Christmas Presents - How it started, the origin of the christmas presentMany of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was bornThe origin of the Christmas Present seems to have a number of different sources The earliest references to
presents being given on or around the Winter Solstice comes from Ancient Rome during the
feast of Kalends. High ranking officials were expected to give gifts to the Emperor
since the Winter Solstice celebrated the birth of the Sun God, to whom the emperor was
directly related. Another early source of gift-giving comes from St. Nicholas, who was
remembered for his charitable giving. Often on his feast day parents would leave
small gifts of chocolate or fruit for their children. His feast day slowly came
over time to be associated with the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity on
December 25th. The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn Their festival was called Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended
January 1st. With cries of "Jo Saturnalia!" the celebration would include masquerades
in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck
gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits). The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel
and green trees lit with candles. Santa Claus is known by British children as Father Christmas Father Christmas,
these days, is quite similar to the American Santa, but his direct ancestor is a certain
pagan spirit who regularly appeared in medieval mummer´s plays. The old-fashioned Father
Christmas was depicted wearing long robes with sprigs of holly in his long white hair.
Children write letters to Father Christmas detailing their requests, but instead of
dropping them in the mailbox, the letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draft
carries the letters up the chimney, and theoretically, Father Christmas reads the smoke.
Gifts are opened Christmas afternoon. From the English we get a story to explain the custom
of hanging stockings from the mantelpiece. Father Christmas once dropped some gold
coins while coming down the chimney. The coins would have fallen through the ash grate
and been lost if they hadn´t landed in a stocking that had been hung out to dry.
Since that time children have continued to hang out stockings in hopes of
finding them filled with gifts. Saint Nicholas became the subject of many legends A sailor who fell overboard was reputedly saved by Nicholas when the saint
walked on water, retrieved the sailor and carried him back to the ship. After an innkeeper
had robbed & dismembered some students, Nicholas reputedly re-assembled them and restored
them to life. Nicholas took pity on a poverty-stricken family with 3 daughters who faced
the threat of being forced into prostitution because they had no wedding dowries. For
two daughters he crept-up to their house at night and threw bags of gold through a
bedroom window. For the last daughter, he threw a bag of gold down the chimney --
which landed in a stocking she had set by the fireplace for drying. The traditional
association of chimneys & stockings with Santa Claus comes from this story. Nicholas
was also noted for his generosity with children -- he would reward them with treats
if they had studied their catechism & behaved well. Nicholas was therefore patron
saint of schoolchildren & sailors. The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years Many of our Christmas traditions were
celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas,
the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals (parades) with floats,
carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church
processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians... Books about christmas, and christmas traditions
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