Published: December 06, 2006 09:53 am         

Christmas in America A Melting Pot of Traditions

The Dutch have their wooden shoes, Brazilians have Papai Noel, the French celebrate “Noel” with real candles on their Christmas trees and Russians celebrate their holiday on Jan. 7.

We, as Americans, experience similar staples of the Christmas season: Christmas trees, stockings, mistletoe, holly, Christmas lights, Santa Claus and candy canes. All are staples that transitioned from our earliest European ancestors.

History books refer to the United States as a “melting pot" where all nations and traditions blend together. Indeed, American Christmas celebrations would indicate just that.

We have carols from England and Australia and trees from Germany. Santa Claus, or St. Nick, in a red suit, originated in Scandinavia and his arrival through the chimney to fill stockings is reminiscent of the Netherlands. His sleigh drawn by reindeer began in Switzerland, and of course the traditional “Christmas feast” is typical of all nations. We, in turn, have fattened up the jolly old man in the red suit and blended all the traditions until he comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve, leaves gifts and stockings filled with treats and departs in a sleigh drawn by eight tiny reindeer. The media has helped to make this a universal Christmas image. Yet each Christmas tradition of the U.S. has its own uniqueness and peculiarity.



December 25

The idea to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25 originated in the 4th century. The Catholic Church wanted to eclipse the festivities of a rival pagan religion that threatened Christianity's existence. The Romans celebrated the birthday of their sun god, Mithras, during this time of year. Although it was not popular, or even proper, to celebrate people's birthdays in those times, church leaders decided that in order to compete with the pagan celebration they would themselves order a festival in celebration of



the birth of Jesus Christ. Although the actual season of Jesus' birth is thought to be in the spring, the date of Dec. 25 was chosen as the official birthday celebration as Christ's Mass so that it would compete head-on with the rival pagan celebration. Christmas was slow to catch on in America. The early colonists considered it a pagan ritual. The celebration of Christmas was even banned by law in Massachusetts in colonial days.



Mistletoe and Holly

Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Druids used mistletoe to celebrate the coming of winter. They would gather this evergreen plant that is parasitic upon other trees and used it to decorate their homes. They believed the plant had special healing powers for everything from female infertility to poison ingestion. Scandinavians also thought of mistletoe as a plant of peace and harmony. They associated mistletoe with their goddess of love, Frigga, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe probably derived from this belief. The early church banned the use of mistletoe in Christmas celebrations because of its pagan origins. Instead, church fathers suggested the use of holly as an appropriate substitute for Christmas greenery.



Poinsettias

Poinsettias are a flower native to Mexico. They were named after America's first ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett, who brought the plants to America in 1828. Mexicans in the 18th century thought the plants were symbolic of the Star of Bethlehem, and thus the poinsettia became associated with the Christmas season. The actual flower of the poinsettia is small and yellow. But surrounding the flower are large, bright, red leaves, often mistaken for petals.



The Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree originated in Germany in the 16th century. It was common for the Germanic people to decorate fir trees, both inside and out, with roses, apples and colored paper. It is believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, was the first to light a Christmas tree with candles. While coming home one dark winter's night near Christmas, he was struck with the beauty of the starlight shining through the branches of a small fir tree outside his home. He duplicated the starlight by using candles attached to the branches of his indoor Christmas tree. This concept was brought to America by the Pennsylvania Germans in the 1820s.



X-mas

This abbreviation for Christmas is of Greek origin. The word for Christ in Greek is Xristos. During the 16th century, Europeans began using the first initial of Christ's name "X" in place of the word “Christ”in Christmas as a shorthand form of the word. Although the early Christians understood that “X” stood for Christ's name, later Christians who did not understand the Greek language mistook "X-mas" as a sign of disrespect.



The Candy Cane

According to legend, in the late 1800s a candy maker in Indiana wanted to express the meaning of Christmas through a symbol made of candy. He came up with the idea of bending one of his white candy sticks into the shape of what is now known as a candy cane. He incorporated several symbols of Christ's love and sacrifice through the candy cane. First, he used a plain white peppermint stick. The color white symbolizes the purity and sinless nature of Jesus. Next, he added three small stripes to symbolize the pain inflicted upon Jesus before His death on the cross, which represent the Holy Trinity. He added a bold stripe to represent the blood Jesus shed for mankind. When looked at with the crook on top, it looks like a shepherd's staff because Jesus is the shepherd of man. If you turn it upside down, it becomes the letter J symbolizing the first letter in Jesus' name. The candy maker made these candy canes for Christmas, so everyone would remember what Christmas is all about.



Santa Claus

The original Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, was born in Turkey in the 4th century. He was very pious from an early age, devoting his life to Christianity. He became widely known for his generosity for the poor. But the Romans held him in contempt, and he was imprisoned and tortured. But when Constantine became emperor of Rome, he allowed Nicholas to go free. Constantine became a Christian and convened the Council of Nicaea in 325, and Nicholas was a delegate to the council. He is especially noted for his love of children and for his generosity. He is the patron saint of sailors, Sicily, Greece, and Russia. He is also, of course, the patron saint of children. The Dutch kept the legend of St. Nicholas alive. In 16th century Holland, Dutch children would place their wooden shoes by the hearth in hopes that they would be filled with a treat. The Dutch spelled St. Nicholas as “Sint Nikolaas,” which became corrupted to “Sinterklaas,” and finally, in Anglican, to “Santa Claus.” In 1822, Clement C. Moore composed his famous poem, "A Visit from St. Nick," which was later published as "The Night Before Christmas." Moore is credited with creating the modern image of Santa Claus as a jolly, fat man in a red suit.