December 22, 2023 • 8 mins
We all have our Christmas traditions, but how did Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and George Washington’s recipe for heavily spiked eggnog rule the season?
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Christmas is based on the story of the birth of Jesus,
which historians say was anywhere from two to four BC.
But then, where did Santa Claus, Christmas trees and Christmas
cards and the extra festive eggnog come from? I'm Patty
Steele the evolution of our very festive Christmas next on
the backstory. The backstory is back when you plunge deep
(00:27):
into the Christmas season, you probably have a bunch of
traditions you trot out just because it's what you've done
every year and your family before you. Right, But where
did all those traditions come from? Christmas is based on
the two thousand year old story of Jesus's birth. But
Santa Claus, Christmas trees, Christmas cards and stockings, not to
mention Black Friday? What's all that about? And why does
(00:50):
it happen on December twenty fifth when historians agree Jesus
was most likely born sometime between April and September in
four BC. Well, the celebration of Christmas on December twenty
fifth actually began in the fourth century, on the tail
end of Roman and other European pagan festivals, marking the
end of the harvest as well as the winter solstice.
(01:13):
The Roman emperor Constantine thought it would weaken those pagan holidays,
and he nailed it. It eventually did. It wasn't until
ten thirty eight, though, that the holiday was given the
name Christ's Mass or Christmas. In Europe. Right up through
medieval times and into the Renaissance, it was a twelve
day celebration filled with too much drinking, food, gift giving,
(01:35):
and partying. There were wild dances in plays, which is
where Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night actually originated. And there were
crazy Christmas games, including one called hot Cockles, where blindfolded
victims had to guess who slapped them from behind. If
the guests was right, the slapper became the next victim.
(01:55):
It was so not a holiday for kids. Queen Elizabeth
the First loved wild dancing so much at Christmas she
held dance parties in her private dancing chamber at one
of her castles. That would be quite an invite. All
this was Christmas in Europe for hundreds of years, right
up through the seventeen hundreds. But it's a whole different
(02:16):
scene once we get to Colonial America. In the early days,
there were no holidays here, no Christmas or Easter or
anything else. It was a stuffy conservative place. In fact,
in New England, where the Puritans called the Shots, celebrating
Christmas was illegal for decades. In Massachusetts, they had a
(02:39):
law called the Penalty for Keeping Christmas. You would be
fined if you celebrated, because they said festivals dishonored God
and were offensive. They felt they were only for commoners.
Excuse me now. As that attitude began to ease, Christmas
still wasn't a family or kid centric celebration. It was
(02:59):
actually a big time for weddings. Both George Washington and
Thomas Jefferson got married during the Christmas season. The eighteen hundreds,
though changes everything. Christmas is no longer illegal, but it
still wasn't about family or kids are giving presents. There
were no Christmas trees, no cards, no Santa Claus, and
no kissing under the missiletoe. But there were some really
(03:22):
raucous sort of street festivals, almost similar to Marti Gras.
Lots of drinking, brawling, vandalism, even public sex. In fact,
a Christmas celebration, as they called it in New York
City in eighteen twenty eight, got so violent it led
to the formation of the city's first professional police force.
(03:42):
Now Around the same time, England's Queen Victoria, along with
evangelical Protestants in New York, decided Christmas should be a shorter,
more refined, more family centric celebration. At the same time,
Christmas trees, which were first popular in Germany, became a
thing decorated with ens and candles with gifts piled underneath.
(04:03):
Before that, greenery in the form of wreaths and garlands
was popular since in the midst of winter it symbolized
eternal life, and that went back to Greek and Roman times.
Also helping to invent our modern day Christmas was Washington Irving,
who wrote Rip van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Irving also came up with a story that Columbus discovered
(04:24):
the earth was round, and he was also the inventor
of Santa Claus, which he based on the Dutch Saint Nicholas.
But in eighteen twenty two, the author Clement Clark Moore
gave us the first definitive description of Santa Claus that
we know today. His poem, written for his children, begins
with the words twas the night before Christmas, when all
(04:46):
through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even
a mouse. He turned Saint Nicholas into jolly Santa Claus,
a plump, sweet guy with a sleigh full of toys
and eight flying reindeer. He also, December twenty fourth, Christmas Eve,
as the knights said, had brought toys to children by
dropping down their chimneys and tucking presents into stockings hung
(05:09):
on the mantle. He borrowed all of those traditions from
various European legends. How funny enough, someone published the poem
without telling him, and Moore claimed he was embarrassed by it.
He didn't publish it under his own name until eighteen
forty four, over twenty years later. Finally, in eighteen sixty three,
the political cartoonist Thomas Nast gave us the visual image
(05:32):
of the Santa Claus we know today, although it wasn't
till the eighteen eighties somebody dressed him in a red suit. Nast, though,
gave us his chubby cheeks and fluffy white beard with
a twinkling smile. He drew Santa Claus arriving at a
camp of Union soldiers in his sleigh, bringing a little
joy to the guys during the heat of the Civil War.
(05:52):
As Christmas began to commercialize, a store in Massachusetts introduced
the first department store, Santa, in the eighteen eighties, and
soon every big store had one. By the nineteen thirties,
the Coca Cola Company refined Santa's look into just what
we see today. As for other traditions, Christmas cards arrived
in eighteen forty three but didn't fully catch on until
(06:13):
the beginning of the twentieth century, and the Christmas carols
we know and love today have only been around since
the early to mid eighteen hundreds. Finally, one of our
favorite traditions, eggnog, has a bit longer history, first appearing
in medieval times made with get this hot curdled milk
and wine. Yuck, But it got really popular in America
(06:35):
when colonists made it with eggs, cream and rum. That's
more like it. Even George Washington evolved the tradition with
his own special recipe. In George's words, mix one court cream,
one court milk, a dozen tablespoons of sugar, one pint brandy,
one pint rye whiskey, one pint Jamaica rum, and one
(06:57):
pint sherry along with twelve eggs mix well, leaving a
cool place tasting frequently Wow. George was a partier that'd
knock you out right. So, despite two thousand years of
religious belief, the less religious Christmas as we know it
is mostly less than two hundred years old. We realize
that traditions aren't carved in stone. We invent them. They're
(07:20):
an outgrowth of what we need and what we feel,
and that joy is what we pass on to the future.
SIS we frame SIS. I'm Patty The Backstories a production
(08:02):
of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group and Steel
Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner.
We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free
to reach out to me with comments and even story
suggestions on Instagram at real Patty Steele and on Facebook
at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with
(08:24):
Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't know you
needed to know.
Christmas is based on the story of the birth of Jesus,
which historians say was anywhere from two to four BC.
But then, where did Santa Claus, Christmas trees and Christmas
cards and the extra festive eggnog come from? I'm Patty
Steele the evolution of our very festive Christmas next on
the backstory. The backstory is back when you plunge deep
(00:27):
into the Christmas season, you probably have a bunch of
traditions you trot out just because it's what you've done
every year and your family before you. Right, But where
did all those traditions come from? Christmas is based on
the two thousand year old story of Jesus's birth. But
Santa Claus, Christmas trees, Christmas cards and stockings, not to
mention Black Friday? What's all that about? And why does
(00:50):
it happen on December twenty fifth when historians agree Jesus
was most likely born sometime between April and September in
four BC. Well, the celebration of Christmas on December twenty
fifth actually began in the fourth century, on the tail
end of Roman and other European pagan festivals, marking the
end of the harvest as well as the winter solstice.
(01:13):
The Roman emperor Constantine thought it would weaken those pagan holidays,
and he nailed it. It eventually did. It wasn't until
ten thirty eight, though, that the holiday was given the
name Christ's Mass or Christmas. In Europe. Right up through
medieval times and into the Renaissance, it was a twelve
day celebration filled with too much drinking, food, gift giving,
(01:35):
and partying. There were wild dances in plays, which is
where Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night actually originated. And there were
crazy Christmas games, including one called hot Cockles, where blindfolded
victims had to guess who slapped them from behind. If
the guests was right, the slapper became the next victim.
(01:55):
It was so not a holiday for kids. Queen Elizabeth
the First loved wild dancing so much at Christmas she
held dance parties in her private dancing chamber at one
of her castles. That would be quite an invite. All
this was Christmas in Europe for hundreds of years, right
up through the seventeen hundreds. But it's a whole different
(02:16):
scene once we get to Colonial America. In the early days,
there were no holidays here, no Christmas or Easter or
anything else. It was a stuffy conservative place. In fact,
in New England, where the Puritans called the Shots, celebrating
Christmas was illegal for decades. In Massachusetts, they had a
(02:39):
law called the Penalty for Keeping Christmas. You would be
fined if you celebrated, because they said festivals dishonored God
and were offensive. They felt they were only for commoners.
Excuse me now. As that attitude began to ease, Christmas
still wasn't a family or kid centric celebration. It was
(02:59):
actually a big time for weddings. Both George Washington and
Thomas Jefferson got married during the Christmas season. The eighteen hundreds,
though changes everything. Christmas is no longer illegal, but it
still wasn't about family or kids are giving presents. There
were no Christmas trees, no cards, no Santa Claus, and
no kissing under the missiletoe. But there were some really
(03:22):
raucous sort of street festivals, almost similar to Marti Gras.
Lots of drinking, brawling, vandalism, even public sex. In fact,
a Christmas celebration, as they called it in New York
City in eighteen twenty eight, got so violent it led
to the formation of the city's first professional police force.
(03:42):
Now Around the same time, England's Queen Victoria, along with
evangelical Protestants in New York, decided Christmas should be a shorter,
more refined, more family centric celebration. At the same time,
Christmas trees, which were first popular in Germany, became a
thing decorated with ens and candles with gifts piled underneath.
(04:03):
Before that, greenery in the form of wreaths and garlands
was popular since in the midst of winter it symbolized
eternal life, and that went back to Greek and Roman times.
Also helping to invent our modern day Christmas was Washington Irving,
who wrote Rip van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Irving also came up with a story that Columbus discovered
(04:24):
the earth was round, and he was also the inventor
of Santa Claus, which he based on the Dutch Saint Nicholas.
But in eighteen twenty two, the author Clement Clark Moore
gave us the first definitive description of Santa Claus that
we know today. His poem, written for his children, begins
with the words twas the night before Christmas, when all
(04:46):
through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even
a mouse. He turned Saint Nicholas into jolly Santa Claus,
a plump, sweet guy with a sleigh full of toys
and eight flying reindeer. He also, December twenty fourth, Christmas Eve,
as the knights said, had brought toys to children by
dropping down their chimneys and tucking presents into stockings hung
(05:09):
on the mantle. He borrowed all of those traditions from
various European legends. How funny enough, someone published the poem
without telling him, and Moore claimed he was embarrassed by it.
He didn't publish it under his own name until eighteen
forty four, over twenty years later. Finally, in eighteen sixty three,
the political cartoonist Thomas Nast gave us the visual image
(05:32):
of the Santa Claus we know today, although it wasn't
till the eighteen eighties somebody dressed him in a red suit. Nast, though,
gave us his chubby cheeks and fluffy white beard with
a twinkling smile. He drew Santa Claus arriving at a
camp of Union soldiers in his sleigh, bringing a little
joy to the guys during the heat of the Civil War.
(05:52):
As Christmas began to commercialize, a store in Massachusetts introduced
the first department store, Santa, in the eighteen eighties, and
soon every big store had one. By the nineteen thirties,
the Coca Cola Company refined Santa's look into just what
we see today. As for other traditions, Christmas cards arrived
in eighteen forty three but didn't fully catch on until
(06:13):
the beginning of the twentieth century, and the Christmas carols
we know and love today have only been around since
the early to mid eighteen hundreds. Finally, one of our
favorite traditions, eggnog, has a bit longer history, first appearing
in medieval times made with get this hot curdled milk
and wine. Yuck, But it got really popular in America
(06:35):
when colonists made it with eggs, cream and rum. That's
more like it. Even George Washington evolved the tradition with
his own special recipe. In George's words, mix one court cream,
one court milk, a dozen tablespoons of sugar, one pint brandy,
one pint rye whiskey, one pint Jamaica rum, and one
(06:57):
pint sherry along with twelve eggs mix well, leaving a
cool place tasting frequently Wow. George was a partier that'd
knock you out right. So, despite two thousand years of
religious belief, the less religious Christmas as we know it
is mostly less than two hundred years old. We realize
that traditions aren't carved in stone. We invent them. They're
(07:20):
an outgrowth of what we need and what we feel,
and that joy is what we pass on to the future.
SIS we frame SIS. I'm Patty The Backstories a production
(08:02):
of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group and Steel
Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner.
We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free
to reach out to me with comments and even story
suggestions on Instagram at real Patty Steele and on Facebook
at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with
(08:24):
Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't know you
needed to know.
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