This is the day that is often thought of as the beginning of the holiday season.
It is Thanksgiving, a day when we are to literally give thanks for what we have in our lives. It is a holiday steeped in traditions like family gatherings centered around tables filled with the perfect turkey and heaping helpings of stuffing — or dressing, if you will — and mashed potatoes. (Don’t forget some sweet potato or pumpkin pie. It’s even better with a little vanilla ice cream on top. You’re welcome.)
On this day, we gather with relatives and friends to escape the monotony of our regular workdays by having table fare like the aforementioned selections, a ballgame or two on the television and conversations that keep those closest to us as up to date and in the loop as possible. Of course, the early risers will have to spend some TV time tuned in to the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Thanksgiving’s arrival opens the door to festivities such as living Nativity scenes, Christmas parades, courthouse lightings and more. And, of course, the retailers hope that Black Friday — which has now expanded into Thanksgiving Day — does indeed live up to its name with regard to balancing their yearly books.
Yes, it is only roughly one month until Christmas. So how did we get to where we are today in celebrating this holiday that is generally held as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ? Here’s a little bit of what was found through Googling and researching the last major holiday of the calendar year in the United States.
The Old English meaning of the word that morphed into Christmas is Christ’s Mass, according to the Wikipedia entry on the subject. While we now celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, many calculations hold the date of Jesus’ birth to be Jan. 6.
Furthermore, some of the earliest evidence of this celebration comes from 354 A.D. through information found in an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome that noted the date of the Nativity, giving us the modern-day date of Dec. 25.
Morphing seems to be a theme when it comes to how Christmas has been celebrated through time and how it is celebrated today across the globe.
Wikipedia credits a missionary in Germany with choosing the fir tree to be the tree of Christmas during the 600s A.D. He was said to have picked it because of its triangular shape being symbolic of the holy trinity. That beginning led to what we now think of as the Christmas tree in 18th-century Germany. From there, the tradition spread across Europe, including Great Britain, and into the United States by the 1870s.
Other greenery was added at varying times, with wreaths and garlands being among the earlier traditions for Christmas. Poinsettias, native to southern Mexico and Central America, were adopted as symbols of the day in the 19th century.
These plants came to the U.S., according to whychristmas.com, because Joel Roberts Poinsett, our first ambassador to Mexico, visited an area where poinsettias were grown. He brought some plants back to his greenhouses in South Carolina and began sending them to friends and botanical gardens.
The poinsettia’s connection to Christmas comes from a Mexican legend of a poor girl who wanted to give the baby Jesus a present at church services. Told that even the smallest present would be appreciated by Jesus, she picked some roadside weeds. Her belief in what she was told is said to have led to a Christmas miracle, as the weeds burst into red flowers when she laid them at the Nativity scene.
From then on, they became known as the Flores de Noche Buena, or the Flowers of the Holy Night. Now that is a Christmas story, huh?
Now, we also have holly, mistletoe, red amaryllis and Christmas cactus.
While many of us are familiar with the aforementioned Thanksgiving dinner being a mainstay on Christmas as well, other locales definitely have other ideas when it comes to what holds the attention on their dinner tables.
For instance, Wikipedia points out that Europeans may opt for goose instead of turkey. Similarities between their choices and the common ones in the U.S. exist in items such as other meats, gravy, potatoes, vegetables and bread. Plus, there are special desserts like Christmas pudding, mince pies and fruitcake. (Do not send me one!) While we may opt for eggnog, European revelers may decide on cider, a drink that still holds some popularity during this season in the New World.
Eastern Europeans, the Polish and Scandinavians often have fish as the main course. It’s likely going to be goose or pork in Germany, France or Austria. Meanwhile, other nationalities may dine on beef, ham or chicken.
The tradition of Christmas cards is said to have bloomed with the first commercial card produced in London by Sir Henry Cole in 1843. Now, we have commemorative stamps in the U.S. and other countries to portray our season’s greetings even on the outside of the envelopes for our holiday cards. Plus, the age of technology has brought e-cards that allow us to send our well wishes around the world in a flash.
Another Wikipedia note is that the idea of gift-giving associated with Christmas centers on figures such as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas and Christkind — all of which are related to listeners in lore that tells of presents given to children. Some researchers, however, believe they’ve found evidence that links Christmas gifts to the Roman celebration of Saturnalia or the offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh given to the baby Jesus by the Magi.
Some of the songs we sing for this holiday, according to Wikipedia, were born in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” was penned in the 1700s, with “Silent Night” following in the next 100 years, as did “Deck the Halls.” “Jingle Bells” was copyrighted in 1857, while African-American spirituals began to more widely influence Christmas music in the U.S. in the 1800s and 1900s, infusing genres like jazz, reggae and blues into the stylings of the season.
A children’s favorite, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” first arrived in a 1939 booklet at retail store Montgomery Ward, hailing Rudolph as Santa’s ninth reindeer, before Gene Autry recorded the song of that name in 1949.
Yes, the traditions, the symbols and the activities associated with Christmas — both old and new — are many and varied. Here in Arkansas, I look back on my younger years to scenes similar to those detailed early on in this writing — food, family and friends.
Mom’s tree sat in the corner of the living room in my childhood home, presents arranged just so underneath. Garlands marked the entryways to and from the living room, dining room and kitchen. Our celebration, usually held on Christmas Eve in my immediate family, marked the end of the day when the 10 p.m. newscast on one of the local TV stations offered up the Ned Perme and Terry Rose recording of “Christmas Time in Arkansas Again.”
What are your traditions? Do you like to drive around with friends to look at the Christmas light displays, do you enjoy the walk-through living Nativities and Bible stories, or do you grab the kiddos and line up along the parade route in your hometown?
Whatever you decide to do this holiday season, there are many Christmas-themed offerings on the calendar in the coming month that will occur within a short drive of wherever you are as you are reading this. Accompanying this commentary is a list of a few of those. If you or your organization would like to add an event to this calendar, give us a call at (501) 399-3693 or email trnews@arkansasonline.com.
We hope you have a happy Thanksgiving and a very merry Christmas.
Staff writer James K. Joslin can be reached at (501) 399-3693 or jjoslin@arkansasonline.com.