Christmas in America: A History
Penne Lee Restad
Abstract
The history of Christmas has always been an ambiguous meld of sacred thoughts and worldly actions— as well as a fascinating reflection of our changing society. This book captures the rise and transformation of our most universal national holiday. In colonial times, it was celebrated either as an utterly solemn or a wildly social event—if it was celebrated at all. Virginians hunted, danced, and feasted. City dwellers flooded the streets in raucous demonstrations. Puritan New Englanders denounced the whole affair. As times changed, Christmas changed—and grew in popularity. In the early 1800s, Ne ... More
The history of Christmas has always been an ambiguous meld of sacred thoughts and worldly actions— as well as a fascinating reflection of our changing society. This book captures the rise and transformation of our most universal national holiday. In colonial times, it was celebrated either as an utterly solemn or a wildly social event—if it was celebrated at all. Virginians hunted, danced, and feasted. City dwellers flooded the streets in raucous demonstrations. Puritan New Englanders denounced the whole affair. As times changed, Christmas changed—and grew in popularity. In the early 1800s, New York served as an epicenter of the newly emerging holiday, drawing on its roots as a Dutch colony (St. Nicholas was particularly popular in the Netherlands, even after the Reformation), and aided by such men as Washington Irving. In 1822, another New Yorker named Clement Clarke Moore penned a poem now known as“'Twas the Night Before Christmas,” virtually inventing the modern Santa Claus. Well-to-do townspeople displayed a German novelty, the decorated fir tree, in their parlors, and an enterprising printer discovered the money to be made from Christmas cards. The homecoming significance of the holiday increased with the Civil War, and by the end of the 19th century a fully-fledged national holiday had materialized. In the 20th century, Christmas seeped into every niche of our conscious and unconscious lives to become a festival of epic proportions.
Keywords:
Christmas,
colonial Christmas,
national holiday,
Virginia,
Puritan,
New England,
New York,
Netherlands,
Dutch colony,
Clement Clarke Moore
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 1997 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780195109801 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: October 2011 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195109801.001.0001 |
