Christmas Trees: Decorating trees for Christmas is a custom that dates all the way back to the mid 16th Century! A popular passion play performed annually on December 24 in medieval Germany retold the story of Adam and Eve. This production called for a tree decorated with apples. Locals found the tree so pretty that they began putting trees in their own homes every December.
Lights: Martin Luther is actually credited with the idea of Christmas tree lights. According to legend the Sainted Luther was taking a walk one night and looking at all the stars in the sky. The stars in the sky made him think of the Christmas Star and the night the three wise men saw that star and it led them to the Holy Child. He brought a small tree home from the forest and decorated it with candles, to symbolize the stars in the night sky, and told his family the story of the Christmas Star. Candles in the window at Christmas is also a medieval custom, not credited to Luther by the way. In the Middle Ages candles came to symbolize Christ as the "light of the world". Candles were left in the window at Christmas to guide the Christ Child to the home so that he could leave his blessings for those inside. The Christ Child also left gifts in some medieval towns, possibly leading to custom of gift giving
Gift Giving: The tradition of gift giving is traditionally attributed to the three wise men who offered the baby Jesus gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh. However, gift giving was not really very popular until after the American Civil War. Queen Victoria, who expected gifts on all occasions, may have had something to do with the growth of the gift-giving tradition.
Stockings Hung By the Chimney With Care: According to Christian legend the tradition of hanging stockings by the chimney dates all the way back to 300 C.E. According to the legend a poor miller had three daughters, none of whom could afford to get married because their father was so poor he could not offer a dowry for the girls. The sisters were quite upset about this. St. Nicholas somehow heard of their situation and was touched by their plight. He traveled to their house in the middle of the night and tossed three bags filled with gold coins through their open window. The coins landed in the stockings the girls had hung by the fire to dry.
St. Nick to some, Santa Claus to others!: For those of you who are unaware, there actually was a real life St. Nicholas. He was born in 280 C.E. in a small town called Patara located in Asia Minor. Several miracles were attributed to St. Nicholas. According to legend his prayers often healed the sick, helped an old man conceive a child, brought a ship safely to harbor through a severe storm, and saved three separate individuals from execution. It is also said that St. Nicholas often gave gifts to needy children.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: Robert May, a copywriter at Montgomery Ward Department Store in Chicago, was assigned the task of writing a Christmas story that could be given to children visiting Santa Clause in the store. It was a genius advertising ploy, but Ward struggled to complete his task. He was told the tale must be about an animal and he decided that there was no better animal for a Christmas story than a reindeer, and thus Rudolph was born. Over 2 million copies were given away at the Montgomery Ward department stores in 1939. 10 years later Johnny Marks, May's brother-in-law wrote the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was later recorded by Gene Autry.
I hope you have enjoyed learning where popular American Christmas traditions come from. Pass the information on to someone else and keep these valued traditions alive.
