Email 
Bookmark 
Print Christmas Traditions
How some of our holiday traditions found their place among the beloved festivities of Christmas…
Wrapping Paper
Wrapping paper, though not a new idea, was only commercialized in this century with the advent of cheap color printing. In Victorian times, people had to be creative. Starting simply with brown paper, they would glue on decorative pictures clippings or dried flowers, and would handwrite greetings to the gift's recipient. A spangle or a glossy ribbon would complete the personal touch. Toward the end of the 1800s, colored borders and cut-outs of Christmas motifs were produced for sale, marking the beginning of the holiday gift-wrapping business.
Saint Nicholas
Centuries ago in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), a boy named Nicholas loved the story 
of the Magi, the wise men who traveled from afar to bring gifts to baby Jesus. He admired that they came and left with no fanfare. Years later, after Nicholas became a priest, he showed the same humility by quietly distributing food and gifts among the poor. Soon, however, he became known for his deeds. Yet this didn't affect Saint Nicholas, who continued to serve the poor until his death in the fourth century.
Boughs of Holly
Why do we deck the halls with boughs of holly? The small tree with decorative leaves and 
brilliant berries symbolizes peace and joy, and because it's an evergreen, it is associated with everlasting life. But most of the holly's symbolism relates to Christ's crucifixion rather than to His birth. Its sharp, pointy leaves represent the crown of thorns placed on Jesus' head by Roman soldiers. Its bright red berries stand for the drops of blood He shed on the cross.
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
At a school in London's slums in 1843, Charles saw a swarm of faces--children young in years but in nothing else. He knew the look. As a 12-year-old, he had been forced to work in a shoe dye factory while his father served time in a debtors' prison. This dark spot in Charles' childhood led him to engage in social activism. And it inspired him to write a story about a mean miser, a goose dinner and a little boy with a crutch. His potent tale was an instant success. On the day of its release, 6,000 copies were sold. A century and a half later, its influence hasn't waned. Many a Scrooge-like attitude has been transformed by the power of Charles' Dickens', A Christmas Carol.
Christmas Lights
On New Year's Eve 1879, Thomas Edison unveiled his most famous invention--the light bulb. Only three years later, electric bulbs bedecked a Christmas tree for the first time in the house of the Edison Electric company president.
Boxing Day
"Raps at the door and pulls at the bells," reported an English newspaper in 1841, "averaging one shilling per knock and ring." Such was the custom on the day after Christmas. Bellmen, street sweepers and postmen went door to door to call on their customers. Reciting a poem or offering a printed verse on fancy paper, they collected tips in a box. At the end of the day, the money was used to augment the year's slender wages. Now called Boxing Day, December 26 is an official holiday in many Commonwealth countries today.
Silent Night
In 1816, an Austrian priest penned a simple poem about Jesus' birth. His church organist set these words to music. Together, they premiered their song in 1818 at a Christmas Eve service. Soon after, they parted ways. The fruit of their collaboration would have been lost forever had an organ restorer not discovered the song's manuscript in the church loft in 1825. Today, Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber's Silent Night is one of the world's most treasured Christmas carols.
~A Christmas Digest, 1998. Published by Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada. Used with permission.
