englishcorneratgallicum: CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN

Some days before Christmas the English people send Christmas cards to friends and relatives,

They also decorate their houses with:

- Holly which is the symbol of Jesus Christ’s Crown with the blood (the red berry)

-Mistletoe which is the symbol of peace. it’s custom to kiss under it.

- A Christmas tree. In 1840, Prince Albert introduced this German tradition and Queen Victoria decorated it. Then this fashion was copied by other members of the aristocracy and it passed to the USA.Every year the people of Norway send a big Christmas tree as a gift to the English since 1947.

-The crib(Presepe) is popular in churches or schools

It is tradition to prepare the “Christmas Pudding” one month before Christmas and all the family takes part in its preparation .

Christmas Eve (24 December)

Kids hang up the “Christmas stocking” to the fireplace or on their beds.They wait for Father Christmas bringing them gifts.

People like singing “Carols”(special religious songs)And collect money for charity associations. People go shopping and buy Christmas presents.

Christmas day (25 December)

The English have a big Christmas dinner: It consists of roast turkey with potatoes, vegetables, brussel sprouts and “plum pudding” (the Christmas cake) or mince pies.

They also pull Christmas crackers which contain a party hat, a joke or a motto and a gift.

On 25 December in the afternoon people sit down and watch the Queen's speech on tv.

Boxing Day (26 December)

It is called boxing day because in this day many people receive boxes with a gift, for example the postman, the milkman, the newspaper man and also in shops or churches there are boxes for poor people.

On Boxing day children go to to the theatre and watch Pantomimes, plays for children . They start eating mince pies until the twelfth night (6 January).

Twelfth night (6 January)

All decorations are removed because it is unlucky to remove them before or later.

AMERICAN TRADITIONS FOR CHRISTMAS

The modern, more commercialized Christmas began to emerge in the 19th century, with the
new custom of purchasing gifts for young children. Seasonal “Christmas shopping” began to
assume economic importance.

Other Christmas traditions similarly began during the 19th century. Santa Claus — derived from the Dutch Sinter Klaas and the German Saint Nicholas — assumed the persona of a jolly dispenser of gifts and pilot of a reindeerdrawn sleigh through such works as the 1823 poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore and an 1863 portrait by illustrator Thomas Nast in the magazine Harper’s Weekly. It is known now as The Night Before Christmas.

Christmas trees are believed to date back to Martin Luther, the 16th century German cleric.
According to legend, Luther brought home to his children a fir tree one Christmas Eve to remind them of the wonders of God’s creation. The custom spread to Britain and the United States in the 19th century. Today, many Americans either purchase a cut, fresh ever
green tree or a reusable aluminum and plastic model. The Christmas tree is decorated with lights and ornaments. In many families, Christmas gifts appear under the ree on the morning of December 25, deposited there by family members, or, as smaller children might believe, by Santa Claus.

Contemporary Observances with Christmas shopping vitally important to retailers, Christmas has expanded into a “season” of its own. The day after Thanksgiving
is known as “Black Friday.” An important shopping day, it pushes some businesses into profitability for the year, or in accounting terminology, “in the black,” and can account for a substantial proportion of annual profits.

This extended Christmas season, from Thanksgiving until Christmas, is about far more than
shopping. For many Americans, it is a time of goodwill and an occasion for charitable work. Non Christian holidays celebrated at roughly the same time of year — most prominently the African American Kwanzaa and the Jewish Hanukkah — blend into a broader
“holiday season.”

Christmasthemed programs such as the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life and the animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer often appear on television. An increasing number of radio stations now adjust their formats to feature Christmas music, sometimes exclusively, during the four to six weeks before December 25.

The holiday’s original religious meaning remains for many its most important element. Churches hold wellattended Christmas Eve candlelight or midnight services. Some include a Mass of the Nativity or a dramatization of the birth of Jesus.

As with so many aspects of U.S. culturlife, Christmas in the United States reflects the values of
a free and diverse people.

Source : UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS
Published December, 2011.

British Christmas Vocabulary