Christmas in America

In America, Christmas is perhaps at its most commercialized. Everything from chocoloate to trains to churches has hecom a multimillion dollar market all in the name of celebrating a baby's birth. Most people seem fed up with the endless store aisles full of reindeer, trees, and even blow up rotating Santas, and yet they still seem more than happy to plonk down half of their paychecks in the name of spreading Christmas cheer. "Wouldn't it be nice to have an old fashioned Christmas?" They'll say, but in actuality they have no idea that an "old fashioned Christmasd" really is.

In 1620, when the pilgrims came to America, they were seeking religious freedom from the materialistic and sinful world. Armed with their bibles and beliefs, they left most of their customs on the shores of England. Christmas was one of those practices that was left behind, in fact, for the first few years, Christmas was outlawed in Boston. The Jamestown settlement was the only group to celebrate in the new world.

Christmas again fell out of favor after the Revolutionary War. Any customs that were viewed as being English were vastly unpopular, and Christmas was very English. The holiday was extremely slow in regaining its popularity taking almost another hundred years to be declared a national holiday.

Americans didn't fully accept Christmas until late in the 19th century. Even so, they were wary of the disorderly style of celebration that many had become used to, so they took part in an effort to make it more family oriented.

The 19th centurywas marked by strife. The larger citites, namely New York, became chaotic with class wars. Christmas time was an especially violent time as the lower classes consistently became more and more embittered. An interesting note is that New York City hired its first police force because of a Christmas riot. These riots also causedthe upper classes to change Christmas celebrations.

After the publication of A Christmas Carol, the people of the United States saw the importance of philanthropy. They began to pull from the traditions of different immigrant communities to make a family celebration. For many, the idea of an "old fashioned Christmas" invokes memories of tree decorating, mistletoe, canrds, and gifts; however these traditions aren't from one olf fashioned Christmas. They are a melding of many old Christmas traditions which the United States have taken to make their own.