The Incredible Christmas Page

These links lead off of our website. Use them at your own risk. If you find a link that goes to an inappropriate site, please notify Ken Rohrer immediately.

History of Christmas

As with Easter, the origins of our Christmas celebrations is rooted in pagan traditions. The Roman Catholic Church created the celebration on December 25 to absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival.

The Saturnalia festival was a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The festival began in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continued for a month. The festival involved a lot of food and drink. Romans changed everyone's social position during this time and slaves became masters, peasants became royalty and schools and businesses were closed. The birth of Mithra, an infant god of the unconquerable sun, was celebrated on December 25 during this time.

In spite of the fact that the evidence points to a spring birth for Jesus Christ, in the early 400's Pope Julius I chose to celebrate the birthday of Jesus on December 25 in order to transform the pagan holiday into a Christian celebration. Christmas was initially called the Feast of the Nativity and began spreading across the world. As with Easter, the holiday is celebrated on differents dates with the eastern orthodox church. Christmas is celebrated on January 6, the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. They believe that this was the day the three wise men found Jesus in the manger. The Catholics were successful with the holiday and by the middle ages, it had replaced the pagan traditions. However, there were still very un-Christian-like celebrations such as drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to Mardi Gras.

In the early 17th century, Puritans reformed Christmas and eventually cancelled it. Later, King Charles II reinstated the holiday. When the pilgrims came to America, Christmas was outlawed in Boston. However, Captain John Smith and his settlement in Jamestown enjoyed the holiday. After the American Revolution, Christmas was once again cancelled across the country. The holiday didn't make a comeback until 1870. Americans re-invented the holiday and turned it into a family celebration.

In 1819, it was common for the upper class to invite poor people into their homes for Christmas. In 1843, the holiday transformed itself into the celebration we have today when A Christmas Carol came out. Charles Dickens wrote the book that spoke of the Christmas spirit of giving. When the holiday became popular in America, immigrants brought their own traditions that were incorporated into American traditions. Christmas tree decorating, holiday card, gift giving, kissing under the misseltoe, and other traditions defined the holiday into what it is today. The holiday spread like wildfire around the world and is now the most celebrated of all holidays around the globe.

In Mexico, the holiday is called Feliz Navidad. The tradition of the Pointsettas came from Mexico. The missionary, Joel Pointsett, brought a red flowered plant from Mexico to the U.S. in 1828. By 1870, you could buy the flower in New York stores. They became a universal symbol in the 1900's. Mexicans use pinatas in their celebrations. Pinatas are paper mache sculptures filled with candy and hung from the ceiling. Children take turns hitting the pinatas until the candy spilled out on the floor. Americans use pinatas primarily for birthdays.

The Christmas tree tradition began in Germany. Decorating evergreen trees was part of the winter solstice celebration. They were called Christmas trees in the early 1700's. In the 1820's, German immigrants brought their tradition over to America and by 1900 tree decorating became an American tradition.

The term Yule tide comes from Norway. The word "Yule" comes from the word "hweol," which means "wheel." The Norwegians used the Yule log in fires becaue they believed the sun was a huge wheel of fire that rolled to and from the earth. When the tradition came to America, Americans began using fireplaces as the location to burn Yule logs. Later, log-shaped cakes, cheeses and desserts were made during Christmas.

Christmas greeting cards came to America from England. John Calcott Horsley produced small cards with festive scenes with holiday greetings. They were sent to the U.S. through post offices and became a sensation. The cards began being created in the U.S. by R.H. Pease and Louis Prang in Albany, New York.