Authors: David McLaughlan
Tags: #Christian Books & Bibles, #Christian Living, #Holidays, #Christmas, #Religion & Spirituality
In 1927 President Coolidge addressed the crowd before switching on the lights, a tradition that most presidents have followed since then.
The first year that decorations other than lights were put on the tree was 1929. In 1933 speakers hidden in the branches of the tree played Christmas music, and the notion of the “Singing Tree” was born.
In 1946 the lighting ceremony was televised for the first time.
Why?
The first electrical Christmas tree lights had been lit in 1882, but even forty years later they were still seen as a novelty too expensive for the average household. Electricity companies were forever looking for ways to encourage people to use more electricity and electrical appliances. There was even a Society for Electrical Development.
Frederick Morris Feiker was an electrical engineer and writer for the industry, as well as a press officer for the Department of Commerce. He thought that if the White House lit a Christmas tree with electricity (lights, cables, and power supplied free by the electricity companies) that the idea might catch on. It did!
Who?
Because the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” first appeared in print with no name attached, the authorship has since been disputed. The generally accredited author is Clement Clarke Moore, a professor at the General Theological Seminary in Manhattan and author of several scholarly works.
Fellow New Yorker and poet Henry Livingston, Jr., was the other candidate. The poem appeared in print for the first time five years before his death. Livingston’s children would later claim they remembered their father reading them the poem as early as 1807, sixteen years before its first anonymous publication. They believed it had been written by him.
What?
In 1999 the authors of
A History of New York City to 1898
referred to “A Visit from St. Nicholas” as “arguably the best known verses ever written by an American.” Not so well recognized under its original title these days, most people know it by these words from its first line, “ ‘Twas the Night before Christmas.”
The poem made popular the idea of Santa Claus (although he is referred to here only as Saint Nicholas) as a visitor bearing toys and other gifts on Christmas Eve. It portrayed him as a jolly old elf, and for perhaps the first time in print, gave us the names of Santa’s reindeer.
Where?
“A Visit from St. Nicholas” first appeared in print in the
Troy
(New York)
Sentinel.
Though the newspaper had a poetry section, the proprietors seemed to think this anonymous submission was worthy of a separate location. They described it as having “a spirit of cordial goodness in it, a playfulness of fancy, and a benevolent alacrity to enter into the feelings and promote the simple pleasures of children, which are altogether charming,” and recommended it to their “little patrons, both lads and lasses.”
The staff of the
Troy Sentinel
made the connection between St. Nicholas and the “delightful personification of parental kindness” they called “Santa Claus.”
When?
Believe it or not, between churches, there was some dispute at the time as to when was the best time to hold the major family celebration, on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. In placing his poem on the night before Christmas, Moore managed to sidestep the disputed twenty-fifth and, at the same time, reinforce its preeminence.
“A Visit from St. Nicholas” was published anonymously two days before Christmas Day, 1823. It took until 1844 for Moore to include it in a collection of his works.
The poem has never gone out of fashion, having been reprinted, referred to, and spoofed in publications, radio shows, TV, and films ever since.
Why?
Despite there being some doubt over who really wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” both main contenders for the honor would more than likely have written it for the same reason. As the poem went unclaimed for quite some time, it is unlikely that it was written for acclaim or for money.
Clement Clarke Moore was a serious Bible scholar; Henry Livingston, Jr., was a soldier, farmer, and poet—but both were fathers, and the true author undoubtedly intended the verses as fun and entertainment for his children.
It has been read in the same spirit by parents to children ever since those days!
Who?
The twelve days of Christmas are about Jesus. They begin on the supposed day of His birth and end on the day He is traditionally thought to have been presented to the world.
In times gone by there would have been a church service on each of the Twelve Days, but because families would come together for these services and very little work was being done anyway, it gradually became more about celebration than adoration.
The practice of giving a gift on each of those days would, of necessity, have been more prevalent among the wealthier classes of society (although humble gifts given with love would have been very suitable).
What?
The original twelve days of Christmas were (and are) the period of celebration between Christmas Day and Epiphany. In some cultures gifts are exchanged on December 25, in others on the last day of the period. In times gone by it was also common to give a gift on each of the twelve days—just as in the song!
In our more secular world, these days, the twelfth day after Christmas is simply the time we usually take down the decorations.
In earlier times Twelfth Night, at the end of the twelve days, was the major celebration. Today, Christmas Day, the first of the twelve, dominates the period.
Where?
The Twelve Days are a period of worship almost as old as the church itself. It spread east and west with the different traditions of the church. It became firmly established as a time of revelry in medieval England. So much so that William Shakespeare preserved it in his play
Twelfth Night.
From England the celebration of twelve days spread across the British Empire.
Although the custom is declining in popularity, many churches in the United States still celebrate the Twelve Days either by giving gifts on each of the days or lighting a candle for each day.
Wherever Christmas is celebrated, there will, in one form or another, be the Twelve Days of Christmas.
When?
The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on December 25 and run up until Twelfth Night, on the evening of January 5.
Thanks to a medieval custom, Twelfth Day actually follows Twelfth Night and is held on January 6. Twelfth Night (where it is still celebrated) is usually an evening of festivities marking the end of a time of adoration and gift-giving.
In medieval times Twelfth Night was actually the end of a winter festival that began at Halloween!
The carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was first published in 1780, although it is undoubtedly much older. It describes the tradition of giving a gift on each of the days.
Why?
The Christian church sees the birth of Jesus Christ and His presentation to the world, known as Epiphany, as the first two major events in His life. The twelve days between the two feast days became an extended period of thanksgiving.
The western churches regard Epiphany as the day He was adored by the Magi, thus presenting himself to the Gentiles. Jesus would have been under two years old, no longer a newborn baby.
The eastern churches see it as the day He was baptized and proclaimed the Son of God for all to see and hear. In this interpretation the twelve days cover thirty years of his life.
Who?
Wassailing is an old northern European tradition that was happily adopted by the English. Farmers and other orchard owners saw a pre-Christian ceremony of incantations and songs sung to their trees either as something that would ensure a good crop the next year or as a good excuse to drink to excess in the middle of winter.
A more popular variant of the tradition has farm laborers and villagers singing outside the local landowner’s home in the hope that their wishes of good luck would bring forth good food and hot spiced drinks. Several of the older wassailing songs specifically point out that the singers are not beggars but kindly neighbors wishing the hearers good health.
What?
Wassailing and caroling are not so very different these days. Perhaps the main difference is that wassailing tended to involve more drink being imbibed, usually in the form of mulled wine and other seasonal brews.
Wassailing basically involves singing songs of good cheer in exchange for food and drink, although in the south of England there is an ancient tradition of singing to the apple trees at Christmas to ensure a good crop the following year.
Popular wassailing songs include “Here We Come A-Wassailing,” “The Wassailing Song,” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” and other carols that wish the listener good health or a good time.
Where?
While the tradition originated in mainland Europe, the English took to it with a real enthusiasm. Most of that country’s apple orchards lie to the south, and many of the southern counties have wassailing songs specific to their area. Those apples would be used to make cider, and some of the previous year’s cider would be spilled on the trees, as if to show them what was expected the next year.
A Romanian tradition that traveled to Britain involves the farmer threatening each tree with his ax. Then his wife comes along and kindly tells the tree that it will be okay—if it gives a good crop!
When?
The origins of wassailing are lost in the mists of time. When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, it was already a firmly established tradition.
The “official” wassailing night is Twelfth Night, but as Christmas rose to prominence, many of the Twelfth Night traditions moved backward. Now wassailers and carolers might go out at the same time (usually the week before Christmas). Indeed, they may be the same people singing the same songs!
Die-hard traditionalists might be tempted to go wassailing on January 17, although they might get some strange looks. This was the date of Twelfth Night before Western Europe adopted the Gregorian calendar.
Why?
The word
wassail
may be of Norse origin, or it might be of Anglo-Saxon derivation, but it became firmly entrenched in Old English as a way of wishing others “good health!” When not being shouted or sung to neighbors, the greeting was often offered to fruit trees to encourage them to greater fertility.
Whereas in olden times villagers might have gone wassailing in hope of food, drink, or even money, modern wassailers (while not averse to the food or the drink) might use the opportunity to raise money for good causes.
While specifically not a Christian tradition, wassailing’s practice of enthusiastically wishing others good health is surely worthy of encouragement.
Who?
The song “White Christmas” was written by Irving Berlin, who also wrote “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Easter Parade,” “God Bless America,” and many other classics. Berlin is generally considered one of the greatest songwriters who ever lived. Composer Jerome Kern once said of him, “He has no place in American music—he is American music!”
Despite being sung by countless artists over the decades, “White Christmas” will forever be associated with that archetypal crooner Bing Crosby. Crosby famously downplayed his part in the song’s success by saying it was so good a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it and had a hit.
What?
“White Christmas” is an unashamed trip down Memory Lane to Christmases “just like the ones I used to know.” After he wrote it, Irving Berlin is said to have claimed he had just finished the best song he had ever written, then immediately amended it to the best song
anyone
had ever written.
The song went on to sell more copies than anyone can now count and is regularly reported as the biggest-selling song ever. So Berlin may well have been right in his assessment!
“White Christmas” was broadcast on armed forces radio during the Vietnam War as a prearranged signal that the evacuation of Saigon was beginning.
Where?
Popular legend has Irving Berlin writing “White Christmas” by a poolside in Phoenix, Arizona, not usually an area noted for much in the way of snowfall.
The song’s first public outing was on a radio show, where it was sung by Bing Crosby. He sang it again in the Mark Sandrich movie
Holiday Inn
and again in the Michael Curtiz movie
White Christmas.