About the USA Archive

About the USA

About the USA is a digital collection of background resources on american society, culture, and political processes. In addition to featuring selected websites, it provides access to documents in full text format (E-Texts) on topics ranging from the history of German-American relations, government and politics to travel, holidays and sports. About the USA is maintained by the Information Resource Centers/U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany. usa.usembassy.de 

In Focus: Happy Holidays

Christmas, celebrated by most Christians on December 25, commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Americans, like many of the world’s peoples, have developed their own Christmas traditions and observances, and these have changed greatly over time. The early New England Puritans frowned on the often boisterous Christmas celebrations they witnessed in Britain. Other parts of British North America, however, celebrated with gusto, with costumed revelers passing door to door and receiving small gifts of food and drink. The modern images of Christmas we know today began to emerge in the 19th century, based in large part on European traditions. 

Santa Claus -- derived from the Dutch Sinter Klaas and the German Saint Nicholas -- assumed the persona of a jolly dispenser of gifts and pilot of a reindeer-drawn sleigh through such works as the 1823 poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" and an 1863 Harper’s Weekly portrait by the Germn-American illustrator Thomas Nast. Many organizations, from the Salvation Army charitable organization to the Coca-Cola Company, since have employed Santa’s image. According to legend, Christmas trees date back to Martin Luther. According to legend, Luther brought home to his children and lit with candles a fir tree one Christmas Eve to remind them of the wonders of God’s creation. The custom spread to Britain and the United States in the 19th century.

Today, most Americans blend religious and secular customs with their own family traditions. Thus, even though Christmas is for many Americans a religious occasion, the federal courts have upheld its status as a legal holiday. As one court reasoned, "by giving federal employees a paid vacation day on Christmas, the government is doing no more than recognizing the cultural significance of the holiday."

For many Americans, the Christmas season is a period of general good will. A time for celebrations with family and friends, it is also an occasion for charitable and volunteer work. To some extent, non-Christian holidays celebrated at roughly the same time of year -- most prominently the Jewish Hanukkah, the African-American Kwanzaa and New Year’s celebrations -- blend into a broader "holiday season."