This Christmas season, many of us are practicing traditions we have known since childhood. Some of these traditions may have been what our parents and grandparents have known since childhood. These traditions almost seem timeless. But would it surprise you to learn that the longstanding traditions of Christmas trees, caroling, and giving to charity may not be as longstanding as we believe?

Old traditions

To understand where our current traditions come from, we must first look at older traditions. In medieval Europe, Christmas was a time of reveling and misrule. The Christmas season began as early as late November and went into January or February.[1] In agricultural communities, midwinter was a time of leisure for farmers, as the harvest had been brought in for the year.[2] This was also the best time to slay meat because the cold would keep it fresh. Lots of drinking occurred because beer had finished brewing. There was a lot of rowdiness, and it was socially acceptable at this time of year to make public displays of lust and anger.[3] A practice called mumming involved cross-dressing and visiting friends in disguise.[4]

Another practice was the reversal of social hierarchy, which included wassailing. For once, the upper class was expected to serve the lower class. Peasants were the masters of misrule, and gentry were expected to give to them. Poor youths would go from house to house, singing songs of goodwill in exchange for food and alcohol. The wassailers demanded to be given the best. If the master of the house refused, the wassailers would riot and throw stones.[5]

The lyrics from a familiar Christmas carol refer to this practice:

O bring us some figgy pudding
O bring us some figgy pudding
O Bring us some figgy pudding
and bring it right here

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

We won’t go until we get some
We won’t go until we get some
We won’t go until we get some
So bring it right here[6]

The Puritans were against the reveling that had been a common way of celebrating Christmas for centuries, so they made efforts to suppress Christmas altogether. They were more successful in the American colonies than they were in England.[7] In Puritan New England, December 25^th was just a normal day.[8] The type of Christmas celebrations the Puritan leaders approved involved staying home and making it a day of devotion. However, most Christmas celebrants did not do that but rather gambled and reveled in the streets. Massachusetts Bay Colony outlawed Christmas from 1659 to 1681.[9]

In Colonial America, Christmas was more widely celebrated in the South than in the North. Other religious groups, such as Anglicans, supported the Christmas holiday but thought the old customs were too rowdy. Those who decorated for Christmas made wreaths and garlands out of holly, ivy, and other evergreens.[10]

Changes in the 19^th century

Economy

The industrial revolution caused a lot of changes in the 19^th century. Machine equipment on farmland meant that fewer people could farm more land. The advent of machines also diminished the need for artisans to make things by hand and replaced that need with the demand for factory workers. The rich, rather than being nobles living off taxes from peasants on their land, were business owners buying the machines. The poor, rather than being peasants, were the working class. Such a change meant that the reversal of the social hierarchy of the olden days made less sense.[11] It also meant that the poor and rich were in separate neighborhoods rather than the poor living on the land of the rich. Therefore, the poor and the rich mixed less than they used to.[12] This changed how giving to the poor worked.

Municipals and churches began organizing charities in the mid-19^th century.[13] The press began publishing newspaper articles arguing that it was better to give to charities who would give to the poor than to give to beggars on the street.[14] Newspapers in the 1860s even argued that the work done by charities was a continuation of the wassailing tradition.[15]

Charles Loring Brace founded the Children’s Aid Society in the 1850s in New York City, believing that the best use of charitable efforts was on poor children rather than poor adults. He believed that poor adults would waste what was given to them in charity and stay dependent, but the charity given to children would help prevent them from growing up to become criminals.[16] Sister organizations to help children of poor families were established in other large cities.[17] Giving to poor children was a way to follow the old tradition of giving to the poor and the new tradition of giving to children.[18]

Salvation Army Santas first appeared in the 1890s, begging for others in disguise. Arguably, this was a new form of the old traditions of mumming.[19] Salvation Army bellringers are still seen today.

Changing values

The 19^th century also saw some shifts in values. Society began to focus more on children’s well-being than before. Many were divided on how to rear children. Puritans believed that children were born with original sin and that it needed to be beaten out of them by breaking their will. Unitarians, on the other hand, believed that children were inherently good and that their will needed to be guided through nurturing, moral instruction, and assurances of parental love.[20]   

Families began using Christmas as a time to indulge children with gifts. The Christmas tree ritual, introduced to America in the 1830s, was a way to do that. The parents would bring in a portion of a fir or spruce tree and set it up on the table, adorned with treats, toys, and little candles. When it was presented to the children, they were allowed to take the treats and toys from the Christmas tree.[21]

Christmas Trees were first brought to America by German immigrants in the early 1800s.[22] Christmas trees became popular in America in the 1830s thanks to literature. A Unitarian author, Miss Sedgewick, knew a German immigrant family, and they most likely introduced the Christmas tree tradition to her. She wrote a fictitious story in which a Christmas tree appears, and it was published just before the Christmas season of 1835.[23]

Electric Christmas lights were invented in the late 19^th century but were expensive to set up and required the service of an electrician. General Electric began offering affordable pre-assembled Christmas light kits in 1903, making electric Christmas lights more accessible to the public.[24]

Continuing changes in the 21^st century

Changes in values and economics continue in the 21st century. Some people complain that families falling apart. Society is valuing mental health more than it used to, as many Millennials and Gen-Zs place priority on mental health over family obligations. This shift in values does affect Christmas traditions. Some may choose not to spend Christmas with family. Others take advantage of modern technology to be with family over the holidays but are unable to travel. Video calls make it possible to see relatives who are on the other side of the country without travel.

As values change and as the economic structure shifts, so do Christmas traditions. Today, as in times of old, what matters is the reason behind Christmas and the traditions you choose to practice. Whatever traditions you celebrate, or don’t celebrate, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays!

Want to know more about your ancestors’ Christmas traditions? Take advantage of our special Christmas pricing! $100 off a standard research package, $200 off a double project! Get started with Price Genealogy today!

Katie

Pictures:

1. A Christmas Carol 09” by thecmn is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

2. “A Christmas Carol 08” by thecmn is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

3. “2017 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lit-vertical” by USDAgov is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

References:

[1] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 5-7.

[2] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 5.

[3] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 6.

[4] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 7.

[5] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 8-11.

[6] Traditional English carol, We Wish you a Merry Christmas

[7] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 11-13.

[8] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 14.

[9] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 4-7, 14-15.

[10] Anthony & Peter Miall, The Victorian Christmas Book (Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell Books Inc., 1990), p. 51.

[11] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 225.

[12] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 227-228.

[13] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 231.

[14] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 228-229.

[15] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 230.

[16] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 233.

[17] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 239.

[18] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 240.

[19] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 253.

[20] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 202.

[21] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 178-179.

[22] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), pp. 195-196.

[23] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: a Cultural History of America’s Most Cherished Holiday (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 177, 189-190, 194.

[24] Delivering The Future, Edison Electric Institute, 2020, viewed 17 December 2024, <https://www.eei.org/en/delivering-the-future/articles/who-invented-electric-christmas-lights>.