What is Christmas?

Christmas comes from the words 'Cristes maesse,' or 'Christ's Mass.' It essentially signifies a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Most historians trace the first celebration of Christmas to Rome in 336 AD.

Why do people give each other presents on Christmas day?

The tradition of gifts seems to have started with the gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus. However, no one was really in the habit of exchanging elaborate gifts until late in the 1800s. The story of Santa Claus and the retail boom that has grown since the turn of the century has made gift giving a central focus of the Christmas tradition.

Was Jesus Christ born on December 25th?

No one really knows. What is known is that Christian leaders in 336 AD set the date to December 25, in an attempt to eclipse a popular pagan holiday in Rome (Saturnalia) celebrating the winter solstice.

What does the Christmas tree signify?

This is a German tradition started as early as 700 AD. In the 1800s, the tradition of a Christmas tree was widespread in Germany. This then moved to England and later America, through Pennsylvanian German immigrants.

Why is the tree decorated?

In Victorian times, people had already started decorating trees with candies and cakes hung with ribbon. In 1880 the first Christmas tree ornaments were manufactured and sold, and they caught on very quickly. Martin Luther, in the 16th century, is credited as being the first person to put candles on a tree, and the first electrically lighted Christmas tree appeared in 1882. American President Calvin Coolidge in 1923 ceremoniously lit the first outdoor tree at the White House, starting that long tradition.

Does Christmas last for 12 days?

The 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days that separate Christmas day on December 25 from Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6. Depending on the church, January 6 may mark Christ's baptism (the Catholic tradition), or it may mark the day that the wise men visited the baby Jesus with their gifts. In the past, there was a tradition of giving gifts throughout the 12 days, rather than stacking them all up on the morning of 25 December.

What are Christmas carols?

In the Middle Ages in England and France, carols were dances accompanied by singing. In the French Midi, for example, the carol was a kind of round dance. In time, the word 'carol' changed its meaning, referring only to certain kinds of songs. The Anglo-Saxon tradition favoured gathering together small choirs on the village green to sing carols and Christmas songs for the pleasure of passers-by.

Why is Christmas Eve celebrated?

Christmas Eve is a big deal for religious reasons, such as the midnight mass, and also for retail reasons. 1867 was the first year that Macy's department store in New York City remained open until midnight on Christmas Eve.

Does Santa Claus really exist?

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Santa Claus started with a real person, Saint Nicholas, a minor saint from the fourth century. After his death, he was buried in a church at Myra, and by the sixth century his shrine there had become well known. In 1087, Italian sailors or merchants allegedly stole his remains from Myra and took them to Bari, Italy. This removal greatly increased the saint's popularity in Europe, and Bari became one of the most crowded of all pilgrimage centres. Nicholas' reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy.

In the Middle Ages, devotion to Nicholas extended to all parts of Europe. Thousands of European churches were dedicated to him. Nicholas' miracles were a favourite subject for medieval artists and liturgical plays, and his traditional feast day was the occasion for the ceremonies of the Boy Bishop, a widespread European custom in which a boy was elected bishop and reigned until Holy Innocents' Day (December 28).

After the Reformation, Nicholas' cult disappeared in all the Protestant countries of Europe, except Holland, where his legend persisted as Sinterklaas (a Dutch variant of the name Saint Nicholas). Dutch colonists took this tradition with them to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in the American colonies in the 17th century. Sinterklaas was adopted by the country's English-speaking majority under the name Santa Claus, and his legend of a kindly old man was united with old Nordic folktales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good children with presents.

It is amazing but true that the common, popular view of Santa that we all have today, along with all the crazy things around Santa like the sleigh, the reindeer and the chimney, all came largely from two publishing events that occurred in the 1800s and one advertising campaign in this century. Clement Moore wrote a poem 'The Night Before Christmas' in 1822 for his family. It was picked up by a newspaper, then reprinted in magazines and it spread like wildfire. Moore admitted authorship in 1838. If you read the poem you will find that he names the reindeer, invents the sleigh, comes up with the chimney and the bag of toys, etc. Then, between 1863 and 1886, Harper's Weekly (a popular magazine of the time) ran a series of engravings by Thomas Nast. From these images come the concepts of Santa's workshop, Santa reading letters, Santa checking his list and so on. Coca-Cola also played a role in the Santa image by running a set of paintings by Haddon Sundblom in its ads between 1931 to 1964. The red and white suit came, actually, from the original Saint Nicholas. Those colors were the colors of the traditional bishop's robes.