Guys, it's happening. Christmas is officially here!!!
Get out those stockings, chuck those late-minute baubles onto the tree (not literally, of course), bake that yummy gingerbread, and watch that showing of 'ELF' on TV, because Christmas is here Saturday!
Christmas has been celebrated on December 25th every year, across the globe, for centuries now! It's the time of year when families, friends, and acquaintances get together and exchange gifts, eat their body weight in food, dance to music, watch festive films, and most importantly, have fun together! But how did this tradition start? Where did it come from? Well, hold onto your Santa hats because we're taking a trip back to the start of Christmas, to 6-4 BC, when baby Jesus was born.
To be fair, celebrations around this time of year were happening long before the birth of Christ. In ancient Roman times, for example, there was a festival held each year in winter in honour of the God of Saturn, aka 'Saturnalia'. This festival initially took place on December 17th but later extended to December 23rd, during which there were public banquets and exchanges of gifts, amongst other things. Across Northern Europe, people celebrated the winter solstice through a holiday originally called 'Yule'. Yule took place from December 21st all the way through January, a celebratory period where people drank, feasted, and more. Today, people across Europe still adopt Yule traditions like Yule log and Yule singing!
But of course, Christmas, if you break it down, is 'Christ' and 'mas', the latter part 'mas' meaning 'church mass'. Christmas was named after the birth of Jesus, whom the virgin mother Mary gave birth to in Bethlehem between 6 and 4 BC (his exact birth certificate hasn't exactly been found as of yet). An angel named Gabriel had told a young Mary that she would give birth to the saviour who would save their people from sin. Mary and her husband Joseph travelled 65 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where all the inns were full, forcing them to stay in a stable where Mary gave birth, placing the newborn into a feeding trough for animals, otherwise known as 'manger'. That same night, shepherds in a field not too far from Bethlehem were told that Jesus was born, after which they made their way to the stable, greeting Jesus before spreading the news to everyone. Jesus was also met by three wise men from eastern countries who had followed a star in the sky to reach him. They bowed to him, presenting him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
While there is no exact date for Jesus' birth, our association of the birth of Christ with December 25th is said to derive from Sextus Julius Africanus' belief, back in 221, that the birth of Christ was that day. Some believe, however, that the choice to have Christmas on December 25th coincides with March 25th, the spring equinox and 'time of creation' when Christ would have been conceived and then born nine months later on December 25th. Others suggest that this date was chosen because Christians wanted to convert people from Paganism to Christianity, with the former of the two religions also using the winter period as a time to hold certain celebrations.
Christmas as we know it today was moulded by many traditions that took shape thanks to the Victorians. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert contributed a lot to these still modern Christmas traditions; it was Prince Albert, for example, who popularised Christmas trees, bringing them in from his home country of Germany in 1840, starting the tradition of decorating the tree with lights, etc. Children would also start to receive sweets and oranges at Christmas time, with richer children receiving gifts like toy trains. Christmas crackers, eating turkey, and Christmas pudding also originated from this period.
But of course, we cannot forget the association of Christmas with the legend that is Santa Claus, something that can be traced back to a 3rd century monk who was called—you guessed it—St. Nicholas! St. Nicholas, believed to be born in Asia Minor, in the village of Patara, was known as a pretty chill dude who was very kind and generous... legend tells us he gave all his money to the poor and looked after many defenceless children. His legend spread across the globe and was incorporated into many European cultures, including the Dutch, who gave him the name 'Sinter Klaas' which would later lead to the name we all know and love today: Jimmy! Just kidding, it's Santa Claus! Santa Claus himself was created by a New York fella called Clement Clarke Moore in 1822. Moore had written a long poem for his daughters about a man who would come down the chimney and leave presents for them if they were good that year. This poem is now referred to often as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'. Moore's character came to life through a New Yorker cartoonist named Thomas Nast, who drew Santa Claus with red cheeks and a long beard, Santa features that we all recognise today.
And there you have it, folks—the history of Christmas! We at Langton Greenhouse and Garden Centre wish you all a fantastic Christmas.