The celebration of Christmas as we know it today has a surprisingly storied history, with the first recorded instance of the church celebrating Christmas or “Cristes Maesse” coming from Rome in 336 AD. It did not become a major festival as we know it today until around the ninth century. Christmas in America is especially fascinating; while early Puritan settlers did not celebrate Christmas, it later became a national holiday established by Ulysses S. Grant in 1870.
As America grew larger and became a melting pot for many cultures and ethnicities, many immigrants brought not only their belongings, but also their practices and traditions of celebrating holidays. Decorated trees, Santa Claus, gift-giving and even stockings all stem from different cultures, periods and religions across the globe, with both religious and secular celebrants enjoying the magic of Christmas.
Decorated trees: Germany
While many pagan or polytheistic cultures have decorated with evergreens during the winter as a symbol of returning life, we have the German Lutherans to thank for decorated trees as we know them today. By combining the concept of “paradise tree,” an evergreen decorated with eucharistic wafers and candles in celebration of the feast of Adam and Eve, and the classic German “weihnachtspyramide” or wooden Christmas pyramid decorated with figurines and star motifs, the Christmas tree was born and popularized by German Lutherans. The concept was brought to America in the 17th century by German immigrants and by the 19th century had become a staple in observing Christmas.
Santa Claus: Turkey, Holland
There are several cultures and even a surprising business to thank for the concept of Santa Claus, the jolly gift and coal bringer we’ve all come to know and associate with Christmas. Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra (present-day Turkey) in the fourth century, was known for his generosity and giving, particularly to children. He was later canonized as the patron saint of children, yet, after the Reformation, he was forgotten by nearly every protestant country except Holland, where his legend lived on through the name “sinterklaas.” In the 17th century as the Dutch began to immigrate to New Amsterdam (present-day New York), traditions mingled, with the English pronunciation of sinterklaas “Santa Claus” stuck. His rosy-cheeked and round appearance was first publicized in 1863 by Harper’s Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast, but his signature red suit was solidified to the American consumer by a series of advertisements illustrated by Haddon Sundblum for The Coca-Cola Company.
Gift giving: Rome
While many attribute the tradition of gift-giving during Christmas as an homage to the wise men who brought Jesus gifts, another widely held theory is that it stems from gift-giving traditions of Saturnalia celebrated in pagan Rome. Saturnalia, a Roman festival and holiday honoring the god Saturn and the winter solstice, was still widely celebrated after Constantine’s Edict of Milan, which established tolerance for Christianity within the Roman Empire. Saturnalia’s celebratory activities included gambling, role reversal, chanting and – you guessed it – gift-giving. Gifts were typically candles, toys or figurines with some patrons electing to give a bonus or “ sigillaricium” to their employees. As Christianity thus became more widespread in Rome, traditions blended between the cultures, and gift-giving stayed in the first documented Christian celebration of Christmas in Rome in 336 AD.
Christmas stockings: Turkey
Christmas stockings, often a personalized sock-shaped sack hung on a mantle to be filled with treats have a folkloric origin stemming from one of many legends associated with Saint Nicholas. As the legend goes, a poor man with three daughters was very concerned about being able to pay marriage dowries in 4th century Myra (present-day Turkey). Saint Nicholas allegedly heard about their plight, shimmied into the home at night and left gold coins in the girls’ stockings which were drying by the fire. This legend is also referenced in the poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas”; though initially published anonymously in 1823, the work is widely attributed to Clement Clark Moore. Stocking stuffers have certainly changed over the years from oranges, nuts, peppermint sticks and coins, but the tradition remains the same.
