The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower were not too keen on celebrating Christmas when they anchored in Plymouth Rock on Dec. 18, 1620. By 1659, the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared celebrating Christmas was a criminal offense and anyone found feasting or celebrating would be subject to a 5-shilling fine (around $50, if I did the math right).
The Pilgrims viewed Christmas as just a pagan custom of the Catholics and felt that Christmas, if celebrated at all, should be a day for fasting and prayer. However, their real aversion was the wicked celebration itself. There was just too much feasting, frolicking, and merriment going on.
Today, Christmas is celebrated with lots of feasting, frolicking, and merriment. The feast is shared with family and friends who enjoy singing carols. George Washington had a fondness for egg nog, and created his own special concoction that he shared with family and friends at Christmas, because, after all, it’s cold outside.
The decoration of trees dates to the Middle Ages. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison displayed the first Christmas tree in the White House and the Christmas tree became a true American tradition. America’s Christmas flower, the poinsettia, was brought to the United States by South Carolina botanist, Joel Roberts Poinsett, while serving as the country’s first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico in the 1820s.
Norse mythology notwithstanding, mistletoe has nothing to do with kissing or Christmas. But, who cares? Pucker up, buttercup. Mistletoe is one of those enduring Christmas traditions that we are not willing to kiss goodbye anytime soon.
Baking cookies brings seasonal joy and symbolizes the spirit of giving. The practice of putting cookies out for Santa began during the Depression because parents wanted to instill a sense of thankfulness in their children. We always left Santa a glass of egg nog to go with those cookies, because my mother said “George Washington would want us to share his special recipe with Santa, and, after all, it’s cold outside.”
Candy canes have always been the No. 1 selling candy in December. However, M&Ms edged the candy cane out of its No. 1 spot in South Carolina last year (according to Candystore.com). There is a legend that the candy cane was conceived by a choirmaster in Germany in 1670. He wanted something to keep the children quiet and contented during the long church service. He handed out peppermint sticks, bent into shepherd’s hooks, to remind the children of the shepherds that visited the birth. Today, Martha Stewart keeps her guests happy and contented by crushing candy canes — and adding them to ice cream.
Move over trees, poinsettias, cookies, and candy canes. The ugly sweater has added itself as a permanent holiday tradition. Grandmas have been knitting wooly pullover sweaters for Christmas presents for, well, centuries. Some of these sweaters were knitted in questionable colors, and Grannie couldn’t always see the dropped stitches or that one arm was longer than the other. Chevy Chase, as Clark Griswold in the 1989 Christmas Vacation movie, established the ugly sweater as a fun thing to celebrate -– and Americans embraced the ugly side of festive holiday fashion. The ugly sweater has become a holiday contest as people try to create the tackiest and most obnoxious sweater possible, on purpose.
The holidays can be very stressful and wearing something silly can help take some of the pressure off – and what could be more fun than standing under the mistletoe in an ugly sweater while sipping egg nog — after all, it’s cold outside.
Lynda’s ugly sweater is green and red and lights up. She can be reached at lyndaabegg@charter.net. Opions reflected in this column are those of the writer only and not necessarily shared by the newspaper.