than Cornwell,
because of whom the holiday never took off in the nation. As a matter of fact,
Christmas was outlawed in Boston in 1681, and if anyone was found indulging in
the spirit of Christmas, they were fined five shillings.
Many English customs
went out of fashion after the American Revolution – so Christmas was snubbed
again. And in the 19th century, Americans began to embrace the
holiday and re-invented it, to make it more family-oriented.
But the 19th
century had its own share of troubles: this was the time when class conflict
was at peak as well as the unemployment rate. There were riots during the
Christmas season, because of which the New York council had to instate its
first police force to ensure peace and serenity during the Christmas season.
In 1819, Washington
Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon – a series dedicated to the
stories of Christmas celebrations in a regular English manor house. These
stories reflected the troubles of that era and sent out support to the American
society. The story revolved around a squire who got an invitation from peasants
to join and celebrate Christmas with them. Despite the financial strain and
difficulties, the two groups mingled effortlessly. Basically, Irving spread the
message of peace and warmth and placed these virtues over social strata. This
book celebrated the ancient customs, like the crowning of Lord of Misrule.
Literature has been a
pivotal part of our society. After Irving, it was Dickens who created a classic
holiday tale titled A Christmas Carol. The moral of the story was sweet and
reeked of wisdom. It stressed on the importance of charity and goodwill among
human beings. It especially struck a chord with the people of the United States and
England, as it encouraged the members of the Victorian society to celebrate the
holiday wholeheartedly.
This was also the time
when families emphasized less on principles and more on nourishing the
emotional health of their children. Hence, they started spoiling their kids
with lavish gifts, just to show them that they are cared for and loved.
As soon as Americans
embraced Christmas, many old customs went down the drain and in the next 100
years, Americans had their own traditions to celebrate Christmas. It was them
who started decorating Christmas trees and sending holiday cards and gifts to
their loved ones. This was their own take on the holiday, so the traditions
suited the needs of the growing nation quite well.
This is one of the most
frequently asked questions. Everybody loves Santa, but very few people actually
know how he became such a legend. Well, this can be traced back to 280 AD in
Turkey, when a man named St. Nicholas gave away his inherited wealth to the
less fortunate and traveled his way to the countryside to offer more aid to the
sick and poor. This man ended up gaining the reputation of “the protector” of
children and sailors.
Source: Dreamstime
This legend made way to
the American culture in the late 18th century when Dutch families
had gathered around to honor the death anniversary of “Sint Nikolaas”.
Again, literature
shaped our imagination, and Clement Clarke Moore wrote a Christmas poem called
“An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas”. It was this poem that depicted Santa
Claus as a jolly man who flew from home to home on a reindeer to deliver toys to
kids. Gradually, people started associating Santa with a white beard and red attire.
The origins of this practice
are unknown, but apparently, it grew famous because of the marketing technique
of Woolworths in the late 1800s. Basically, if there is a pickle among your
snowman and reindeer ornaments, you’d most likely take part in this tradition
by hiding something green on the tree. The first child who finds this wins a
special gift, and they’re also the ones who get to open their presents first in
the morning.
Yule Logs are part of
the ancient winter celebrations, and of course, Americans turned this into
their own tradition as well. This wood burning tradition became a must-see TV
back in 1966, because a channel showed a continuous 17-second loop of a
fireplace for three consecutive hours along with a unique playlist designed for
Christmas.
Usually, the credit of
Gingerbread Houses is given to Queen Elizabeth I, but it was actually the
Germans who started the gingerbread house tradition. In this tradition, families
sit together and decorate gingerbread cookies.
This tradition is
actually quite young – born in the 1980s. In Canada, it earned popularity in 2001
when it became a trend to wear sweaters in parties in Vancouver.
Americans picked up
this tradition during the Great Depression to pay respect to the struggles
people were facing at the time.
Source: Daily Mirror
You can hate anything
in the world but not a glass of spiked eggnog. In the medieval times, English people
used to make this cocktail out of hot curdled milk and wine. Again, Americans
had to copy and make it popular by changing one thing: adding rum.
The official cards to
celebrate Christmas started in 1843 England. At the time, it used to carry a
simple yet delightful message “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You”.
This idea swiftly spread all over the world, and today, at least 1.6 billion
cards are sold each year!
You may know of Thomas
Edison as the man who invented the light bulb. However, it was his partner Edward
Hibberd Johnson who invented the idea of decorating Christmas trees with
stringing bulbs all over. Today, at least 150 million sets of lights are sold
in the US every year.
Source: Good Housekeeping
Fall is finally here,
and in a couple of months, we’ll all be able to celebrate Christmas
wholeheartedly. It’s the time of the year when everything blossoms – like the
Christmas tree.
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