Christmas

The popularity of Christmas can be traced in part to its status as a winter festival. Examples of winter festivals that have influenced Christmas include the pre-Christian festivals of Yule and Saturnalia.

Various local and regional Christmas traditions are still practiced, despite the widespread influence of American, Australian, and British Christmas motifs disseminated by film, popular literature, television, and other media.

History

Pre-Christian origins of holiday

Christmas has its origins in several pagan holidays. Although this is not a plausible date for the crucifixion, it does suggest that March 25, nine months before December 25th, had significance for the church even before it was used as a basis to calculate Christmas. There were Christmas celebrations in Rome as early as 336 AD.

Medieval Christmas and related winter festivals

Christmas soon outgrew the Christological controversy that created it and came to dominate the medieval calendar.

The forty days before Christmas became the "forty days of St. Martin," now Advent. Around the 12th century, these traditions transferred again to the "twelve days of Christmas" (i.e.

The fortieth day after Christmas was Candlemas. The Egyptian Christmas celebration on January 6 was adopted as Epiphany, one of the most prominent holidays of the year during the Early Middle Ages. Christmas Day itself was a relatively minor holiday, although its prominence gradually increased after Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas Day in 800 AD.

Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, and its pagan celebrations had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul (Yule), originally the name of a twelve-day pre-Christian winter festival.

By the High Middle Ages, Christmas had become so prominent that chroniclers routinely noted where various magnates "celebrated Christmas." King Richard II of England hosted a Christmas feast in 1377 at which twenty-eight oxen and three hundred sheep were eaten. The "Yule boar" was a common feature of medieval Christmas feasts. In England, gifts were exchanged on New Year's Day, and there was special Christmas ale.

The Reformation and the 1800s

During the Reformation, Protestants condemned Christmas celebration as "trappings of popery" and the "rags of the Beast". The Restoration (1660) ended the ban, but Christmas celebration was still disapproved of by the Anglican clergy.

By the 1820s, sectarian tension had eased and British writers began to worry that Christmas was dying out. They imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration, and efforts were made to revive the holiday. The book A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens played a major role in reinventing Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion (as opposed to communal celebration and hedonistic excess).

The Puritans of New England disapproved of Christmas and celebration was outlawed in Boston (1659-81). Christmas fell out of favor in the U.S. after the American Revolution, when it was considered an "English custom". Interest was revived by several short stories by Washington Irving in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819) and by "Old Christmas" (1850) which depict harmonous warm-hearted holiday traditions Irving claimed to have observed in England. Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the U.S. in 1870. The connection between Santa Claus and Christmas was popularized by the poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (1822) by Clement Clarke Moore, which depicts Santa driving a sleigh pulled by reindeer and distributing gifts to children.

Modern times

In the midst of World War I, there was a Christmas truce between German and British troops in France (1914). Soldiers on both sides spontaneously began to sing Christmas carols and stopped fighting. The truce began on Christmas Day and continued for some time afterward.

In modern times, the United States has experienced some controversy over the nature of Christmas, and whether it is a religious or a secular holiday. Because the US government recognizes Christmas as an official holiday, some have thought that this violates separation of church and state. declared that "the establishment of Christmas Day as a legal public holiday does not violate the Establishment Clause because it has a valid secular purpose."

More recently, some Christians have protested against what is seen as a secularization of Christmas, leading some to believe that the holiday is under attack from a general secular trend or from persons and/or organizations with a deliberate or unconscious anti-Christian agenda.

Remembering or re-creating the Nativity is one of the central ways that Christians celebrate Christmas. In some Christian churches, children often perform plays re-creating the events of the Nativity, or sing some of the numerous Christmas carols that reference the event. In 1984, the US Supreme Court ruled that a city-owned Christmas display, even one with a Nativity scene, does not violate the First Amendment.

Economics of Christmas

Christmas is typically the largest annual economic stimulus for many nations. In the U.S., the Christmas shopping season generally begins on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, though many stores start selling Christmas items in October/November (and in the UK, even September/October).

More businesses and stores close on Christmas Day than any other day of the year. In the United Kingdom, the Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004 prevents all large shops from trading on Christmas Day.

Most economists agree, however, that Christmas produces a deadweight loss under orthodox microeconomic theory, due to the surge in gift-giving.

In North America, film studios release many high-budget movies in the holiday season, including Christmas films, fantasy movies or high-tone dramas with rich production values.

Santa Claus and other bringers of gifts

In Western culture, the holiday is characterized by the exchange of gifts among friends and family members, some of the gifts being attributed to Santa Claus (also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Saint Basil and Father Frost).

Father Christmas predates the Santa Claus character, and was first recorded in the 15th century, but was associated with holiday merrymaking and drunkenness. He became associated with Christmas in 19th century America and was renamed Santa Claus or Saint Nick. In Victorian Britain, Father Christmas's image was remade to match that of Santa.

Christmas Tree and other decorations

The Christmas tree is often explained as a Christianization of the ancient pagan idea that the evergreen tree represents a celebration of the renewal of life. The phrase "Christmas tree" is first recorded in 1835 and represents the importation of a tradition from Germany, where such trees became popular in the late 18th century. Christmas trees may be decorated with lights and ornaments. Other popular holiday plants include holly, mistletoe, red amaryllis, and Christmas cactus.

Along with a Christmas Tree, the interior of a home may be decorated with garlands and evergreen foliage, particularly holly and mistletoe. In Australia, North and South America, and to a lesser extent Europe, it is traditional to decorate the outside of houses with lights and sometimes with illuminated sleighs, snowmen, and other Christmas figures. Christmas banners may be hung from street lights and Christmas trees placed in the town square.

Although Christmas decorations, such as a tree, are considered secular in many parts of the world, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia bans such displays as symbols of Christianity.

In the Western world, rolls of brightly-colored paper with secular or religious Christmas motifs are manufactured for the purpose of wrapping gifts.

Regional customs and celebrations

Christmas celebrations include a great number and variety of customs with either secular, religious, or national aspects which vary from country to country:

In the southern hemisphere, Christmas is during the summer. New Zealanders also commonly celebrate Christmas at the beach, coinciding with the vibrant red flowering of the coastal Pohutukawa or "New Zealand Christmas Tree".

Japan has adopted Santa Claus for its secular Christmas celebration, but New Year's Day is a far more important holiday. While in South Korea, Christmas is celebrated as an "official" holiday, and in India it is often called bada din ("the big day").

In Poland, Santa Claus (Polish: Święty Mikołaj) gives gifts on two occasions: on the night of December 5 (so that children find them on the morning of December 6), and on Christmas Eve (so that children find gifts that same day). In addition to the major observances of Christmas, German children also put shoes out on their window sills on the night of December 5, and find them filled with candy and small gifts the next morning. while on Christmas Eve (Holy Night - (Hungarian: Szenteste)) the Little (Baby) Jesus (Hungarian: Kisjézus or Jézuska) delivers the presents. In recent times, both countries have also adopted gift-giving on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.

The Declaration of Christmas Peace has been a tradition in Finland from the Middle Ages every year, except in 1939 (due to World War II). Saint Nicholas' Day remains the principal day for gift giving in the Netherlands while Christmas Day is a more religious holiday. However, after the Russian Revolution, Christmas celebration was banned in that country from 1917 until 1992. Even today, throughout the U.S. and Europe, several Christian denominations, notably the Jehovah's Witnesses, Puritans, and some fundamentalists, view Christmas as a pagan holiday not sanctioned by the Bible.

Social aspects and entertainment

In many countries, businesses, schools, and communities have Christmas parties and dances in the weeks before Christmas. Christmas pageants may include a retelling of the story of the birth of Christ. Groups may visit neighborhood homes to sing Christmas carols.

On Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, a special meal of Christmas dishes is usually served. Candy and treats are also part of Christmas celebration in many countries.

Another tradition is for people to send Christmas cards to their friends and family members. Cards are also produced with messages such as "season's greetings" or "happy holidays", so as to including senders and recipients who may not celebrate Christmas .

Christmas carol media

Christmas in the arts and media

Many fictional Christmas stories capture the spirit of Christmas in a modern-day fairy tale, often with heart-touching stories of a Christmas miracle. Several have become part of the Christmas tradition in their countries of origin.

Among the most popular are Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker and Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol. Scrooge rejects compassion, philanthropy, and Christmas until he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, who show him the consequences of his ways.

Some Scandinavian Christmas stories are less cheery than Dickens'. Andersen's The Little Match Girl, a destitute little girl walks barefoot through snow-covered streets on Christmas Eve, trying in vain to sell her matches, and peeking in at the celebrations in the homes of the more fortunate.

In 1881, the Swedish magazine Ny Illustrerad Tidning published Viktor Rydberg's poem Tomten featuring the first painting by Jenny Nyström of the traditional Swedish mythical character tomte, which she turned into the friendly white-bearded figure and associated with Christmas.

Many Christmas stories have been popularized as movies and TV specials. On Christmas Eve, a guardian angel finds him in despair and prevents him from committing suicide by magically showing him how much he meant to the world around him. The humorous A Christmas Story (1983) in which the main character dreams of owning a Red Ryder BB Gun, has become a holiday classic and is even repeated for 24 hours straight starting on Christmas Eve night and going on through Christmas Day on US cable channel Turner Network Television or TBS.

A few true stories have also become enduring Christmas tales themselves. The story behind the Christmas carol Silent Night and the story Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus is among the most well-known of these.

Radio and television programs aggressively pursue entertainment and ratings through their cultivation of Christmas themes. Radio stations broadcast Christmas carols and Christmas songs, including classical music such as the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah. Television networks add Christmas themes to their standard programming, run traditional holiday movies, and produce a variety of Christmas specials.

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