Christmas is the most popular holiday of the year in the whole world. About 400 millions people celebrates Christmas holiday each year in winter. Many of Christmas traditions and ceremonial aspects were celebrated long time before Christ was born. The history of Christmas is, therefore, way back in centuries. We collect information about christmas from whole world just for you! Here you can find true facts about Chritmas History, read about Christmas Traditions in different cultures, find Christmas Lyrics to popular Christmas Songs and more. Everything you need to know about Christmas you can find here. Stay with us! And Merry Christmas!
Every Christmas, lights, accompanied by dangling ornaments, glisten on the fresh branches of a spruce tree. A star shimmers on top. Presents are placed around the tree trunk and Santa Claus leaves behind some treats.
This is the most common vision of Christmas festivities, but in addition to the typical eggnog, carolers and candy canes, more unique cultural twists on holiday celebrations exist across the world. From pickles to present-filled shoes, old and new customs have combined to create a variety of Christmas traditions to make merry.
Today, many Germans hide a pickle-shaped ornament somewhere inside the Christmas tree. The pickle is the last ornament to be hung on the tree and must be hidden well. On Christmas morning, the child that finds it first will get an extra treat or present.
According to the Christmas Tree Farm Network, the tradition of Christmas trees originated in Germany, when St. Boniface began to associate fir trees with the Christian faith. After Queen Victoria of England married Prince Albert, the tradition of the Christmas tree was adopted in England and gained popularity.
“In my house, we hide the pickle every year,” said Stacey Albertson, a junior English major in the master of arts in teaching program. “We say the pickle will give good luck to whoever finds it, instead of a present.”
In the Greek culture, people did not always decorate the modern Christmas tree. In the past, a Greek family would have a Christmas ship in their home called a “karavaki.” Greeks also celebrate Christmas by making special foods. They make Christmas bread, similar to Easter bread, with nuts and dried fruit. The bread is usually saved to eat after mass on Christmas Eve or at the Christmas day feast.
Dana Gallagher, a junior sociology major said, “Kourabiedhes are my favorite Christmas cookies. They are powdered sugar covered butter cookies and my mom only makes them during the holiday.”
Italians also celebrate the holiday in a unique way. On Christmas Eve, they eat a large dinner consisting of seven fish. The seven fish represent the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The Feast of the Seven Fishes usually includes calamari, scungilli, baccala, shrimp, clams with pasta, mussels and some type of salmon or trout.
“My grandfather is straight off the boat from Italy, so we always celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes,” said Marlaina Luciano, a senior media studies major. “It requires a lot of communication between family members because everyone has to bring a different type of fish.”
Some Christmas traditions are different in more ways than food. The French usually have a tree, but the Nativity scene is the most treasured Christmas symbol. French children leave their shoes next to the chimney. On Christmas morning, “ere Noel” (Santa Claus) fills them up with gifts. Presents are not placed under the tree.
Whether it is old or new, past or present, there are many traditions to coincide with the holiday season. With all the different ways to celebrate Christmas, there’s no better to adopt or create a new tradition for your family and add it this year.
In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.
The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.
After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America’s new constitution. Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.
Washington Irving reinvents Christmas
It wasn’t until the 19 century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re - invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family - centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s peaked American interest in the holiday?
The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.
In 1819, best - selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving’s mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status.
Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs”, including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving’s book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended — in fact, many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.
Before the Civil War
The North and South were divided on the issue of Christmas, as well as on the question of slavery. Many Northerners saw sin in the celebration of Christmas; to these people the celebration of Thanksgiving was more appropriate. But in the South, Christmas was an important part of the social season. Not surprisingly, the first three states to make Christmas a legal holiday were in the South: Alabama in 1836, Louisiana and Arkansas in 1838.
In the years after the Civil War, Christmas traditions spread across the country. Children’s books played an important role in spreading the customs of celebrating Christmas, especially the tradition of trimmed trees and gifts delivered by Santa Claus. Sunday school classes encouraged the celebration of Christmas. Women’s magazines were also very important in suggesting ways to decorate for the holidays, as well as how to make these decorations.
By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, America eagerly decorated trees, caroled, baked, and shopped for the Christmas season. Since that time, materialism, media, advertising, and mass marketing has made Christmas what it is today. The traditions that we enjoy at Christmas today were invented by blending together customs from many different countries into what is considered by many to be our national holiday.
An overview:
1600’s: The Puritans made it illegal to mention St. Nicolas’ name. People were not allowed to exchange gifts, light a candle, or sing Christmas carols.
17th century: Dutch immigrants brought with them the legend of Sinter Klaas.
1773: Santa first appeared in the media as St. A Claus.
1804: The New York Historical Society was founded with St. Nicolas as its patron saint. Its members engaged in the Dutch practice of gift-giving at Christmas.
1809: Washington Irving, writing under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, included Saint Nicolas in his book “A History of New York.” Nicolas is described as riding into town on a horse.
1812: Irving, revised his book to include Nicolas riding over the trees in a wagon.
1821: William Gilley printed a poem about “Santeclaus” who was dressed in fur and drove a sleigh drawn by a single reindeer.
1822: Dentist Clement Clarke Moore is believed by many to have written a poem “An Account of a Visit from Saint Nicolas,” which became better known as “The Night before Christmas.” Santa is portrayed as an elf with a miniature sleigh equipped with eight reindeer which are named in the poem as Blitzem, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donder, Prancer, and Vixen. Others attribute the poem to a contemporary, Henry Livingston, Jr. Two have since been renamed Donner and Blitzen.
1841: J.W. Parkinson, a Philadelphia merchant, hired a man to dress up in a “Criscringle” outfit and climb the chimney of his store.
1863: Illustrator Thomas Nast created images of Santa for the Christmas editions of Harper’s Magazine. These continued through the 1890’s.
1860s: President Abraham Lincoln asked Nast to create a drawing of Santa with some Union soldiers. This image of Santa supporting the enemy had a demoralizing influence on the Confederate army - an early example of psychological warfare.
1897: Francis P Church, Editor of the New York Sun, wrote an editorial in response to a letter from an eight year-old girl, Virginia O’Hanlon. She had written the paper asking whether there really was a Santa Claus. It has become known as the “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” letter.
1920’s: The image of Santa had been standardized to portray a bearded, over-weight, jolly man dressed in a red suit with white trim.
1931: Haddon Sundblom, illustrator for The Coca-Cola ™ company drew a series of Santa images in their Christmas advertisements until 1964. The company holds the trademark for the Coca-Cola Santa design. Christmas ads including Santa continue to the present day.
1939 Copywriter Robert L. May of the Montgomery Ward Company created a poem about Rudolph, the ninth reindeer. May had been “often taunted as a child for being shy, small and slight.” He created an ostracized reindeer with a shiny red nose who became a hero one foggy Christmas eve. Santa was part-way through deliveries when the visibility started to degenerate. Santa added Rudolph to his team of reindeer to help illuminate the path. A copy of the poem was given free to Montgomery Ward customers.
1949: Johnny Marks wrote the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Rudolph was relocated to the North Pole where he was initially rejected by the other reindeer who wouldn’t let him play in their reindeer games because of his strange looking nose. The song was recorded by Gene Autry and became his all-time best seller. Next to “White Christmas” it is the most popular song of all time.
1993: An urban folk tale began to circulate about a Japanese department store displaying a life-sized Santa Claus being crucified on a cross. It never happened.
1997: Artist Robert Cenedella drew a painting of a crucified Santa Claus. It was displayed in the window of the New York’s Art Students League and received intense criticism from some religious groups. His drawing was a protest. He attempted to show how Santa Claus had replaced Jesus Christ as the most important personality at Christmas time.
Christmas in France is a family holiday. The celebrations begin on December 5, which is St. Nicholas Eve. It is a day for gift-giving between friends and relatives. On that cold night, children leave their shoes by the hearth so Pere Noel, or Father Christmas, will fill them with gifts.
Christmas Eve is the most special time in the French celebration of Christmas. Church bells ring and voices sing French carols, called noels.
The family fasts all day, then everyone but the youngest children goes to midnight mass. The churches and cathedrals are beautifully lit, and most display a lovely antique creche. Afterward, the family returns home to a nighttime feast that is called le reveillon. The menu is different in the various regions of France. In Paris, it might be oysters and pate, while in Brittany, the traditional midnight supper is buckwheat cakes and sour cream.
A few days before Christmas, the family sets up a nativity scene, called a creche, on a little platform in a corner of the living room. Some families also decorate a Christmas tree with colorful stars, lights, and tinsel, but the creche is much more important.
The tradition in Provence, in the south of France, is to include, along with the Holy Family, the Three Kings, the shepherds, and the animals, delightful little figures from village life dressed in old-fashioned costumes. These figures might include a village mayor, a peasant, a gypsy, a drummer boy, and other colorful characters. Another tradition in Provence is for people to dress as shepherds and take part in a procession that circles the local church.
Father Christmas
To complete the elaborate creche in their home, children bring moss, stones, and evergreen branches for the finishing touches. When the candles are lit, the creche becomes the centerpiece of the Christmas celebration. The children gather around it to sing carols every night until Epiphany, on January 6.
Christmas plays and puppet shows are popular entertainments at Christmas, especially in Paris and Lyons. The shop windows of large department stores have wonderful displays of animated figures that families like to visit.
If any children did not leave their shoes out to be filled with gifts by Pere Noel on St. Nicholas Eve, they leave them out on Christmas Eve to be filled by Pere Noel or the Baby Jesus. Before going to bed, some families leave food and a candle burning, in case Mary passes by with the Christ Child. In homes that have a Christmas tree, Pere Noel hangs little toys, candies, and fruits on the tree’s branches for the sleeping children.
On Christmas Day, the family goes to church again and then enjoys another abundant feast of wonderful dishes, ending with the traditional buche de Noel, a rich buttercream-filled cake shaped and frosted to look like a Yule log.
On New Year’s, grown-ups visit their friends to exchange gifts with them and enjoy yet more feasting at the New Year’s reveillon. The family gathers together again for a final feast on Epiphany on January 6. They eat a special flat pastry, a galette, that has a tiny old-fashioned shoe, a very little china doll, or a bean baked in it. Whoever finds the prize in their serving gets to be King or Queen for the day. As church bells ring, the celebration of the Christmas season comes to an end.
For many people who celebrate Christmas, the holiday is full of small traditions. Decorating the tree and hanging lights, wreaths and mistletoe are just a few of the seasonal visual clues that mark colder weather and a possible visit from Santa Claus.
Actually, the chances of Santa landing on your roof in his sleigh are pretty high - the big gamble, though, is whether or not he stuffs your Christmas stockings with presents or a shiny lump of coal.
Hanging stockings over the chimney is an integral part of Christmas, and these oversized stockings are reserved for smaller gifts like candy and action figures. But why do we hang stockings anyway, and how did the tradition start?
Although most countries have their own variations on Santa, the oldest reference to St. Nicholas goes as far back as the third century. The ancient town of Myra, located in what is now modern Turkey, is home to a shrine dedicated to Bishop Nicholas. Over several centuries, tales spread detailing the benevolence and generosity of Bishop Nicholas, and this is where the idea of St. Nick as gift-giver began.
One of the stories, it turns out, involves Nicholas passing by the homes of maidens too poor to afford a dowry - money that a bride gives to her groom for their wedding. The bishop would throw gold coins down the chimneys of these maidens, where they would fall into stockings, which were hung over the fire to dry.
Dutch children take part in another tradition - one that may have directly influenced the North American practice of hanging stockings. The children leave wooden shoes out by the fireplace, which are filled with hay for Sinterklaas’s horse (the Dutch version of Santa Claus not only has a different name, but a different mode of transportation). Santa replaces the hay with gifts, and it’s thought that Americans adapted this tradition sometime in the early 19th century.
Creamy and delicious. this Texas treat dates from the days when Christmas memories had to be made with little more than some nuts from the backyard trees.
Ingredients
1 c brown sugar, packed
2 T butter, unsalted
1⁄2 c milk
2 t vanilla extract
1 c sugar, granulated
1 c pecan halves
Instructions
Conventional directions: Combine milk and sugars in a large saucepan. Boil to the thread stage.
Add butter, vanilla and pecans, and cook over medium heat to the soft ball stage.
Remove pan from heat. Beat candy immediately until it thickens. Quickly drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper.
Microwave directions: Combine milk and sugars in a 2-quart batter bowl; microwave on High for 7:00 minutes, until mixture begins to bubble. Add butter, vanilla and pecans.
Microwave on High six to seven minutes, until mixture reaches 232-degrees to 240-degrees - the soft ball stage.
Remove from microwave, and beat candy immediately until it thickens. Quickly drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper.
To use microwave thermometer to test temperature, crumple a 15″ piece of Stretch-Tite or plastic wrap into a long ribbon.
Center the ribbon over the batter bowl, pressing both ends on the outside of the bowl. Stick the microwave thermometer through the center of the plastic wrap strip - it will stand straight up in the center of the candy.
Check the thermometer every 45 seconds to 1 minute.
Notes
NOTES : For a quick holiday treat, try making pralines in the microwave - Cynthia’s update to this classic recipe. Both conventional and microwave directions are included.
The small number of Christians in China call Christmas Sheng Dan Jieh, which means Holy Birth Festival. They decorate their homes with evergreens, posters, and bright paper chains. The family puts up a Christmas tree, called “tree of light,” and decorates it with beautiful lanterns, flowers, and red paper chains that symbolize happiness. They cut out red pagodas to paste on the windows, and they light their houses with paper lanterns, too.
Many Chinese enjoy the fun and color that Christmas brings to the drab winter season. Big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are gaily decorated at Christmas.
Many people give parties on Christmas Eve, and some people enjoy a big Christmas dinner at a restaurant. Shops sell plastic trees and Christmas decorations for everyone to enjoy, and Santa Claus is a popular good-luck figure. The Christmas season is ushered in with fireworks. Jugglers and acrobats entertain, and people enjoy the merriment and feasting. In Hong Kong, which recently was restored to Chinese rule, Christmas Day is just one of seventeen public holidays.
At this time of year, people in Hong Kong also celebrate Ta Chiu, a festival of peace and renewal, by making offerings to saints and reading the names of everyone who lives in the area.
On Christmas Eve, Christian children in China hang up their muslin stockings that are specially made so Dun Che Lao Ren, or “Christmas Old Man,” can fill them with wonderful gifts. Santa Claus may also be called Lan Khoong-Khoong, “Nice Old Father.”
The Chinese lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, begins in late January or early February. The celebration lasts for three days. While not part of Christmas, the New Year is the most important celebration of the year for the Chinese people. People travel long distances to be with their families. They decorate their homes with brightly colored banners. These banners carry messages of good wishes for the coming year.
Christmas in China
Many people exchange gifts at the New Year. Following tradition, very expensive, special presents are given only to close family members. Token gifts are given to friends and distant relations. Children especially enjoy their gifts of new shoes and hats.
People put on new clothes for the New Year celebration. They prepare many special holiday dishes, and families come together at one house to enjoy them. The younger sons of the household serve dinner to the head of the household.
Chinese families turn out to watch the spectacular New Year’s fireworks displays and the exciting lion dance. Several performers dance inside an enormous costume. They make the “lion” walk, slither, glide, leap, and crouch along the street as it leads a colorful procession.
The greatest spectacle takes place at the Feast of the Lanterns, when everyone lights at least one lantern for the occasion. Other special events of the New Year include the Festival of the Dragons and the Fisherman’s Festival.
Throughout the three days of New Year’s celebrations, everyone speaks only cheerful words to each other so they will have good luck in the coming year.
You might think Christmas traditions in England would be very similar to those in America. Well, in some ways, they’re quite different.
In 1843 John Horsley was commissioned to create a Christmas card for Sir Henry Cole (the first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum) because he did not have the time to write all of his friends as he had done in previous years.
The cards were created on lithographs and hand-colored. The first card was supposed to have depicted poor people being fed and clothed but instead Horsley created a family party in progress showing a child sipping wine. The original intent was to remind Sir Henry’s friends of the great needs for the persons in poverty during this season. Instead it caused an uproar for “fostering the moral corruption of children”.
It is said that Sir Henry did not send out any cards following that year but Christmas cards were already on their way. The first year 1000 cards went on sale in London for one shilling each.
It didn’t take long for Christmas cards to evolve from religious in nature to patriotic themes. Cards have been made with luxurious ribbons, silks, satins, and fringe to shapes, pop ups, metal, puzzles, and even ones that make noise. Christmas cards have been used to pay tribute to gardens and cultures, the old and the new.
As we make our cards, it really is amazing to think of the first cards and their significance to our history. And to think it was all just to save a little time.
In A.D. 336, an early Roman calendar first mentions December 25 as the date of Jesus’ birth. This date was likely influenced by the year-end pagan festivals to celebrate the harvest. Celebrations included specially prepared meals, decorating of homes, gift-giving and singing. Gradually, pagan traditions became a part of the Christian celebrations. Most Christmas traditions such as the Christmas tree and ornaments came from central Europe. The earliest German Christmas trees were decorated with food; apples, onions, pears, nuts, candies, and fruits were placed on a tree.
In the 1800s, glass ornaments were first made in the Lauscha, Germany. This cottage industry involved the entire family. Generally, men did the glassblowing, women did the silvering and the children helped to paint and finish them. These beautiful new glass ornaments began to replace edible decorations.
In Victorian times, Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, a German, brought the tradition from Germany to his new home in England. Soon all of England was in on it.
In the 1840s, Europeans immigrating to North America brought with them their Christmas traditions. Prior to that time, Christmas was not widely celebrated in North America. As society became more prosperous, ornaments became larger in size and the colors become more vibrant to reflect the new wealth.
F.W. Woolworth was the first North American retailer to sell glass ornaments. The story goes that he was not too sure about this new product line. However, Woolworth changed his mind by 1890 when he was selling $25 million worth of ornaments in his five-and-dime stores.
Until 1925, virtually all hand blown glass ornaments were manufactured in Lauscha, Germany. By 1935, more then 250 million Christmas ornaments were being imported to the United States. After WWII, the Lauscha area became a part of East Germany. Many glassblowers fled to West Germany and the industry declined. Around this time, Japan and Czechoslovakia began producing ornaments for the North American market
In the 1960’s, glass ornaments went out of fashion when the aluminum tree adorned with ornaments of similar shape and color became the rage. Many traditional ornaments were thrown away during this period.
Chocolate bundles of crunchy rolled oats, crisp coconut and plump pecans, these traditional Christmas favorites are easy to make … and this candy freezes well if properly packaged.
Ingredients
2 c sugar, granulated
1⁄3 c cocoa powder
1 c shredded coconut
1⁄2 c butter, unsalted
1 t vanilla extract
2 c rolled oats, uncooked
1⁄2 c milk
1⁄2 c pecans, chopped
Instructions
In a large saucepan, combine cocoa, sugar, milk and butter. Heat, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat until the mixture boils. Boil 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla, oats, coconut and pecans. Stir until stiff.
Drop in heaping teaspoonfuls on waxed paper. Cool.
Notes
To freeze, stack candies in single layers separated by wax paper. Place in zipper freezer food storage bag, and freeze for up to 2 months.
The evergreen fir tree has been used to celebrate winter festivals (pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. Pagans used branches of it to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come. The Romans used Fir Trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia. Christians use it as a sign of everlasting life with God.
Nobody is really sure when Fir trees were first used as Christmas trees. It probably started about began 1000 years ago in Northern Europe.
The first documented use of a evergreen tree at Christmas and New Year celebrations is in town square of Riga, the capital of Latvia, in the year 1510. In the square there is a plaque which is engraved with “The First New Years Tree in Riga in 1510″, in eight languages. Not much is known about the tree, apart from that it was attended by men wearing black hats, and that after a ceremony they burnt the tree. This is like the custom of the Yule Log.
The first first person to bring a Christmas Tree into a house may have beenthe 16th century German preacher Martin Luther. A story is told that, onenight before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas. Some people say this is the same thee as the ‘Riga’ tree, but it isn’t! The Riga tree originally took place a few decades earlier. Northern Germany and Latvia are neighbours.
Another story says that St. Boniface of Crediton (a place in Devon, UK) left England and travelled to Germany to preach to the pagan German tribes and convert them to Christianity. He is said to have come across a group of pagans about to sacrifice a young boy while worshipping an oak tree. In anger, and to stop the sacrifice, St. Boniface is said to have cut down the oak tree and, to his amazement, a young fir tree sprang up from the roots of the oak tree. St. Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith and his followers decorated the tree with candles so that St. Boniface could preach to the pagans at night.
There is another legend, from Germany, about how the Christmas Tree came into being, it goes:
Christmas Tree
Once on a cold Christmas Eve night, a forester and his family were in their cottage gathered round the fire to keep warm. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. When the forester opened the door, he found a poor little boy standing on the door step, lost and alone. The forester welcomed him into his house and the family fed and washed him and put him to bed in the youngest sons own bed (he had to share with his brother that night!). The next morning, Christmas Morning, the family were woken up by a choir of angels, and the poor little boy had turned into Jesus, the Christ Child. The Christ child went into the front garden of the cottage and broke a branch off a Fir tree and gave it to the family as a present to say thank you for looking after him. So ever since them, people have remembered that night by bringing a Christmas Tree into their homes!
Christmas Trees, as we know them, may have started as the Paradise Trees that represented the Garden of Eden in the German Mystery Plays that took place during the Middle Ages. These plays told Bible stories to people who could not read.
In Germany, the first Christmas Trees were decorated with edible things, such as gingerbread and gold covered apples. Then glass makers made special small ornaments similar to some of the decorations used today. At first, a figure of the Baby Jesus was put on the top of the tree. Over time it changed to an angel/fairy that told the shepherds about Jesus, or a star like the Wisemen saw.
The first Christmas Trees came to Britain sometime in the 1830s. They became very popular in 1841, when Prince Albert (Queen Victoria’s German husband) had a Christmas Tree set up in Windsor Castle. Ever since then, Christmas Trees have been a part of a British Christmas.
