Father Christmas,
Oliver Cromwell
and
Charles Dickens
The Holiday Season: like buses, there is nothing for ages (well, Thanksgiving feels like an eternity ago…) and then three turn up at once - Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. And so to this week's blog, and the story of one of these holidays, Christmas.
Christmas not only commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, but as a holiday it has co-opted ancient winter festivals and over the centuries incorporated such secular elements as Santa Claus, decorated trees, mistletoe, reindeer, cards and gift-giving. Christmas is also the holiday that by the Middle Ages was synonymous with drunkenness, lewd caroling, gambling and worse. So, no change there. But seriously, by the mid-17th century things had gotten out of hand. Christmas was banned in England by Oliver Cromwell, and the Puritans and colonial America followed suit. It was not until the 19th century that Christmas made its popular return in both countries.
The return of Christmas in a form that we recognize today can largely be attributed to Charles Dickens and his novel “A Christmas Carol.” Dickens’ depiction of Christmas as a festival - replete with food, songs, dancing and games - that celebrated family, goodwill and giving was both compelling and enormously popular. As Christmas rose in popularity, an image of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in front of a Christmas tree (a German tradition) went viral (in a 19th century way). By the late 1860’s, the Christmas tree had become common in America, the Christmas card had arrived, and in 1870 President Ulysses S. Grant made it all legal and Christmas became a federal holiday.
Since then, Christmas has become many things to many people, but in keeping with the 19th century theme I will recommend two more books, both about gift-giving. The first is the poem attributed to Clement C. Moore, popularly known as "The Night Before Christmas." This is where Father Christmas, presents for the children, and reindeer and the sleigh come from, and it is a classic that every parent should share with their child. The second is by O. Henry, “The Gift of the Magi,” a wonderful story about sacrifice and love - which is sentimental, but if you cannot be sentimental at Christmas, when can you be?
Happy Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy holidays to you all!
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