[Heeplist] Christmas in the USA

Thu Dec 26 12:32:20 EST 2013

A Cajun Christmas Tradition ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz8b3EFERhU

On Wed, Dec 25, 2013 at 11:01 PM, Mark Layel <marklayel at gmail.com> wrote:

> to lethridge, what agreat read! haveyou ever been to Christmas at biltmore?
> ashville,nc good Christmas history.
> happy heepmas eeryone,and thanks for the welcom.
> On Dec 25, 2013 9:37 AM, "lethridge at carolina.net ." <
> lethridge at carolina.net>
> wrote:
>
> >
> > Christmas history in America
> > In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way
> > Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan
> > forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence
> > and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand,
> > Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of
> the
> > popular holiday.
> > The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even
> > more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result,
> > Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the
> > celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone
> exhibiting
> > the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the
> > Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was
> > enjoyed by all and passed without incident.
> > After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor,
> > including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25,
> 1789,
> > the first Christmas under America’s new constitution. Christmas wasn’t
> > declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.
> > Washington Irving reinvents Christmas
> > It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace
> > Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous
> > carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But
> > what about the 1800s peaked American interest in the holiday?
> >
> > The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During
> > this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted
> > classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York
> > city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a
> > Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to
> > begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America. In 1819,
> > best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey
> > Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in
> an
> > English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the
> peasants
> > into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in
> > American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving’s mind,
> > Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups
> > together across lines of wealth or social status.
> > Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs,” including the
> > crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving’s book, however, was not based on
> any
> > holiday celebration he had attended—in fact, many historians say that
> > Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it
> > described the true customs of the season.
> >
> > Before the Civil War
> > The North and South were divided on the issue of Christmas, as well as on
> > the question of slavery. Many Northerners saw sin in the celebration of
> > Christmas; to these people the celebration of Thanksgiving was more
> > appropriate. But in the South, Christmas was an important part of the
> > social season. Not surprisingly, the first three states to make
> Christmas a
> > legal holiday were in the South: Alabama in 1836, Louisiana and Arkansas
> in
> > 1838.
> >
> > In the years after the Civil War, Christmas traditions spread across the
> > country. Children's books played an important role in spreading the
> customs
> > of celebrating Christmas, especially the tradition of trimmed trees and
> > gifts delivered by Santa Claus. Sunday school classes encouraged the
> > celebration of Christmas. Women's magazines were also very important in
> > suggesting ways to decorate for the holidays, as well as how to make
> these
> > decorations.
> >
> >
> >
> > It becomes an Official Holiday
> > President Ulysses S. Grant declared Christmas a legal holiday in 1870.
> The
> > bill to make Christmas a holiday was introduced into the House of
> > Representatives by Rep. Burton Chauncey Cook (Illinois). It was approved
> > and passed to the Senate on June 24, 1870. When both houses had agreed on
> > the wording (below) it was passed on to President Grant, who signed it on
> > June 28, 1870. Here is the wording of that act of Congress: An Act making
> > the first Day of January, the twenty-fifth Day of December, the fourth
> Day
> > of July, and Thanksgiving Day, Holidays, within the District of Columbia.
> > Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
> > States of America in Congress assembled, That the following days, to wit:
> > The first day of January, commonly called New Year's day, the fourth day
> of
> > July, the twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas Day,
> and
> > any day appointed or recommended by the President of the United States
> as a
> > day of public fast or thanksgiving, shall be holidays within the District
> > of Columbia, and shall, for all purposes of presenting for payment or
> > acceptance of the maturity and protest, and giving notice of the dishonor
> > of bills of exchange, bank checks and promissory notes or other
> negotiable
> > or commercial paper, be treated and considered as is the first day of the
> > week, commonly called Sunday, and all notes, drafts, checks, or other
> > commercial or negotiable paper falling due or maturing on either of said
> > holidays shall be deemed as having matured on the day previous. APPROVED,
> > June 28, 1870 by President Ulysses S. Grant.
> >
> > By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, America eagerly decorated
> > trees, caroled, baked, and shopped for the Christmas season. Since that
> > time, materialism, media, advertising, and mass marketing has made
> > Christmas what it is today. The traditions that we enjoy at Christmas
> today
> > were invented by blending together customs from many different countries
> > into what is considered by many to be our national holiday.
> >
> >
> >
> >
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