An intriguing look into the historical and contemporary celebration of Christmas. If all you know of Christmas is shopping, wrapping and eating - give this book a read

Flanders obviously researched widely to bring a lot of information to only 257 pages, but I wish an editor had made some changes to provide a little more structure, because I think this had the potential to be a book on everyone's bookshelf, with a few changes. It was hard to read for very long without taking a break. Part of this was due to writing style; there are a lot of really long sentences. Most of it was formatting, though. Since there is little commentary, and it's essentially a textbook of fact after fact, some graphics or an occasional text box would have helped to hold my attention. Still, this book is solid. It provided enlightenment on cultural contexts of the scriptures from which we learn the Christmas story, and how those made their way into the canon, as well as why we celebrate it on December 25. She shows how preexisting celebrations merged with Christmas from the very beginning. This book really is a biography, going chronologically through certain traditions, some which we still carry, and others I have never heard of. The evolution of the Christmas Tree, Santa Claus and other personifications of Christmas, gift wrapping, Christmas cards, Christmas movies and music, and all kinds of decorations, are given detailed treatment in this small book

This book was a bit different than I anticipated and I am unable to give it a fair and favorable review. I appreciate your understanding and patience and I apologize for this.

There are some who might say that I have a bit too much Christmas Cheer. With the holiday season officially upon us, I wanted to read up on the history of the holiday. How did the celebration of Christ's birth get to be what it is today?

Author Judith Flanders takes us on a journey back in time. From the first biblical references to the commercialized holiday we know today. We learn the history of gift giving, it was "originally designed to reinforce social hierarchy." And it wasn't until recent history that Christmas became a child-centered holiday. And even more shocking, it wasn't until the 1800's that Christmas fell to the women in the household to plan and execute Christmas. For centuries it was the men. We also learn the origins of Santa Claus, Christmas Trees, Christmas Carols, and more. And this might come as a shock, but very few of these customs have little to no relation to the birthday boy.

With the Christmas shopping season now upon us, I found it shocking that I did not know that Thanksgiving being declared the fourth Thursday of November was to ensure that there would be at least four weeks of shopping before Christmas. How did I not know this? Also, we all have that family member or friend that bemoans the Christmas comes too early each year and we should wait before Thanksgiving is over before starting Christmas. Well, it was common for Christmas Ads to be in newspapers as early as October. When I shared that information with my husband he was quick to point out that they had to advertise earlier than as it took weeks for those ads to travel across the country.

At the heart of the matter the author points out that there are customs all over the world pertaining to Christmas, but the traditions established in your family are the ones that matter the most to you. It is the history of you and your family. And people who long for Christmas pasts it is more about the people and the memories rather than the tradition.

Bottom line - Judith Flanders details the history of Christmas from the birth of Christ to Charles Dickens to the Grinch himself. While the book was a bit dry at times, ultimately it was a fascinating look at Christmas and how it became the billion dollar industry that it is today.

Details:
Christmas - A Biography by Judith Flanders
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Pages: 256
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 10//24/2017
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This book was definitely fun and entertaining for what it was, and gets you in the Christmas spirit. Could have used a little more plot development and more diverse and multidimensional characters.

Flanders, who's previously described the Victorian home and the Victorian city in her immensely readable books, tackles the story of Christmas in this newest volume. She opens by reminding us that Christmas is a very different holiday depending on where you celebrate it, and everyone believes their Christmas customs are the authentic ones, when nothing could be further from the truth.

For instance, there is a notion that Christmas was "more religious" in the past, yet most of the writing about Christmas in the "goode olde dayes" is about eating and drinking. Texts from the year 389 and in the seventh century had clergy complaining about feasting, drunkenness, and gluttony. Indeed, for the first few hundred years, it was unthinkable to celebrate Christ's birth, as if he was "some pagan god." The date of Christmas was fixed on December 25 to coincide with existing celebrations (the Kalends, Saturnalia, Mithras's birth, Yule) and many pagan symbols were given Christian symbolism (Christmas trees from the "everlasting life" of the evergreen, holly standing in for the crown of thorns, etc.).

Flanders also discusses how "traditional" Christmas celebrations were said to come from the "days long ago" when some of them were only several decades old, how businesses were open on Christmas (so people could buy Christmas food and drink) until very recently, how those wonderful old country house celebrations you hear about (like Christmas at Downton Abbey) required a great deal of drudgery, dirt, and loss of sleep for the servants despite their being tales of revelry among the staff, and how Christmas advertising goes back to the 18th century and that people at the turn of the last century were already complaining about Christmas commercialization (and how wealthy young ladies already bemoaned the fact that their friends got more Christmas gifts than they did).

There are more detailed books about the "biography" of Christmas (which Flanders notes in her bibliography), but this is a great summary of all of the truths and the fallacies about the holiday season. Flanders even provides little icons in the margins to indicate which subjects she is discussing (a horn for music, a mask for revelry, a Santa face for the history of gift givers, etc.). I was very happy to buy a copy of this book for my library.

Flanders offers an engaging, highly-detailed historical look at the celebration of Christmas. While its billed as a history of Christmas and practices around it, it really is largely about Christmas since 1600, primarily in England and the United States, as well as Germany. While the forms Christmas has taken in these countries is fascinating, it is to the neglect of how Christmas is practiced in non-Western countries, especially countries where Christians are a minority. Unfortunately the author seems to have little interest in the evolution of Christian practices related to Christmas, and only gives a few paragraphs to the nativity story and the commemoration of it. The author asserts that the holiday is really consumerist at its core, and there's significant evidence for that - but her bibliography shows that she has considered very few religious sources, and thus likely did not analyze sources that do not conform to her hypothesis. That said the primary sources she does use on how persons did celebrate Christmas in the 17th-19th centuries are indeed interesting - but it is limited in geographic scope.

Thank you Netgalley for this review copy.
On the lead up to Christmas i thought this would be a great read. To find out the history behind what traditions and ceremonies make up the whole Christmas period would be interesting. It was interesting and very informative but not very easy to read. I found it to be very jumbled and the periods in time and countries were all very mixed up in the chapters. I often like side notes but found there were too many in this book. The content of this book was great but the execution wasn't unfortunately. I walk away with some great facts and dinner time conversation but I wouldn't recommend reading this book in its entirety for most people.

This truly is a biography of Christmas. It includes history, sociology, religious history, folk customs and myths, of many countries in providing a picture over time of the celebration we call Christmas. The primary sources are Northern European, English, and the polyglot American where so many cultures meet. But there are also discussions of Spanish and Mexican influences, African-American Kwanzaa, Jewish festival of lights, all events that happen at the same mid-winter time. This is a cultural study which finds that in spite of its seeming obvious relationship to religious observances, Christmas has actually evolved over centuries into a very secular observance. While there remain religious ceremonies of many faiths celebrated from Advent through Little Christmas, January 6th, the primary focus is a celebration of friends and family, gifts for children, etc in these current days.

And for all those who bemoan the trashing of the good old ways, when things were done so differently, and people led so much "holier" lives, Flanders has a very interesting tale to tell and some old shibboleths to tear down. I learned many things from reading this, facts that I would not have expected. And while my Christmas memories are not perfectly in line with all of what she says, so much of it does fit in with the "traditions" that have been developing for some time or were born around the same time I was.

In one example, the first "Season's Greetings" (equivalent) card (as opposed to Christmas) was sent in the late 19th century. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, some traditions thought to be much older, turn out to have been born in the middle of the 20th century. Oh there are too many examples! One final: Clement Moore named all of Santa's reindeer in 1823 but one was missing. Rudolph wasn't added 1939 when the world was becoming a more dark and dangerous place. He didn't become famous until his story was put to music and recorded by Gene Autry in the early 1940s.

For anyone with an interest in holidays, and Christmas in particular, or historical/cultural development around a holiday such as Christmas, I definitely recommend reading Flanders' book. This is not a religious treatise so don't come to the book expecting that. This is a biography of the celebration of Christmas not the original religious cause for it.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

An exceptional look at Christmas --- traditions ancient and modern and a surprisingly indepth view of cultural norms across the world. From a bird's eye view of Christmas at large, to a zoom in on the eclectic, dark and downright absurd, Flanders uses her accessible voice to extol the most magical time of year.


"Each of us is a storehouse of Christmases," she writes, "A repository of all the happiness and sometimes sadness of seasons past."

From mummers to wassail to Passion plays to Puritans, Christmas is an all-encompassing, dazzling and addictive look at masks and music, food and patronage, parades and pomp. From Martin Luther to Pepys--- Jefferson to Washington to Dickens to Henry VIII --- Christmas is highlighted at times political, sometimes moral, sometimes amoral and eventually a stick of velcro to which a hodgepodge of religious traditions stuck and stayed. Theological tenets inspired beautiful Christmas carols while 20th Century Commercialism placed Santa on floats and in malls. Food was constant, Massachusetts outlawed the holiday, sometimes it was fashionable, sometimes it was not... Scotland didn't recognize Christmas as a holiday until the 1950s.

"The holiday seduced the population to drunkenness, gluttony, unlawful gaming, wantonness, uncleanness, lasciviousness, cursing, swearing and all to idleness."

There is just so much in this festive tapestry. From American slave traditions to the immigrant colonial influence on the hodgepodge of traditions, Christmas is a pot to which an almost universal recipe has been added.

And then there is the modernity "Dickens showed the world that modernity and Christmas are eminently suited to each other" Several chapters on the influence on the Victorians on our contemporary practices was a perfect side piece to The Man Who Invented Christmas. Christmas presents were wrapped because coal and suit were the constant bane of Victorian households. "Your packages reflect your personality", thus became an easy way to capitalize on festive ornamentation.

As a Torontonian, I was excited to learn that the first Christmas department store parade ( and the one that inspired Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade) took place at Eatons in the early 20th Century. Likewise, Eatons eventually televised the parade--- inspiring, again, Macy's in the States --- a tradition that is known to this day.

No matter your race, religion or creed. No matter if you prefer real trees to fake .... from Hanukkah to Kwanzaa, Christmas will challenge you to think about how Christmas fits into the fabric of your family. It is also a treatise on nostalgia: noting how when so many spoke of olden days they were merely thinking of times before Christmas was as we know it now.


I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is engrossing, exceptionally well-researched and a hole in which you will easily fall down, excavating one wonderland after another.... It even takes a gendered approach to the holiday, carefully examining the role of men and women in the Christmas preparations and advertisements. Christmas becomes a time for us to reflect on the "idealized version of ourselves" armed with a Christian infusion borne of a need to dispel the wantonness and debauchery of a roman Pagan festival. Then, it became a balm. "Christmas has assimilated traditions from half a dozen cultures and countries and therefore appears endlessly flexible."

While Flanders shows us that rules and regulations for the holiday have changed immensely over the centuries, she believes, as I do that at the centre and crux is a spirit of the best of humanity. So take your symbols, transpose traditions, transform Christmas from your descendants into a resurrected and refurbished season of its own. "Part of the meaning of Christmas", she writes" is repetition." We are all easy portals for the Christmases that have filled us. And whatever it means to you is valid and wonderful--- but knowing HOW we got here is the buoyant joy of a wonderful book.

Interesting take on a Christmas book. Dispelling myths of its origins, explaining how different the celebrations are in different countries, and even different parts of life-- how it is shown in tv vs how people actually celebrate. The most interesting thing to me was all the misconceptions. Particularly how many things we think are myths, aren't true but what the tradition thought is isn't true either. I was especially shocked that Christmas never really was a religious event. When people say keep Christ on. Chritsmas, they might as well change it to pit Christ in Christmas! Interesting factual read for the holidays.

It is a no brainer that I love to read and I love to get lost in a book, the stories they tell and the people they involve,the adventures that the author takes them on, but once in a while it is a refreshing change to read a book that is not made up, but is absolutely JAMMED PACKED with information, this book certainly falls into that category.
I was totally engrossed in reading this, I love historical facts, so this was just donw my street and it did not disappoint me. I have certainly learnt somethings about this festive period.
I congratulate the author for such stellar work, thank you!

"Christmas" is a history of how Christmas was celebrated, mainly in the British Isles, Germany, and America. The author repeatedly stated that Christmas was never primarily a religious holiday as many non-religious-focused activities have always occurred on the day. As most people didn't get the day off work for most of Christmas history, this seems an odd argument. The author came across as believing that Christians who push for more focus on the intended purpose of the holiday (celebrating Christ's birth) shouldn't do so because it's never been celebrated solely by people spending the day in worship and church services.

The author talked about when a day was first chosen to celebrate Christ's birth up to recent times. She examined written sources for what was actually done on Christmas (and New Years) and organized this information in roughly chronological order. It would have been easier for me to remember the progressions if the development of Christmas trees, for example, had been examined all at once rather than in chunks throughout several chapters.

She focused on European customs, mostly English, Scottish, German, and how these mixed and were added to in America after it was colonized. Basically, different areas had different customs or variations of a custom. Many of these customs were not specific to Christmas but became attached to the Christmas season. It wasn't until the mid-1800s that people created an ideal, traditional Christmas (which never existed) and increasingly standardized Christmas legends and activities.

She covered the origins and development of Santa Claus, Christmas trees, decorations, carols, cards, and candles, nativity plays and scenes, holiday foods and alcoholic drinks, gift-giving and wrapping gifts, advertising, parades, and holding special Christmas religious services. She explained kissing boughs, wassailing, mumming, role switching, and 12th Night activities. She talked about how Christmas was banned in several areas for a while and how the day changed into a child-focused holiday. She talked about how Washington Irving's and Charles Dicken's fictional depictions influence how people celebrated Christmas and how radio, film, and TV movies further created new Christmas traditions.

As a lover of Christmas, I thought I knew what this time of year was about and the origins of our traditions but this book opened my eyes to how little I really knew. This is an in-depth exploration of Christmas and all it entails and is a perfect read for those who get excited at the first sign of decorations in the shop or are always on the look out for more knowledge to impress friends and family especially over the Christmas dinner.
It takes you through the evolution of Christmas including religion, festivities, books, gifts and decorations. It is a book I long to have a physical copy of on my bookcase to dip into every year.
I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley

This is a MUST read for Christmas fans, lovers, and Christmas enthusiasts. It speaks of Christmas around the world to our culture- to our home. It makes you think about Christmas in the media -books, films, tv...

It will make you wonder of Christmas - truth - our view on truth - to our beliefs.

First and foremost, Christmas day established by Christian Church to mark the nativity of Christ.

Christmas Holiday-
the history, the myths, the traditions, the stories, the symbols...

I truly enjoyed this book.
I was amazed by:
*the information on Lewis and Clark's expedition exchanging gifts
*John Newberry (children's publisher) publishing an ad in 1750 for a book which leads to newspaper ads for
other items and ... ads today
*1882 and the first Christmas light on a tree
*1850 and the first Christmas card

I highly recommend this book!!

This book focuses on one of my favourites holidays and seasons: Christmas! The book talks about festivities, rituals and the history of the holiday itself. I loved learning more about how people were being excessive so soon after the first few decades after Christmas started. What is great about Christmas is that it fuses various religious traditions, pagan celebrations along with individuals countries and family traditions. This book explores all aspects of the holiday such as tress, gift giving and Santa Claus. I absolutely loved reading this book and it has gotten me excited for the Christmas season even though its October! This book is 5 stars out of 5 stars! Thanks go much to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this book, author Judith Flanders, attempts to tell the history of Christmas. This is told mainly from the point of view of festivities in England, America and Germany. and looks at the various traditions and how they came about. Was Christmas a more pious observance in the past (surprisingly, often not!) and how did festivals, even from Roman timesm become embroiled in the way Christmas was later celebrated?

There are lots of questions which are answered in this book. Why Christmas falls on the 25th December, why people give presents, how the nativity scene came about and much more. So, if you wonder why we buy gifts, why we wrap them, or give Christmas cards, decorate our house, or a tree, eat Christmas dinner and where Santa came from, then this book is for you. It covers everything from Dickens to modern Christmas movies, and is an enjoyable read as the biggest Western celebration of the year approaches. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.