Everyone is in the holiday spirit, and the Colored Man is no exception. Bells are ringing, children are singing, and the stores are packed with holiday shoppers. My culinary juices are starting to bubble and boil. But have you ever wondered how all of this Christmas stuff began? Exactly what are we celebrating? Just as I did for Thanksgiving, the Colored Man is going to give you a brief bit of information regarding this biggest of all holiday's, which has connections to paganism.
This particular history lesson was inspired by an article in The New York Times a few days ago. The article was about wealthy people hiring holiday house "fluffers". And no, these are not x-rated movie set fluffers. These are trained interior designers hired to specifically decorate a townhouse or country retreat for the holidays. They are hired to give the residents and residences a sense of a Hallmark Christmas. A very expensive sense of belonging and Victorian memories, all swags and boughs.
The origin of the word Christmas is from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes maesse. Cristes is from Greek Christos and maesse is from Latin missa, the holy mass. In Greek, the letter X (chi), is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. This explains the use of Xmas as an abbreviation for Christmas.
The date of December 25 as the birth of Christ is quite interesting, as this is also the celebration of the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, which also has a relation with the Winter Solstice, a pagan celebration. Some scholars argue that church leaders based this choice of December 25 on the spring equinox, which would have occured around March 25, now known as Annunciation and as the anniversary of Mary's conception, which would have meant that Jesus was born nine months later on December 25. These theories do get complicated, so I encourage you to go out and do some research to learn more.
Throughout history, trees and flowers have been used for celebrations, and Christmas is lush with flora. The Romans brought greenery inside during their winter holidays, and greenery was also part of Jewish tradition. The heart-shaped leaves of ivy are said to symbolize the coming to earth of Jesus, as well as, the clinging to tradition and belief. Holly represents protection against pagans and witches, its thorns and red berries symbolic of the crown of thorns worn by Jesus at the cruxcifixion and the blood he shed. The buds of the poinsettia, a native plant of Mexico, is said to represent the crown of the thorns, while its red leaves the blood.
We can thank the Germans for Christmas trees, which during pagan times were worshipped for all of the resources that they gave man - shelter, warmth, cool, food, beauty. However, Christmas trees in America and Britian did not become the household necessity that they are today, until Prince Albert, German-born royal consort of Queen Victoria, decided that the British royal family should have a tree in their castle. Once the picture of the family in front of a Christmas tree was printed in the newspapers around the world in the mid-1800's, the Christmas tree quickly became a household must-have on both shores. Christmas decorations can also be attributed to the Germans, inspired by paper chains made by children. The first ornaments in America were sold at F.W. Woolworth's, the store that would later play a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. These were German-made and to this day, German-made Christmas ornaments are considered to be the finest-made in the world. Check out Christopher Radko ornaments at http://www.christopherradko.com/.
The colors red and green also have symbolic meaning. The Paradise Play was presented in the 1300's to tell the story of Adam and Eve, who brought sin to the world. The birth of Jesus brought redemption. In order to show illiterate citizens the Tree of Life, presenters used a green pine tree and tied red apples to its branches. Additionally, red is symbolic of celebration, while green proclaims new life, new beginning, and eternal life. The use of purple denotes royalty, as in the birth of Jesus, King of the World.
Gift-giving began with God's gift of Jesus to the world. The Three Wise Men gave the baby Jesus gifts. And we are supposed to give gifts to show God's bounty and blessings. At some point the Catholic Church banned gift-giving due to its connection to pagan holidays, such as the Roman holiday, Saturnalia. However, they later reversed their decision due to the holiday's association with Saint Nicholas, a patron saint of children, and the gifts of the Magi to the baby Christ.
Wrapping paper, which you can get in any color of the rainbow that you desire is another Christmas tradition. Originally handmade gifts were not wrapped and placed at the foot of the decorated tree. Instead, gifts were placed inside the branches. It wasn't until the Civil War and the need for mass production that store-bought gifts came into vogue. During this time gifts were wrapped in twine, ribbon, tree bark or tissue paper. As the story goes, around World War II, a milliner ran out of white tissue paper to wrap gifts, so decided to use colored paper. Her boss saw what she was doing, and went on to create the Hallmark Company and decorative wrapping papers.
Gingerbread houses are also a staple of the holiday season, and lend themselves to contests, public displays, and even have a home in the public rooms of The White House. Ginger was highly popular in Asian countries, and in fact, was one of the most widely used spices in the world. Trade ships from around the world docked in Nuremburg, Germany, and in the 1500's local bakers began using ginger in their baked food items. This led to the creation of gingerbread houses.
Other foods include nuts, which mirrors life and having to crack it open to see what's inside. Apples represent freshness, and oranges denote the bright sunshine of a new day. Egg nog is a British creation, and just leads to getting drunk and a trip to your private throne room.
The first Christmas tree lights were developed by the Thomas Edison Company. The Colored Man thinks that this concept has it good and bad sides. Of course the electric lights got rid of the burning candles on the tree, but on the other hand it caused some people to not follow the old adage of "less is more" when it comes to decorating their house.
Of course nowadays, Christmas has become too commercial. Just after Halloween I began to see stores with holiday decorations already up and blazing. We can thank good old American commercialism and Lord & Taylor department store, which was the first store to devote space to holiday displays in 1938, for the Christmas season starting in July.
So with these bits of information, I hope that each of you enjoys a very merry holiday season, and that you will use the information that I have given you, to hold fascinting conversations at all of those fabulous holiday parties that you will be attending and hosting.
Some of my readers don't celebrate Christmas, so I wish you continued health and happiness.
Bye the bye, the Colored Man really likes the gift-giving part, and I am still in need of a good 35mm camera!!!!, or an all-expense paid vacation to someplace warm and exotic:). I have been a good boy all year!!!!
The Colored Man
coloredm@yahoo.com
thecoloredman@gmail.com
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