The Rise of the Celebration of Christmas, Part 3 (TMF:SE23)

Friday, December 15, 2017
Peace to Live By: The Rise of the Celebration of Christmas, Part 3 (TMF:SE23) - Daniel Litton
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       So, Christmas, still yet, wasn’t in full bloom even by the close of the 1700s. Christmas started to settle into the American culture in a more dominate fashion by the early 1800s. It’s here that we start to see the outcropping of church services on Christmas Day throughout America (Nissenbaum, pp. 45-47). The old Puritan way of ignoring or shunning Christmas was seeming to fall by the wayside. It is also during this time of the early 1800s that we see the beginnings of Santa Claus. Now, in fact, during this time some Christians celebrated St. Nicholas Day (as some even still celebrate it today), and this involved Santa, as we call him today, giving to children (Nissenbaum, pp. 73, 74, 78). This day took place on December 6, however. Nonetheless, by 1821, we read of Christmas being celebrated on December 24th and 25th, but it was meant to be sort of a children’s version of an adults Judgement Day. The point was to emphasize to children the importance of doing right in this life.

Reference
Nissenbaum, Stephen. (1996). The Battle for Christmas. New York: Vintage Books.