How old is xmas

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. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.

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. The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early s. As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated.

In the next years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards and gift-giving. Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation. The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back to a monk named St.

Nicholas who was born in Turkey around A. Nicholas gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick, becoming known as the protector of children and sailors. The iconic version of Santa Claus as a jolly man in red with a white beard and a sack of toys was immortalized in , when political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore's poem to create the image of Old Saint Nick we know today.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The history of Christmas trees goes back to the symbolic use of evergreens in ancient Egypt and Rome and continues with the German tradition of candlelit Christmas trees first brought to America in the s. Discover the history of the Christmas tree, from the earliest winter Christmas traditions around the world are diverse, but share key traits that often involve themes of light, evergreens and hope.

Probably the most celebrated holiday in the world, our modern Christmas is a product of hundreds of years of both secular and religious traditions Long before there was a Grinch who stole Christmas, there was Krampus, the devilish half-man, half-goat that helps out jolly St.

Nicholas by stuffing naughty Austrian children in sacks and dragging them to hell. Yes, the true history of Christmas is as colorful Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red who brings toys to good girls and boys on Christmas Eve, but his story stretches all the way back to the 3rd Some date back to 16th-century Germany or even ancient The War on Christmas begins around the same time each year, when stores start peddling plastic Christmas trees and giant Santa Claus inflatables.

Depending on which media talking head is speaking, the war is either a subversive effort by left-wing liberals to erase all traces of The pious Puritans who sailed from England in to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony brought with them something that might seem surprising for a group of devout Christians—contempt for Christmas.

In a reversal of modern practices, the Puritans kept their shops and schools But during the Third Reich, you were more likely to hear a hymn called Exalted Night instead of one about a silent night. The popular hymn, Despite the Romans having marked the date, Christmas was a relatively minor affair, and was not celebrated with a specific liturgy until the ninth Century. Meanwhile celebrations tended to be riotous, with binge-drinking, gluttony and other hedonism involved, and celebrants often going from door to door threatening vandalism if they were not given food and drink.

Charles Dickens is given some credit for giving us Christmas in its more modern form thanks to his classic novel A Christmas Carol. Poppy Logo. Christians believe that Jesus is the light of the world, so the early Christians thought that this was the right time to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

They also took over some of the customs from the Winter Solstice and gave them Christian meanings, like Holly , Mistletoe and even Christmas Carols! St Augustine of Canterbury was the person who probably started the widespread celebration of Christmas in large parts of England by introducing Christianity to the regions run by the Anglo-Saxons in the 6th century other Celtic parts of Britain were already Christian but there aren't many documents about if or how they celebrated the birth of Jesus.

If you'd like to know more about the history behind the dating of Christmas, then read this very good article on Bible History Daily goes to another site. There's a strong and practical reason why Jesus might not have been born in the winter, but in the spring or the autumn! It can get very cold in the winter and it's unlikely that the shepherds would have been keeping sheep out on the hills as those hills can get quite a lot of snow sometimes!

During the spring in March or April there's a Jewish festival called 'Passover'. This festival remembers when the Jews had escaped from slavery in Egypt about years before Jesus was born. Lots of lambs would have been needed during the Passover Festival, to be sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews from all over the Roman Empire traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, so it would have been a good time for the Romans to take a census.

Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the census Bethlehem is about six miles from Jerusalem. It's the festival that's mentioned the most times in the Bible! It is when Jewish people remember that they depended on God for all they had after they had escaped from Egypt and spent 40 years in the desert. It also celebrates the end of the harvest. During the festival, Jews live outside in temporary shelters the word 'tabernacle' come from a latin word meaning 'booth' or 'hut'.

Many people who have studied the Bible, think that Sukkot would be a likely time for the birth of Jesus as it might fit with the description of there being 'no room in the inn'. It wouldn't have been practical for Joseph and Mary to carry their own shelter as Mary was pregnant. The possibilities for the Star of Bethlehem seems to point either spring or autumn. The possible dating of Jesus birth can also be taken from when Zechariah who was married to Mary's cousin Elizabeth was on duty in the Jewish Temple as a Priest and had an amazing experience.

There is an excellent article on the dating of Christmas based on the dates of Zechariah's experience, on the blog of theologian, Ian Paul. With those dates, you get Jesus being born in September - which also fits with Sukkot! In the Bible, John says "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us So John seems to have clearly been drawing on this analogy saying that Jesus 'pitched his tent' as a human and also quite possibly he is making the link to the time of Jesus's birth.

John certainly knew both Jesus and Mary and so would have known when Jesus was born! The year that Jesus was born isn't known. The calendar system we have now was created in the 6th Century by a monk called Dionysius Exiguus. He was actually trying to create a better system for working out when Easter should be celebrated, based on a new calendar with the birth of Jesus being in the year 1.