How Long Has Christmas Been Celebrated In America
These customs have influences how christmas day is celebrated today in the united states.
How long has christmas been celebrated in america. By most accounts the birth was first thought in around 200 a d. Yet the familiar mix of carols cards presents trees multiplicities of santas and holiday neuroses that have come to define december 25th in the united states is little more than a hundred years old. In the united states of america christmas was established as a federal holiday on june 26 1870. To have taken place on jan.
For millennia pagans christians and even jews have been swept away in the season s festivities and very few people ever pause to consider the celebration s intrinsic meaning history or origins. In fact for the first three centuries. In this secular christmas celebration a mythical figure named santa claus plays the pivotal role. It took nearly 100 years before the traditions we generally celebrate today were in place but by the mid 1920s the christmas trees holiday cards festival of lights gift giving feasting and santa claus were all a part of our culture to the extent that many believed this was the way christmas had always been celebrated.
Christmas wasn t always on dec. It is also unclear when december 25 became associated with the birth of jesus although it may have been around two hundred years after his birth. It is a celebration of the birth of jesus christ the man christians believe is the son of god and the savior of the world. Since the early 20th century christmas has also been a secular family holiday observed by christians and non christians alike devoid of christian elements and marked by an increasingly elaborate exchange of gifts.
Most christians today probably can t imagine christmas on any other day than december 25 but it wasn t always that way. The bible does not give a precise date for the birth of jesus. The christmas challenge christmas has always been a holiday celebrated carelessly. Christmas is celebrated on.
The christmas that americans celebrate today seems like a timeless weaving of custom and feeling beyond the reach of history.