Why
is Christmas such a big deal?
There are two reasons why Christmas is such a big deal:
- According to the 1994 Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year, there are 1.8 billion Christians in a total world population of 5.5 billion, making it the largest religion worldwide. In America 241 million out of a total population of 281 million people are Christians (85%). Because Christians follow Jesus, the birth of Jesus is important to them.
- In America, the weeks leading up to Christmas are the biggest shopping weeks of the year. Many retailers make up to 70% of their annual revenue in the month preceding Christmas. Therefore retailers hype the event beyond belief.
According to Daniel Boorstin in his book The Americans, Christmas was largely a non-event in America until the 1860's. 1867 was the first year that Macy's remained open until midnight on Christmas Eve. 1874 was the year of the first window displays with a Christmas theme at Macy's. It has snowballed from there.
What,
exactly, are the 12 days of Christmas?
The 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days that separate Christmas day on December 25 from Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6. Depending on the church, January 6th may mark Christ's baptism (the Catholic tradition), or it may mark the day that the wise men visited the baby Jesus with their gifts.
In the past there was a tradition of giving gifts throughout the 12 days, rather than stacking them all up on the morning of December 25. That tradition, as you might imagine, has never really caught on in America! We just aren't that patient. The song, however, demonstrates that some people once stretched out their gifts (and gave some fairly elaborate gifts...) over the full 12 days.
And
why are stores and malls so geared up about this holiday?
Why does every mall have a Santa village, and why do kids come sit on Santa's
knee?
As mentioned above, stores and malls have been revved up about Christmas since the late 1800's. In America today the weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas are, by far, the biggest retail sales weeks of the year. The survival of most retail stores depends on the Christmas buying season. Therefore retailers do whatever they can to whip people into a Christmas buying spirit and to attract them to their stores. Festive decorations, big ads, Santa's Villages and all the rest is a part of that process.
*The previous articles are from How Stuff Works, by Marshall Brain. It's a great site: http://www.howstuffworks.com/christmas.htm
History
of Christmas
Christmas, is a festival of the Christian church, held on December 25, to celebrate
Christ's birth, or Nativity. It is generally believed that the festival stems
from older Celtic and Germanic solstice festivals, and has incorporated pagan
customs, such as the use of such as the use of holly, mistletoe, Yule logs, and wassail bowls. The Christmas
tree (usually an evergreen trimmed with lights and other decorations) is derived from the so-called paradise tree, symbolizing Eden, of German mystery plays. The use of a
"Christmas tree" began early in the 17th century, in Strasbourg, France, spreading from there through Germany and then into northern Europe. In 1841
Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, introduced the Christmas tree custom to Great Britain; from
it "immigrated" to the United States. Dutch settlers had brought to the New World the custom of celebrating St. Nicholas' Day on December 6, and especially St. Nicholas' Eve, when gifts were given to children, of whom the saint was patron. British settlers took over the tradition as part of their Christmas eve celebration. The English name of the legendary jolly, red-garbed man who delivers presents to good children at Christmas, Santa Claus, is derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas, a modification of Sint Nikolaas.
"Christmas," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.
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