History of Christmas Part 1

I just finished reading the book The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum, which is a history of how our present American yuletide traditions came about. Published in 1996, this was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

I was intrigued to find that worries and preoccupation with excesses in consumption and other forms of behavior have troubled (some) people for centuries.

• "It was only in the fourth century that the Church officially decided to observe Christmas on December 25. And this date was chosen not for religious reasons but simply because it happened to mark the approximate arrival of the winter solstice, an event that was celebrated long before the advent of Christianity (4)."

• "In early modern Europe, roughly the years between 1500 and 1800, the Christmas season was a time to let off steam--and to gorge. . . .Excess took many forms. Reveling could easily become rowdiness, lubricated by alcohol, making merry could edge into making trouble. Christmas was a season of 'misrule,' a time when ordinary behavioral restraints could be violated with impunity. It was part of what one historian has called 'the world of carnival' (5-6)."
  

• The tradition of drunkenness and riot in Great Britain during Christmas time occurred when poor "wassailers" extorted food and drink from the well-do-do. This reversal in roles was permitted at this one time of year, which helped to perpetuate the class system.

• The Puritans came to the New World in opposition to such excess. "In New England, for the first two centuries of white settlement most people did not celebrate Christmas. In fact, the holiday was systematically suppressed by Puritans during the colonial period and largely ignored by their descendants (3)."

• In America, during the years 1730-1800, general opinion was opening to the idea that observing Christmas could be "less obnoxious if the holiday were celebrated with piety and moderation, purged of its seasonal excesses (26)."

• Around 1800, some churches were calling for the public observance of Christmas. For the first time in 1818, five churches in Boston held services on Christmas Day (47). (Previously, none had.)

I will post more tomorrow about the growth of Christmas to include the Christmas tree and Santa Claus.