Christmas in SoD
- Thread starter JayelleNephilim
- Start date
JayelleNephilim
"Helpy Helper"
Rambler said:
LAWL!!! You've ruined it for me ... now every time I see the pic all I can "hear" is you two! :lol: :sadf:
iaeolan
Dalayan Elder
While the actual saint niclaus has been around for many years, he did not get adhered to christmas and become the man we know as 'santa claus' in the red suit until recently.
christmas used to be a pretty celebratory holiday, taking after many other winter holidays. Saturnalia of the romans was a week long celebration of feast and wine where masters and slaves switched places and other shenannigans. The Yule was also in this time in december and was a great feast after the slaughter of the animals. People stayed indoors to feast on meat, drink wines and ales, and burn the yule log and keep their minds off the cold outside.
Christians did not attach the birth of jesus to december 25th until long after his lifetime, and they created their own holiday of christian values which was basically the same as yule and saturnalia with christian meanings, although the celebration was still quite debaucherous. After the british civil war, oliver cromwell abolished the holiday because of this, but soon after the monarchy was reinstated, christmas was back as before.
When puritans came to the americas in the 17th century, they also abolished the holiday. This continued far into the years of independence where even the continental congress was in session on christmas day for many years. Not until the early to mid 1800s did christmas start to get a revival. It was toned down and became more of a family affair rather then a celebration. Saint Niclaus was introduced to this by Clement Clarke Moore in his 1822 poem "twas the night before christmas", but was still open to interpretation. Many renditions saw him as a short, fat man with a bottle of booze riding in a sleigh pulled by a turkey. Not until the early 1900s when he was illustrated by a magazine artist (not 100% on who or in what publication) did he get the look of what he is now. Soon after manufacturers jumped on the idea of santa in marketing campaigns and used the man liberally in advertising.
christmas used to be a pretty celebratory holiday, taking after many other winter holidays. Saturnalia of the romans was a week long celebration of feast and wine where masters and slaves switched places and other shenannigans. The Yule was also in this time in december and was a great feast after the slaughter of the animals. People stayed indoors to feast on meat, drink wines and ales, and burn the yule log and keep their minds off the cold outside.
Christians did not attach the birth of jesus to december 25th until long after his lifetime, and they created their own holiday of christian values which was basically the same as yule and saturnalia with christian meanings, although the celebration was still quite debaucherous. After the british civil war, oliver cromwell abolished the holiday because of this, but soon after the monarchy was reinstated, christmas was back as before.
When puritans came to the americas in the 17th century, they also abolished the holiday. This continued far into the years of independence where even the continental congress was in session on christmas day for many years. Not until the early to mid 1800s did christmas start to get a revival. It was toned down and became more of a family affair rather then a celebration. Saint Niclaus was introduced to this by Clement Clarke Moore in his 1822 poem "twas the night before christmas", but was still open to interpretation. Many renditions saw him as a short, fat man with a bottle of booze riding in a sleigh pulled by a turkey. Not until the early 1900s when he was illustrated by a magazine artist (not 100% on who or in what publication) did he get the look of what he is now. Soon after manufacturers jumped on the idea of santa in marketing campaigns and used the man liberally in advertising.
