December 1. For many, in Australia at least, it marks the date we dust off the Christmas decorations and erect a plastic tree which to place our presents under. Christian or not, we all undertake some, frankly, strange, customs at this time of year, from eating too much, to singing carols with lyrics we don’t quite understand. Armed with these 5 Christmas facts you can be sure to never be without a topic of conversation at the office Christmas party.
1. The Christmas Tree
The Rockefeller Christmas Tree is famous throughout the world with thousands lining the streets and millions live streaming the lighting of it for the first time from Rockefeller Plaza. Why is so much emphasis placed on a tree with some decorations on it? Stemming from Pagan traditions, people would hang evergreen branches such as pine, spruce and fir trees in their windows. Not only was it to remind them of the spring to come, it was also believed to ward off illness, evil spirits and witches. It is the Germans, however, who have been credited with the Tannenbaum as we know it today. In the 16th century devout Christians starting erecting Christmas trees,
complete with decorations, inside their homes. The Germans then introduced the idea of the Christmas tree to America in the 18th century. The USA, where the Rockefeller Centre claims their tree is the symbol for the beginning of the holiday season internationally, was originally apprehensive about adopting the tree. Queen Victoria and her German husband Albert popularised the Christmas tree when they were sketched with one in 1848. Well-liked by the people, Queen Victoria was somewhat of a fashion icon, and the Christmas tree was soon adopted more widely, including in the USA. The Australian version of the Christmas tree reflects our climate and is either plastic or a tree which is suitable to our hot climate. The Christmas tree is now a symbol of Christmas and many wake-up Christmas morning to presents under its branches.
2. December 25
For Christians December 25 is celebrated as the birth of Jesus. For others, December 25, a public holiday, is celebrated with family, presents and the preparation of a special meal. Interestingly, the Bible does not give Jesus’ date of birth. The adoption of December 25 as being Jesus’ birthday in 336 by Emperor Constantine was to incorporate a Pagan celebration with the Christian holiday. Towards the end of December, Romans celebrated Saturnalia to mark the year’s end of the harvest and allowed special indulgences for the slaves. Slaves attended a banquet in their master’s clothes and were served by them at the table. Other Pagan festivals were also present at this time of year, such as the celebration of the birthday of Mithras (pictured), thereby allowing the Christian celebration to be more easily adopted by a population already exalting deities on this day.
3. Boxing Day
In a sport mad nation like Australia, December 26, Boxing Day, marks the beginning of the Boxing Day Test and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. For others, it marks the chaos of the Boxing Day sales and the gradual winding down of the festive season. The origins of Boxing Day are debated and some believe it stems from a British tradition where employers would give their old clothes, leftover food and Christmas bonus to their employees. Landlords would give gifts of agricultural tools to assist with the coming years’ harvest. Some believe the name has its origins in a church tradition where the box of donations would be opened and distributed amongst the poor.
4. Christmas Carols
Michael Bublé hibernates for 11 months of the year and emerges with a Christmas album in December as he capitalises on our love/hate relationship with Christmas songs. Christmas carols have an interesting history, with many beginning life without lyrics and not intended to become Christmas songs. Nevertheless their popularity cannot be denied. The word carol itself is believed to have been adopted to identify the difference between a church choir and everyone else singing and by the 16th century appeared to identify seasonal songs. Early versions of carol books, as Andrew Gant explains in his book “Christmas Carols: From Village Green to Church Choir”, did not contain tunes. “The oral tradition was so well established…your reader would already know them. Often it was enough simply to print the name of the tune…” (2014) So how did we end up with songs like Jingle Bells? Jingle Bells is a more modern Christmas carol first published in 1857 by American James Lord Pierpont under the name “One Horse Open Sleigh”. Jingle Bells, whilst modern, is a great example of how the early Christmas carols became well-known. Pierpont wrote it for Thanksgiving and did not intend for it to become a Christmas song, however, it soon became associated with the holiday season and subsequently Christmas. First performed on a street in Boston in 1857, it was soon adopted by local choirs (1860s and 1870s), college anthologies (1880s) and finally recorded in 1889. Today, Jingle Bells has become one of the most well-known Christmas carols the world over.
5. Santa Clause/Saint Nicholas
Ask anyone who considers themselves a bit of a trivia buff, and they will tell you the Santa we are familiar with today, has his origins with Coca-Cola. The more cynical will let you know that Santa is a prime example of globalisation undertaken by a conglomerate. But Santa Claus has a much longer history than Coke and has origins in the third century with a monk named Nicholas. Saint Nicholas, born in what is today Turkey, gave away his wealth and became a patron for children and sailors. He is said to have saved three sisters from prostitution and was admired for his piety and kindness. By the Renaissance, he was one of the most popular saints in Europe,
especially in the Netherlands. The Dutch call him Sinter Klaas, an abbreviation of Sint Nikolaas, and honour the day of his death, December 6. Dutch families were reported to have been celebrating Sinter Klaas in a New York newspaper in the years 1773 and 1774. Slowly Sinter Klaas began to enter the New Yorkers’ holiday celebrations and gained popularity when Washington Irving publishedhis satirical novel (1809), proclaiming Sinter Klaas as New York’s patron saint. Christmas centred on gift giving and stores capitalised on this by targeting children in their advertisements. In 1841 thousands of Philadelphian children went to see a life size model of the newly-popular Santa Claus and it wasn’t long before real life Santas began appearing in stores. It can be argued that it was the Salvation Army, not Coca-Cola who popularised the man in the red suit. The Salvation Army began sending unemployed men to the streets wearing red suits and ringing bells to encourage donations to feed the poor. The Salvation Army Santa Claus, his bell and red kettle for collections have become synonymous with Christmas in the United States.
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