How did Christmas start? Originally, The Christmas celebration was to celebrate the brutal winter coming to an end and mark the beginning of warmer weather and longer days. Today, Christmas is celebrated as a cultural and community holiday. Christmas has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.
In ancient Rome, December 25th was a celebration of the unconquered sun, with the celebration symbolizing the longer days to come. However, these were small scattered celebrations. This holiday was first heavily celebrated during the 4th century, under the influence of the first catholic roman emperor Emperor Constantine.
Christmas became globally celebrated during the 9th century. For many, the end of December was the perfect time to celebrate. That time of the year was the time that the cattle were typically slaughtered, so it was one of the only times of the year when fresh meat was widely available. Additionally, most wine and beer were ready for drinking.
Americans began to embrace Christmas as the perfect family holiday in the 1800s, building new traditions such as decorating trees, card/gift-giving, and of course, Santa Clause.
St. Nick first entered American culture in the late 1800s in upstate New York, when a Dutch family gathered to mourn the memory of Sint. Nikolaas, or “SinterKlaas” for short. The name “Santa Clause” draws from his name.
In 1822, Episcopal minister Clement Clarke Moore wrote a Christmas poem called “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” This poem gained popularity from its first line, “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas.” The poem told of Santa Claus as a man who used a flying sleigh pulled by eight reindeer to deliver presents from house to house.
In 1881, the most iconic version of Santa was popularized by political cartoonist Thomas Nast. His version of Santa Claus that we all know and love depicts him as a jolly fat man in red and white with a beard and a sack of toys.
Christmas is so loved in Indiana, there is a town that celebrates Christmas all year round. Santa Claus is so loved in Indiana, that there is even a town named after him. Santa Claus Indiana, is nicknamed, “America’s Christmas Hometown ”.
However, Santa Clause wasn’t always named so. In the 1800s, it was named “Santa Fe” instead. When the postal service was established there, they were told that they would need to rename the town, due to another town in Indiana with the same name. However, no one could think of a new name.
The townsfolk gathered near the church to think of a new name, and heard the sound of the Christmas bells ringing from the Christmas Eve service. One of the children exclaimed “It’s Santa Clause!” and the townsfolk realized that it would be a great name.
However, the name isn’t what just gives Santa Claus, Indiana its unique Christmas nature, the whole town has Christmas-themed buildings and Christmas-themed suburbs.
Santa Clauses’ streets are named after Christmas words such as reindeer, candy cane, carol, frosty, and Kris Kringle. A land developer in the sixties developed a large gated community called Christmas Lake Village that is where most of the town currently resides. The subdivision is situated around three lakes, Lake Holly, Lake Noel, and Christmas Lake.
Indiana as a whole is known for its arable farmland, mostly used for growing crops and beans. During the winter months, Indiana uses its farmland for growing and harvesting over 200,000 Christmas trees.
All of the Christmas trees go to the more than 94% of Indiana residents who celebrate Christmas, and to the 40% of people who buy real trees every year. Indiana even houses the “World’s Tallest Christmas Tree”, In the form of the Monument Circle LIghts in downtown Indianapolis. But not to be outdone, the famous Rockefeller tree, which has a tree lighting ceremony which draws thousands every year.
Christmas will always be looked forward to as a break from work life and as a chance to come together with family to celebrate a treasured holiday. Christmas never has a dull moment, and will always be looked forward to as the world’s favorite holiday.
