When people think of our Christmas traditions, and the way Christmas
was in America going back to colonial times, most of us picture something very
similar to today’s Christmas, save the electric lights and artificial
trees. However, the differences were
much greater than that. First off, in
colonial times Christmas was a twelve-day celebration, called
Christmastide. Today, most churches
still follow the old traditions of the twelve days, but most Americans today
only celebrate the holiday on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For my family, Christmas Eve was the big
day. In colonial times, there were
parties and feasts throughout the twelve days, which was probably pretty
exhausting, but very exciting. Families would alternate who was entertaining on
a given night, so that one would make the rounds during Christmastide. Some of these parties lasted all night, until
the early morning hours.
Amazingly, most families (except Germans) in early America did not have
a Christmas tree. The Christmas tree did not become popular in America until
the mid-1800’s. It was originally a
German tradition and became popular when the British Royal Family set up their
first Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in 1848.
After the trend swept through England, it became big in America.
Then there is the tradition of the Yule log, which was usually a log so
enormous it took several men to drag.
The log was usually kept burning for at least twelve hours and sometimes
as long as twelve days. Many believed
that the log had magical powers and that as long as the log burned, the house would
be protected from witchcraft. The ashes of the Yule log were then used in rituals
to do things like increase the fertility of soil or keep bad weather away. Holly and ivy were originally used around
doorways and fireplaces to keep evil spirits and witches from entering the
home.
On Christmas day, bells would be rung to celebrate the birth of Jesus,
just like today. However, there was another tradition called “Shooting In the
Christmas,” in which people would go outside with their muskets and fire into
the air in celebration. Also, gifts were
generally not exchanged on Christmas two centuries years ago. If a gift was
given, it was usually a small gift from a master to his servant or a small gift
to a child. So in that sense, Christmas
was once celebrated more like Thanksgiving is today.
Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas (the 3rd Century saint from
what would now be Turkey), did not begin to take his modern form of a fat man
wearing a red suit until 1822. In that year Clement Mark Moore, an Episcopal
minister, wrote a long poem titled “An Account of a Visit From St. Nicolas.” In
1881, a cartoonist named Thomas Nast, drew the earliest version of today’s
Santa based on Moore’s poem. Nast’s
version showed Santa as a fat man in red suit with white trim, who lived at the
North Pole with his wife and elves.
Sources: The History Channel Website: http://www.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus
Colonial Williamsburg website: http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/christmas/index.cfm
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