Each year, when I start our annual tradition of trimming the Christmas tree with no Christmas music but with my lecture about the holiday’s origins, I get groans.
According to a survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics and the National Retail Federation, the average American spent nearly $1,000 last year on Christmas gifts and decorations for their families. This is a steady increase since 2008. Parents across the country, rich or poor, go to great lengths for their children to experience the Christmas spirit of gift-giving.
Although it is true that Christmas has been about gift-giving for centuries, a heavy load of presents can actually detract from the true spirit of Christmas. We should instead celebrate those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder such as low-wage workers, immigrants, and refugees. Children should also buy presents for their parents.
Let me tell you why this essay might be written by the Grinch. Although Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Christ likely was not born in December. Stephen Nissenbaum’s book “The Battle for Christmas” explains that Christmas traditions are a mix of celebrations from many cultures and religions.
Santa’s Workshop for Families in Need
As Christianity gained popularity in third-century Europe, church leaders wanted to celebrate nativity. However, the Bible does not mention December 25 as Jesus’ birth date. Because December was already a European party month, they chose it. It was the season of feasts when cattle were killed to save them from starvation during winters. This was the time when Pagans celebrated winter solstice (the coming of longer days). The Norse lit large logs to commemorate Yule, the birth and death of the sun god. Romans celebrated Saturnalia by feasting and drinking to honor the Roman god of harvest, the Roman god of harvest. Workers were allowed to enjoy the fun while businesses temporarily closed down. Employers provided food and beverages, and workers were given time off.
Grandparents may roll their eyes but this is what makes the best gift for our children
What happened then? In the 19th century, Christmas was transformed from a celebration of social inversion to one that celebrated familial inversion. Because the watering and feeding of workers became out of control. Puritans in 17th-century England saw Christmas drinking so high that they banned it. Christmas celebrations were illegal across the pond in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681.
Things got worse in post-industrial America. Bosses did not live with workers or know them. The upper crust could not manage crowd control because drunken laborers became marauding bands of strangers.
So Christmas, as we know it today, was rebranded to be a family holiday. The unlikely stars of that day would be the seen-but-not-heard children who were given gifts.
Children who are not often heard from would receive gifts and be named the unlikely stars of that day
This new narrative was propagated in the media and promoted by Charles Dickens and Washington Irving. The German tradition of decorating evergreens was brought to England in 1840. It was then exported to the United States through a well-publicized 1848 photo of the royal family preparing to decorate their Christmas tree. In 1870, Christmas became a federal holiday. Soon after, the full commercialization of Christmas began. In a Coca-Cola advertisement from 1931, the Santa Claus character that we all know — a cheerful fellow dressed in a red suit and not the European saint who was unrelated to Christmas or Jesus — was popularized.
I regret telling my children the Santa myth
Two options exist for rebranding Christmas. One, keep it as a day for familial inversion. This means that the children would buy gifts for their extended families, cook for them, and then eat with us. You can either return Christmas to its original spirit of social inversion and make it all about helping those who are most affected by capitalism’s brutality and income inequality.
How does this look? This is something I am still trying to figure out. Perhaps it means providing decent housing for full-time minimum-wage workers who cannot afford to house. It could also mean reparations. It could mean buying less but more expensive items from local shops or companies that pay a living wage. It might mean refusing to shop in the clearance section at fast fashion shops or online retailers’ deals of the day. It could also be listening to someone you have written off.
