A hidden history of Christmas

news@theheraldnewspapers.com December 25, 1789, was the first Christmas under America’s new constitution. And while some 216 years later our legislators will be spending that time at home with their families, our first Congress was actually in session that late December day. At the time of the founding of our nation, Christmas was considered to be an “English” holiday, and as such it was not officially observed. Eighty more years would pass before Christmas would be declared a federal holiday on June 26, 1870. Earlier still, the celebration of Christmas was often outlawed. Many of the Puritan Christians believed that the celebrating and decorating were not proper things to do. In Boston in the late 1600’s, any person exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. There were some celebrations of the day, such as in Jamestown, that involved a gathering of people and a great feast. A time of celebrating in late December goes back thousands of years. Early Europeans believed that as the winter days grew shorter and the nights grew longer, the presence of evil spirits increased with the increased time of darkness. So they celebrated the Winter solstice to welcome the return of the sun and longer daylight. The Mesopotamians and Persians also celebrated and worshiped their Gods around this time of the year. The Yuletide was a Scandinavian celebration of they same type, which involved the ritual burning of the Yule log and feasting until the log was consumed. There was also the tradition of hanging apples and other dried fruit from a tree to signify the return of spring. Later, the Romans celebrated what they called Saturnalia, or the festival of their god Saturn, which ran from the middle of December until the New Year. This involved a great time of feasting, parades, parties, and the giving of “good luck” gifts (does the “12 Days of Christmas sound familiar?). As Christianity spread, the observance of such decadence was frowned upon. In an effort to sway attention away from festivals such as Saturnalia, in 140 AD it was decided to observe the birth of Christ during this time with a solemn day of remembrance. But the old traditions of feasting and revelry continued until finally they became a part of the “holy-day” around 350 AD, thus placing a more “Christian” label on the events while still keeping many of the traditions. Still, many Christians chose not keep such a religious holiday. It is interesting to consider the word Christmas never appears in the Bible, nor is there any example of Christians setting aside a certain day for the celebrating of Christ’s birth. Christmas traditions continued on and off throughout Western Europe, some years being accepted, and at other times it was condemned. But traditions of feasting, decorating with greenery, and some kind of celebration were kept throughout the middle ages and into the 1400’s. But few of these holidays were to remember the Christ-child; to most it was simply a time of revelry and feasting. Such traditions made their way to the new world during the age of discovery, but like the examples of Boston and Jamestown, different groups observed the day in different ways, or not at all. It had been an overly bawdy 1827 Christmas riot in New York that caused that city to form its first police department. As late as the early 20th Century, it was not unusual to celebrate Christmas with fireworks and gunshots, which was especially common in rural areas such as Appalachia. The writings of Washington Irving are credited with literally creating the holiday that we call Christmas in the early 1800’s. It was during this time of social class conflict that Irving wrote stories of Christmas being a time of gathering together, of good will toward our fellow man, and of peaceful sharing with others. Irving was writing to change the social consciousness, and his “creation” of a wholesome Christmas holiday is evidence of his success. The familiar images of Christmas, as it is known today, did not appear until after the Civil War. Santa Claus began to appear with red suit, beard, and a bag of goodies. Decorated Christmas trees started as a Victorian era fad that was spread all over the country through pictures in magazines. It was also during the Victorian age that the American family became less disciplined. More attention was given to children, and Christmas was the perfect opportunity to provide both a moral story as well as a time of magic for little ones. Over time, old traditions were unearthed and reworked, and with the support of many churches the season of festivities was given over to the Birth of Christ, while at the same time including Santa Claus, the decorating of trees, sending Christmas cards, and giving gifts. The family Christmas dinner replaced the often decadent Christmas feast. Christmas became, and remains, a hodgepodge of Roman, Scandinavian, Persian, Mesopotamian, Pagan, and Christian symbols and traditions. By the middle of the 20th Century, much of the world had adopted America’s version of Christmas. Is Christmas a 2000 year old celebration of the birth of Christ? Hardly so. While it is easy to assume that our current celebration of Christmas is the way it has always been, we are actually celebrating a holiday that has evolved over time, only to be reinvented by the social needs of America. No matter how it is celebrated or what it is called, the Christmas season is, and has always been, a multi-cultural holiday.