Monday, December 12, 2011

Christmas 2011 Advent Calendar - Day 12

Christmas Traditions Worldwide (According to History.com):
  • In Finland, many people visit the sauna on Christmas Eve. Families gather and listen to the national "Peace of Christmas" radio broadcast, and it is customary to visit the gravesites of departed family members.
  • According to reports by Captain John Smith, the first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in his 1607 Jamestown settlement. Nog comes from the word grog, which refers to any drink made with rum. (Yum!)
  • Decorating evergreen trees had always been a part of the German winter solstice tradition. The first "Christmas trees" explicitly decorated and named after the Christian holiday, appeared in Strasbourg, in Alsace in the beginning of the 17th century. In the 1820s, the first German immigrants decorated Christmas trees in Pennsylvania. In 1848, the first American newspaper carried a picture of a Christmas tree and the custom spread to nearly every home in just a few years.
  • In Australia, the holiday comes in the middle of summer and it's not unusual for some parts of Australia to hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Christmas day. During the warm and sunny Australian Christmas season, beach time and outdoor barbecues are common. Traditional Christmas day celebrations include family gatherings, exchanging gifts and either a hot meal with ham, turkey, pork or seafood or barbeques.
  • In Greece, many people believe in kallikantzeri, goblins that appear to cause mischief during the 12 days of Christmas. Gifts are usually exchanged on January 1, St. Basil's Day.
  • In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous—a lot like today's Mardi Gras parties. 
  • After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.
  • From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and law-breakers were fined five shillings.
  • It wasn't until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia.
  • As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift-giving. Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.
  • Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.

4 comments:

  1. Wow, thats a lot of facts. Its so appropriate that the US traditions are a combination of many other traditions.

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  2. @~Ang Isn't it though?! We're a melting pot in more ways than one!

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  3. In our family, we always had "nightie fairy/pyjama pixie night" on 23rd December. We'de go t obed as normal and wake up on Xmas Eve morning with a new set of nightwear to wear on Xmas Even night so we'd look lovely for Santa coming. Our son turned 3 this year and is starting to really remember and get excited about things, so we're starting this with him this year. ;)

    Kell.
    x

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  4. @diaryofadomesticgoddess That sounds so fun! Simple, yet a great way to add some anticipation!

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