Christmas in America: A HistoryOxford University Press, 5 dec 1996 - 219 pagina's The manger or Macy's? Americans might well wonder which is the real shrine of Christmas, as they take part each year in a mix of churchgoing, shopping, and family togetherness. But the history of Christmas cannot be summed up so easily as the commercialization of a sacred day. As Penne Restad reveals in this marvelous new book, it has always been an ambiguous meld of sacred thoughts and worldly actions-- as well as a fascinating reflection of our changing society. In Christmas in America, Restad brilliantly captures the rise and transformation of our most universal national holiday. In colonial times, it was celebrated either as an utterly solemn or a wildly social event--if it was celebrated at all. Virginians hunted, danced, and feasted. City dwellers flooded the streets in raucous demonstrations. Puritan New Englanders denounced the whole affair. Restad shows that as times changed, Christmas changed--and grew in popularity. In the early 1800s, New York served as an epicenter of the newly emerging holiday, drawing on its roots as a Dutch colony (St. Nicholas was particularly popular in the Netherlands, even after the Reformation), and aided by such men as Washington Irving. In 1822, another New Yorker named Clement Clarke Moore penned a poem now known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," virtually inventing the modern Santa Claus. Well-to-do townspeople displayed a German novelty, the decorated fir tree, in their parlors; an enterprising printer discovered the money to be made from Christmas cards; and a hodgepodge of year-end celebrations began to coalesce around December 25 and the figure of Santa. The homecoming significance of the holiday increased with the Civil War, and by the end of the nineteenth century a full- fledged national holiday had materialized, forged out of borrowed and invented custom alike, and driven by a passion for gift-giving. In the twentieth century, Christmas seeped into every niche of our conscious and unconscious lives to become a festival of epic proportions. Indeed, Restad carries the story through to our own time, unwrapping the messages hidden inside countless movies, books, and television shows, revealing the inescapable presence--and ambiguous meaning--of Christmas in contemporary culture. Filled with colorful detail and shining insight, Christmas in America reveals not only much about the emergence of the holiday, but also what our celebrations tell us about ourselves. From drunken revelry along colonial curbstones to family rituals around the tree, from Thomas Nast drawing the semiofficial portrait of St. Nick to the making of the film Home Alone, Restad's sparkling account offers much to amuse and ponder. |
Inhoudsopgave
3 | |
Christmas and the New American Calendar | 17 |
3 The Beginnings of a Modern Christmas | 29 |
Family Religion and Santa Claus | 42 |
Christmas Trees and Christmas Giving | 57 |
6 Christmas in the Slave South | 75 |
7 A Holiday for the Nation | 91 |
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advertising American Christmas became began Boston calendar candles Carol Charles Francis Adams Christ Christian Christmas cards Christmas Day Christmas Eve Christmas gifts Christmas in Pennsylvania Christmas tree Christmas Tree Book Church colonial culture custom December 25 December 25th decorated Diary Dickens early editor emphasis in original England English evergreens feast festival friends George Templeton Strong German gift-giving giving Godey's greeting Harper's Monthly History holiday Irving Jesus John Pintard Jones Journal Kringle Kringle's Letters Macy's Merry Christmas Modern Christmas Nast Nast's nation Nicholas of Myra Night nineteenth century noted observed ornaments Philadelphia plantation Prang Press Puritan quoted in ibid quoted in Shoemaker quoted in Snyder reindeer religious Saint Nicholas Santa Claus Scrooge season Sewall slaves social society southern spirit stockings story symbolic Thanksgiving Thomas tions toys traditional Univ Virginia Visit from St vols William WLCL Woolworth wrote Year's York Tribune
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