Christian holy day and secular holiday. The early Christian church was ambivalent about celebrating the birth of Jesus. Some church leaders, in fact, disapproved of acknowledging the occasion at all. Moreover, since canonical accounts do not specify a date or even season for Jesus’ birth, early celebrations occurred at various times. Eastern churches began to focus their observances on January 6, now the Feast of the Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus and is still sometimes referred to as “Litde Christmas.” The Western church, though, selected December 25 to commemorate the nativity, probably because the date coincided with winter-solstice celebrations. That date has become generally accepted throughout Christendom, except among adherents of the old Julian calendar, who observe Christmas on January 7. For most modern Americans, the Christmas season actually begins several weeks before December 25 and climaxes during the week between that date and New Year’s Day. The first Christmas observance in what is now the United States probably occurred in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. The New England Puritans were less hospitable to the holy day, and, in fact, Massachusetts temporarily outlawed its observance. Such regional differences have continued to figure in American Christmas traditions, even though nationwide customs now dominate the celebration. The varied ethnic heritages represented in the United States also contribute to some diversity in American Christmas festivities. That Christmas has been recognized as a holiday by federal and state governments since the 19th century has contributed to the development of a nationwide Christmas culture, adapted, in part, from speciflc regional and ethnic traditions. Customs focus overtly on Christmas’ religious significance and on its more generally festive aspects. An example of the former is the nativity scene. Though some courts have ruled that placing nativity scenes in public places violates the constitutional prohibition of governmentsponsored religion, many businesses, churches, and residences (either on the front lawn or in a special place indoors) display figures of Jesus’ parents, the child himself, animals appropriate to a stable setting, angels, shepherds, and the Magi. Most nativity scenes use statues, but churches may have amateur actors assume the roles for at least a few nights during the Christmas season. A widely known custom with fewer religious overtones involves the Christmas tree, reputedly brought to America by Hessian soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Using a decorated evergreen as the centerpiece for a home’s holiday decorations became widespread during the mid-19th century and received official sanction when President Franklin Pierce erected a Christmas tree in the White House in 1856. Other widely practiced Christmas customs in the United States, religious and secular, include exchanging gifts, identifying Santa Claus as the festive spirit of the season, mailing greeting cards, holding special public programs such as parades, and attending special church services. Though many have spread to other parts of the country, distinctly regional traditions also continue to characterize American Christmas celebrations. For example, such customs as fox hunts on Christmas morning, the greeting phrase “Christmas gift,” and fireworks developed in the Old South, where the season provided unwonted respite from labor even for slaves. In Louisiana, bonfires continue to be lit on Christmas Eve. In the west Texas community of Anson, an annual Cowboys’ Christmas Ball commemorates an event first held in 1885. In the Southwest, Hispanics and Latinos continue to practice ethnic Christmas customs. They decorate with luminarias (lighted candles set in sacks of sand), perform folk plays such as Los Pastores that combine traditional piety with broad comedy, and participate in Las Posadas, which dramatizes the search by Mary and Joseph for shelter. Among Germans in Pennsylvania, children have traditionally awaited the arrival of the Belsnickel, a figure who, like the more widely known Santa Claus (probably a Dutch import), brings gifts to those who have behaved themselves. But he also carries a switch to punish the naughty. Ethnic foods figure into Christmas menus. For Italian Americans, the Christmas Eve vigil has required dinners consisting of an odd number of meatless dishes, eel being a special favorite. Italian American bakers also prepare festive cookies such as biscotti, pignollati, and cuccidati for the holiday season. National Christmas traditions have replaced some holiday practices that once flourished in regional and ethnic communities. Examples include the mummers’ plays, which survived in pockets of British settlement such as the southern Appalachians, and some folk carols. Many communities, though, have begun to revive and preserve distinctive customs to complement the national Christmas culture, which they view as lacking in spirituality and oriented toward material consumption.
William M.Clements
References
Barnett, James H. 1954. The American Christmas: A Study in National Culture. New York: Macmillan. Flynn, Tom. 1993. The Trouble with Christmas. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus. Golby, J.M., and A.W.Purdue. 1986. The Making of the Modern Christmas. Athens: University of Georgia Press. Kane, Harnett T. 1958. The Southern Christmas Book: The Full Story from Earliest Times to the Present: People, Customs, Conviviality, Carols, Cooking. New York: David McKay. Samuelson, Sue. 1982. Christmas: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland.