Onondaga Central
Every Christmas, we hang up our stockings with care, we blanket our house in luminous lights, make gingerbread houses, and so much more. We do have many Christmas traditions every year without realizing how long they have been around or why we do them.
When did the tradition of decorating with Christmas lights begin? There are many people who claim to have invented Christmas lights. In 1880, the famous Thomas Edison strung electric light bulbs around his office. In 1882, Thomas’ colleague, Edward Johnson, hung 80 red, white, and blue lights around his Christmas tree. In 1890, the Edison company published a brochure offering lighting services for Christmas. In 1900, Edison offered bulbs that you could rent. There are records in a diary from 1891 where settlers in Montana used electric lights on a tree. However, most people couldn't easily use electric tree lights at this time as electricity wasn't widely installed in homes. But rich people liked to show off with lights installed just for Christmas, this would have cost about $300 per tree then, more than $2000 today! Electric tree lights were first widely used in the USA, when President Grover Cleveland had a tree decorated with lights in 1895. The tradition of the National Christmas Tree on the White House lawn began in 1923, starting with President Calvin Coolidge. The first commercially available lights, which were somewhat more affordable and much easier to obtain, were advertised in 1903. A string of 24 lights cost $12 or you could rent lights for $1.50. A man named Leavitt Morris, wrote an article in 1952 stating that his father invented Christmas lights. Many fires occurred from candle lights being placed on Christmas trees. This caused insurance companies to encourage the USA to ban candles on trees. In 1917, a Christmas tree fire gave Albert Sadacca an idea. Albert thought of using the lights in long strings. He suggested painting the bulbs with bright colors as well. Years later, he and his brothers started the NOMA Electric Company. Why do you kiss under Mistletoe? Mistletoe grows from a variety of trees. Mistletoe is supposed to possess magical powers like bringing good luck to the household and warding off evil spirits. It was used as a sign of love and friendship in Norse mythology. That is where the tradition of kissing under Mistletoe began. In Western Europe, some tried to ban the use of Mistletoe. York Minster Church (U.K.), held a Mistletoe Service, where wrongdoers could come and be forgiven. The tradition of kissing under Mistletoe comes from England. It originally began that a berry must be picked from the Mistletoe before the person could be kissed and when all the berries had gone there was no more kissing. Actually, the name Mistletoe came from the Anglo-Saxon words 'Mistel', which means dung (poop), and 'tan', which means twig or stick! So technically, you could translate Mistletoe as 'poo on a stick'. Gross! Why do we decorate with Holly and Ivy? The use of Holly and Ivy at Christmas time began during Pagan times. Ivy represented the need to cling to God to support our lives. The prickly leaves of Holly represents the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when he was crucified. Some believed it was unlucky to bring either Holly or Ivy into a house before Christmas Eve. When was tinsel created? Tinsel was created in Germany. It was originally made from thin strips of beaten silver. Eventually, it was made from plastic. Then it became very popular, for it was much cheaper than real silver and lighter to go on the tree! Why do we send out Christmas Cards? Every year, many people mail out family pictures saying Merry Christmas, and receive jolly photos from our friends and families with similar messages. The tradition began in England in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He had his friend, John Horesly, design them, and then he sold them for 1 shilling. Larger numbers of cards were produced when popularity grew by 1860. By 1870, the price to ship a card dropped to half a penny so many more people could then afford to send their loved one’s cards. Why do we give gifts? The main reason we give gifts on Christmas is that it reminds us of presents given to Jesus by the Wise Men. The color and/or gift of gold is associated with Kings and Christians who believe that Jesus is the King of all Kings. Frankincense is used in Churches and gifts given by the Wise Men showed that people would worship Jesus. Myrrh is a perfume that is put on dead bodies to make them have a pleasant odor. Christian believe that it showed that Jesus would suffer and die. These three items were gifts from the Wise Men to Jesus on the day of his birth. Christians believe the ultimate gift was given 2000 years ago by God. That gift was Jesus. Now even non-Christians and non-religious people give friends and family gifts at Christmas. Why do we make Gingerbread Houses? The term gingerbread has evolved tremendously from its first usage in Medieval times, when gingerbread was referring to preserved ginger. It was not until the 15th century that gingerbread was applied to a dessert. Today, the term is widely used to describe the sweet cookie filled with honey, ginger, and molasses. In French, gingerbread derives from the word “gingerbras,” literally meaning “preserved ginger.” In China, ginger was first produced for medicinal purposes and transported throughout the world on the Silk Road. It is believed that a monk invented gingerbread to cure indigestion. The first known recipe for gingerbread was created in ancient Greece. In Medieval fairs, the hard cookies were a staple of the festivities and were shaped like animals, gilded with gold leaf, and changed in style depending on the season. The actual construction of gingerbread houses originated in Germany. They especially rose to popularity when the Brothers Grimm wrote Hansel and Gretel, giving readers the visual of an entire cottage in the woods made of sweet, delicious treats. However, it is unclear whether the fairytale came first or the construction of gingerbread houses. The creation of these houses became popular at Christmas time due to the baking of ginger snap cookies and many other scrumptious ginger delights. Gingerbread and its houses came over to the colonies and were used to sway Virginian voters to vote one way or another. The soft version of gingerbread was an American spin on the classic cookies. Why do we hang stockings? The origin of a Christmas stocking was passed down orally, having no written records, and were illustrated through numerous legends. One legend tells of St. Nicolas wanting to help a poor father and his daughters. Since the father would not accept charity, Nicolas threw pieces of gold into the house through the windows and one happened to land in a stocking, hanging on the chimney to dry. With this gold, the girls could now afford their dowries, get married, and live happily ever after. There is another unsubstantiated claim that Christmas stockings have Germanic ties, coming from their magical figure, Odin. Phyllis Siefker, an author, describes this claim; children would fill their boots with sugar, carrots and other snacks for Odin’s flying horse to eat. Odin would reward the children by replacing the food with gifts. Then, stockings became a product of Christianization in Europe. Another legend states that Dutch children left their wooden shoes by the fireplace filled with straw for Santa's reindeer, along with a treat for Santa. The next morning, the children would find treats for them in place of the reindeer food. Folklore says the orange in a stocking represents the gold put in the stocking by St. Nicolas and you would get an apple if you were good and coal if you were bad. The first mention of stockings hanging by the chimney was in the famous poem “Visit from Saint Nick.” A combination of all these legends, cultivated the love of Christmas and the joy on Christmas morning. https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/trees.shtml https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/christmas_or_xmas.shtml https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/history-gingerbread/
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