The History of Christmas and the Origin of Our Festive Traditions
Christmas is a sacred religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ a spiritual leader whose teachings form the beliefs of Christianity, it is also a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. Popular customs of Christmas around the world include, decorating Christmas trees, being with friends and family, sharing large meals, attending church and the sharing of gifts. The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336AD during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine.
The Middle of Winter has long been celebrated through the ages long before the arrival of Jesus. The reason behind this for many European cultures was to celebrate that the worst of winter was behind them and that they could look forward to warmer weather and longer days. The end of December was an ideal time of year for celebrations, cattle were slaughtered which meant there was a fresh supply of meat ready for a large meal, alcohol such as beer and wine had reached the end of its fermenting process at this time of year, with an abundance of food and drink who can blame them for having a little celebration.
Many early Christians didn’t celebrate Christmas and a date for the birth of Jesus was a constant debate between them. December the 25th became the designated date for Christmas as it fit in with other pre-existing holidays and was also an ideal time for a celebration as I mentioned above. Some of the inspiration for Christmas holiday came from many different celebrations that were held at the end of December. In Rome, a holiday in honour of the god of agriculture, Saturn, was celebrated. This holiday known as Saturnalia was hedonistic time when food and drink was in abundance. This holiday saw the flipping of social order on to its head. Slaves would become masters for a month, peasants commanded the city and business and schools were shut.
Christmas soon spread in popularity all over the globe with the increasing spread of Christianity. The festive traditions we know today have all very interesting beginnings and I bet you’ve always wondered where they actually came from. Well here you are.
Christmas-Tree Fever
The decorating of the Christmas tree has long been a tradition and the Christmas tree is an internationally known symbol of Christmas, but where did it come from? Prince Albert of Germany bought his long standing German tradition of decorating an Evergreen Tree to the England after his marriage to Queen Victoria. When an image of the Royal Family standing next to their 40 foot Christmas tree was published in American magazines in 1848 the custom caught on in the United States as well.
Christmas Card Craze
The custom of sending Christmas cards started around the same time as decorating Christmas trees. It began in 1843 when Sir Henry Cole who was head of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London spread his Christmas greetings by letter on festive themed paper. Sir Henry Cole was fed up of writing so many of these as his circle grew, he commissioned an artist to produce 1,000 cards with the same festive greeting “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You” and this saw the start of the tradition of Christmas Cards.
The Gift Giving Game
This is probably the oldest tradition of the Christmas holiday; it dates back centuries to Roman times. The original meaning of giving gifts was to pay homage to the Three Kings who travelled to Bethlehem to give Jesus their gifts. Thanks to the industrial revolution and the rise of advertising in modern times this soon became a commercial holiday.
SinterKlaas?
Santa Claus is based on Saint Nicholas of Myra. He was well known for his generosity towards children and the poor in the 4th Century and he would wear red and white bishop’s robes, this would inspire the image of Santa Claus. A Coca-Cola advertising campaign showing Santa Claus in red and white has stuck with us in modern times and is now the most used representation.
And there you have it, those Christmas Rituals that you have always taken part in but never really known why have been explained.
