Christmas trees, presents, nativities and Santa Claus are all symbols of the Christmas many know and love.
However, most of these customs did not originate in the United States, but are a combination of centuries old spiritual, cultural and commercial celebrations that evolved into the Christmas we celebrate.
The term “Christmas” comes from the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus that occurred around 2,000 years ago. The term translates to “Christ’s Mass” or “The Mass of Christ.” “Christ” is Jesus and “Mass” is the Catholic term for church service. The tradition spans centuries with the first Christmas Mass recorded in the fourth century. The celebration of Jesus’ birth has historically been celebrated on Dec. 25th, however, the actual date of Jesus’ birth isn’t specifically mentioned in the bible, although the exact date of Jesus’ birth is most likely in late September. The celebration being on Dec. 25 is likely linked to the Roman tradition of the Winter Solstice celebration.
Dec. 25 has long been the celebration of the Winter Solstice, a pagan tradition that marks the end of the darkest days on Earth when the Earth is farthest from the sun. The true origin of Winter Solstice celebrations is hard to trace, but many American Christmas traditions come from these pagan festivals. One such festival comes from Germanic countries: The Yule festival is a winter solstice celebration where the traditions of lighting fires, making ornaments, decorating trees and giving gifts are believed to have stemmed from. As Christianity spread throughout Europe, these pagan traditions found their way into Christian traditions, and it became commonplace to have trees and give gifts during Christmas in England and other predominantly Christian countries. However, these practices did not immediately cross to the New World.
Early Puritan settlers in America viewed Christmas as a sinful, man-made holiday and banned its celebration. As more immigrants came to the U.S. from England and other European countries, Christmas traditions and celebrations became more popular, but it was not until the German immigration boom in the early 1800s when gift-giving and Christmas trees became the norm. Christmas became a federal holiday on June 28, 1870, when U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill that also made Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day federal holidays. Since then, Christmas only became more popular with gift giving, decorating Christmas trees and celebrating yuletide. The average American spends over $1,000 per year on Christmas, with the nation spending a whopping 800 billion dollars on Christmas in 2021.
Another holiday tradition involves a jolly, fat man in a big red coat known today as Santa Claus. However, the history of Santa is about as complicated as the holiday itself. Modern Santa is a combination of spiritual, cultural, and commercial legends that have formed into the myth we learned as children. The origin of Santa Claus is believed to have been from the 4th century legend of Saint Nicholas of Myra, a man who lived in modern-day Turkey. Not much is known about his life, but the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Nicholas on Dec. 6, his believed death date. The legend of St. Nicholas spread throughout Europe with Christianity. The Dutch took the legend and expanded on it — developing the feast of “Sinterklaas,” where “Sinterklaas” would arrive on a boat and give gifts to good children and coal to bad children. Sinterklaas wore long red bishop robes and had a long white beard. The feast made its way to the United States where Santa Claus became central to Christmas.
One of the first iterations of modern Santa comes from Union propaganda during the American Civil War, where cartoonist Thomas Nast depicts Santa as a small elf-like creature distributing presents to Union Soldiers in a magazine in 1863. He was also one of the first to depict Santa in his iconic sleigh and going down a chimney. After that, Santa’s popularity skyrocketed across the nation, and he quickly became known as the “jolly old elf.” The depiction of a human Santa Claus with a big red coat does not come from a church, a festival, or a political cartoon. It comes from the Coca-Cola company.
According to Coca-Cola’s website, it began using Santa in advertisements in the early 1920’s, who resembled the Nast cartoons from the Civil War. The iconic red coat was born in 1931 when Coca-Cola advertisements began depicting a “friendly, human” Santa enjoying a Coke. These ads were so popular, with Santa still appearing in Coca-Cola ads to this day. He is seen delivering toys, reading letters and resting all while enjoying a cold Coke. Even though Santa was depicted in red hundreds of years before Coke started using his image, Coca-Cola played a major role in the making of the iconic Santa many know and love.
Christmas is a highly complex and beautiful holiday with traditions that have existed for hundreds of years. The next time you wish someone a “Merry Christmas,” know you are practicing a tradition hundreds of years in the making.
