The traditions we associate with Christmas have evolved over the centuries. Here are answers to five questions about these traditions, from the date we choose to celebrate to the origin of Santa.
1. Why do we celebrate on December 25th?
The Bible makes no mention of Jesus being born on December 25th and, as more than one historian has pointed out, why would shepherds be tending to their flock in the middle of winter? So why is that the day we celebrate? Well, either Christian holidays miraculously fall on the same days as pagan ones or the Christians have been crafty in converting pagan populations to religion by placing important Christian holidays on the same days as pagan ones. And people had been celebrating on December 25th (and the surrounding weeks) for centuries by the time Jesus showed up.
The Winter Solstice, falling on or around December 21st, was and is celebrated around the world as the beginning of the end of winter. It is the shortest day and longest night and its passing signifies that spring is on the way. In Scandinavian countries, they celebrated the solstice with a holiday called Yule last from the 21st until January and burned a Yule log the whole time.
In Rome, Saturnalia—a celebration of Saturn, the God of agriculture—lasted the entire end of the year and was marked by mass intoxication (a tradition your uncle still upholds to this day). In the middle of this, the Romans celebrated the birth of another God, Mithra (a child God), whose holiday celebrated the children of Rome.
When the Christianity became the official religion of Rome, there was no Christmas. It was not until the 4th century that Pope Julius I declared the birth of Jesus to be a holiday and picked December 25th as the celebration day. By the middle ages, most people celebrated the holiday we know as Christmas.
2. How did Americans come to love the holiday?
The American Christmas is, like most American holidays, a mishmash of Old World customs mixed with American inventions. While Christmas was celebrated in America from the time of the Jamestown settlement, our modern idea of the holiday didn’t take root until the 19th century. The History Channel credits Washington Irving with getting the ball rolling. In 1819 he published The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., an account of a Christmas celebration in which a rich family invites poor folk into their house to celebrate the holiday.
The problem (if you’re so inclined to call it such) was that many of the activities described in Irving’s work, such as crowning a Lord of Misrule, were entirely fictional. Nonetheless, Irving began to steer Christmas celebrations away from drunken debauchery and towards wholesome, charitable fun. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, Christmas gained popularity and Americans adopted old customs or invented new ones, such as Christmas tress, greeting cards, giving gifts and eating a whole roasted pig (or is that just my family?).
3. Who popularized Christmas trees?
Since time immortal, humans have been fascinated with the color green and plants that stay green through winter. Many ancient societies—from Romans to Vikings—would decorate their homes and temples with evergreens in the winter as a symbol of the returning growing season.
But the Christmas tree didn’t get going until some intrepid German dragged home and decorated a tree in the 16th century. Legend has it that Martin Luther himself added lighted candles to his family’s tree, starting the trend (and leading to countless fires through the years). In America, the Christmas tree didn’t catch on until 1846 when the British royals, Queen Victoria and the German Prince Albert, were shown with a Christmas tree in a newspaper. Fashionable people in America mimicked the Royals and the tree thing spread outside of German enclaves in America. Ornaments, courtesy of Germany, and electric lights, courtesy of Thomas Edison’s assistants, were added over the years and we haven’t changed much since.
4. What’s the deal with Santa Claus?
The jolly, red-suited man who sneaks into your home every year to leave you gifts hasn’t always been so jolly. The real Saint Nick was a Turkish monk who lived in the 3rd century. He was known for being charitable and selfless, eventually becoming the patron saint of sailors and children. According to legend, he was a rich man thanks to an inheritance from his parents, but he gave it all away in the form of gifts to the less-fortunate. He eventually became the most popular saint in Europe and, through his alter ego, Santa Claus, remains so to this day. But how did a long-dead Turkish monk become a big, fat, reindeer-riding pole dweller?
The Dutch got the ball rolling be celebrating the saint—called Sinter Klaas—in New York in the late-18th century. Our old friend, Washington Irving, included the legend of Saint Nick in his seminal History of New-York as well, but at the turn of the 18th century, Saint Nick was still a rather obscure figure in America.
On December 23, 1823, though, a man named Clement Clarke Moore published a poem he had written for his daughters called “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known now as “T’was the Night Before Christmas.” Nobody knows how much of the poem Moore invented, but we do know that it was the spark that eventually lit the Santa fire (just hopefully not in the same fireplace he slips down on Christmas Eve). Many of the things we associate with Santa—a sleigh, reindeer, Christmas Eve visits—came from Moore’s poem.
From 1863-1886, Thomas Nast’s illustrations of Santa Claus appeared in Harper’s Weekly—including a scene with Santa giving gifts to Union soldiers. Not much has changed since the second half of the 19th century: Santa still gets pulled in a sleigh by flying reindeer, he still wears the big red suit and he still sneaks down chimneys to drop off presents. Contrary to popular belief, the Coca-Cola company did not invent the modern Santa. They did, however, learn how to use his image to get parents to buy soda during winter.
5. Who invented Rudolph?
Santa did get one more friend in 1939. Robert May, a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store chain, wrote a little story about a 9th reindeer with a disturbing red nose for a booklet to give customers during the holiday season. Ten years later, May’s brother would put the story to music, writing the lyrics and melody.
Streeter Seidell is the front page editor of CollegeHumor.com and a mental_floss contributor.
Comments (19)
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Great timing! Last night a friend was trying to convince me that Rudolph was a Dr. Seuss invention. I knew that wasn’t right, but didn’t know the real story. I should have bet her on it.
posted by Mary on 12-19-2008 at 11:41 am
Well, geographically, they would be tending their flocks in the middle of the “winter”. A more accurate question would be about the alignment of the stars. Some historians say that based on Biblical descriptions, Jesus was born in August.
posted by L on 12-19-2008 at 11:51 am
I gave my sister framed reprints of three of Nast’s Harper’s Santa covers last year. For years she only drank Pepsi because she had a misguided understanding of how “coke ruined Christmas by inventing Santa.” This was my subtle way of saying “please stop saying that!”
posted by Jane on 12-19-2008 at 12:14 pm
“the Christians have been crafty in converting pagan populations to religion”
By definition, pagans already had religion.
posted by Chris on 12-19-2008 at 12:18 pm
Didn’t another recent Mentalfloss article say the date was St. Augustine’s calculation, based on the theory that Jesus died thirty-three years to the day (March 25) that he was “concieved” and adding nine months for the actual birth day?
posted by Chelsea on 12-19-2008 at 1:01 pm
I’m a bit disappointed that there was nary a mention of the red-suited, reindeer-driving Santa being yet another combination of Christian and pagan components. His suit is red and white for blood and snow, and he uses reindeer because, well…people in colder climates used to sacrifice such burly animals so that winter would end.
posted by Alice on 12-19-2008 at 1:27 pm
Is the Lord of Misrule really fictional? I recently read a book by Phillipa Gregory, who does great Tudor-era historical fiction, and I feel like the Lord of Misrule was mentioned. She generally does excellent historical research for her books.
But, I very well could be making that up.
posted by Kate on 12-19-2008 at 1:31 pm
@Kate,
Which book talks about the Lord of Misrule? I’ve read a lot of her work and I’d like to know.
Also I saw a History Channel special about the history of Christmas and they left me with the impression that the Lord of Misrule was a real tradition.
posted by Bet on 12-19-2008 at 1:58 pm
I find it hard to believe that there would be a mention of Sinterklaas and no mention of Zwarte Piet. Zwarte Piet(Which translates to black pete) is Sinterklaas’ helper who is a little man covered in soot who follows the big man around and puts all of the bad kids in his bag. He is often (much to my dismay) dipicted in black face. After he puts them in the bag he carries them off to spain which to me sounds more like a free vacation then punishment for being naughty.
posted by Kelly on 12-19-2008 at 9:27 pm
Zwarte Piet is depicted in black face because he is the one who goes down the chimney with the presents and gets covered in soot. A lot of people feel that the character has racist overtones, because he is a black helper (“knecht”) to a white man. In the Sinterklaas mythology, Sinterklaas is from Spain. His zwarte pieten are helpers from the northern part of Afrika (the people were called Moors). They would typically have a dark skin color, and that is also a reason for the black face.
posted by JSP on 12-20-2008 at 3:59 am
Oh looky, another attack on Christmas.
It doesn’t HAVE to be THE day that Jesus was born, it is a day of celebration and rememberance.
Many royals around the world have their “official” birthdays in the summer when actually they are born at other times.
I know of a cousin who was born on Dec. 25th, so he celebrates his birthday on the same May day as his father instead.
There is nothing wrong with Christmas, or any other celebration that promotes peace, love, forgiveness and the saving of the human race.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter what it was based on then, it’s what it means to millions now that counts.
posted by Dave N on 12-20-2008 at 4:44 am
Chelsea — that’s what St. Augustine believed (he didn’t come up with the theory, but supported it). There are several theories about why the date was chosen.
posted by Sandy on 12-20-2008 at 8:39 am
“the Christians have been crafty in converting pagan populations to religionâ€
By definition, pagans already had religion.
posted by Steaven on 12-22-2008 at 8:54 am
Dave N….unfortunately, in the way a huge percentage of Americans celebrate Christmas, it has more to do with greed and consumerism than it does “peace, love, and forgiveness”.
posted by Jen on 12-15-2009 at 10:44 am
@ L-
Geographically, they wouldn’t be tending to their flocks in December. Israel isn’t below the equator.
posted by Meg on 12-15-2009 at 10:52 pm
I don’t understand how the origins of Christmas traditions are “an attack on Christmas.” It’s like people search for anything this time of year so they can throw that phrase out there.
Whats the point of traditions if no one remembers what they’re for?
posted by Heather on 12-24-2010 at 8:18 am
Saint Nicholas was a third century Turkish monk? Really? That would have put him somewhere off in central Asia. More likely he was a Greek-speaking monk in Anatolia, the region that’s now the heartland of the Turkish state. But to say that he was Turkish is something like saying that an Indian native to the Amazon rainforest is Portuguese.
Also, I live in Israel and December is our rainy season – weather here now is something like March-April in New York – so it doesn’t seem particularly odd to me that a local shepherd would tend his flock now. It’s not like there’s any snow to worry about…
posted by NG on 12-24-2010 at 8:21 am
Dave N… how is this an attack on Christmas? It’s simply explaining. You can celebrate some other time of the year, if you’d like to be more correct, but the rest of us will take our enlightened selves, celebrate now anyway, and simply chuckle at the line of “God rest ye merry gentlemen” that says “…was born on Christmas Day…”
posted by Megan on 12-23-2011 at 11:32 am
In addition to the converting pagan holidays into Christian ones (I’m looking at you people who refuse to celebrate Halloween–it got the same treatment as every other religious holiday)…
I was told once that one of the reasons that December 25th was chosen was because of it’s proximity to the Winter Solstice based on John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease”. The days getting longer being symbolic of that. This is also why the feast of St John the Baptist is near the time of the Summer Solstice, or pretty much exactly 6 mons before (or after) Christmas.
Anyone have more info on this?
posted by Lola on 12-23-2011 at 12:45 pm