The History of Holiday Symbols

Winter Solstice ● A time to honor the pagan gods. ● Ancient people believed the shorter days meant the sun was leaving. ● Rituals performed to appease the sun and get it to return.

Roman Saturnalia ● Honor of Saturn, god of harvest. ● Celebrated from December ● Slaves became masters. ● Gifts exchanged in honor of Strenia, goddess of vegetation. ● Followed by the Kalends of January, which celebrated the new year.

Mithriac Religion ● A major religion of the Roman era, similar to Christianity. ● Mithra, god of light and wisdom, born December 25. ● Celebration of his birth was a big part of solstice festivals. ● 3 rd century, declared Dec. 25 “The day of the Invincible Sun”.

Sun-God to Son of God ● Mithraism posed a threat to Christianity. ● Emperor Constantine converts. ● 4 th century church decreed December 25 as “Day of Christ's nativity”. ● Pagans begin converting, but keeping the festival. ● Holiday becomes both secular and religious.

Banned! ● Too much gluttony and games. ● Celebrating Jesus as a person, rather than a god. ● Protestant Reformation condemned pagan customs. ● 1647 – Oliver Cromwell forbade observance. ● 1659 – Puritan government made it illegal to celebrate.

Christmas goes Underground ● Charles II revived the holiday in England. ● 1681, law was revoked. ● The holiday was not the same. ● Legal, but clergy still opposed.

A Christmas Carol ● Industrial Revolution ● Charles Dickens addresses this in his story. ● Child labor, endless work, poor conditions. ● Nothing to celebrate.

German Influence ● While England worked, Germans celebrated with: ● Trees, gingerbread, cookies, feast, carols. ● Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of German decent who brought Christmas traditions to England. ● Royal Family set the trend for the rest of England.

Christmas Trees ● Many legends surround the tree. ● Medieval times, miracle plays told the story of Adam and Eve. ● Fir trees used were the “Tree of Life” ● Europeans set up their own.

Pyramids and Lights ● Pyramid, wooden structure 4-5 feet high - early Christmas tree, as it held candles and other decorations. ● Legend first lighted tree, Martin Luther saw a frosty tree in moonlight and tried to recreate it at home. ● Widespread use of trees in homes was slow to catch on

Trees come to America ● Americans read about the trees. ● Gained popularity after Queen Victoria and her family appeared in the newspaper around their tree.

Ornaments ● First ornaments on the Miracle Trees were wafers. ● Later they became cookies, and other decorations. ● Goodies became too heavy, German village began making glass ornaments. ● Trees originally decorated with gifts.

Candy Cane ● Originally a white stick. ● First shaped into cane in 1670, to represent shepherd's staff. ● Color added later. ● Urban legend.

Santa Claus ● St. Nicholas, born 280 A.D. In Turkey ● Religious upbringing. ● Generous man. ● Legend, St. Nick helped a poor family w/ 3 daughters, by sneaking bags of gold in.

Pawnbroker Symbol ● This legend of the sacks of gold live on outside of pawn- shops ● A symbol of something of value redeemed.

Legend ● Stopped at an inn while traveling. ● Nicholas figures out that the innkeeper has killed 3 young boys and kept them in barrels. ● Brings them back to life.

Patron Saint ● Children, sailors, thieves, hobos, pawnbrokers and bankers. Russia, Greece and Sicily. ● Died December A.D. (St. Nicholas Day) ● Body stolen from Myra by sailors in Bari, Italy to protect it from invaders. ● Sailors helped introduce Nicholas to other lands.

Sinter Klaas ● Protestant Reformation tried to eliminate Saints but St. Nick survived in Holland as folklore. ● Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam and brought their traditions. ● Santa Claus, mispronunciation.

Night Before Christmas ● Popularized by Clement C. Moore's “A Visit from St. Nicholas” ● First to describe him, and the reindeer. ● The “visit” is at Christmas. ● Made Christmas be for children.

The Ninth Reindeer ● Rudolph was created for Montgomery Ward dept. store. ● Written in 1939 by Robert May, to make into a coloring book for the store to give away. ● May was given copyright in 1947 and Rudolph. was made into a 9 minute cartoon the same year. ● May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks wrote the song. ● Recorded by Gene Autry in 1949.

Christmas Cards ● Englishman Henry Cole hired John Calcott Horsley to design first card. ● Cards were colored by hand and were expensive. ● Cards in America were introduced by Louis Prang, who was able to print 8 colors at a time. ● Cards really took off in 1860 when color printing became less expensive

A New Symbol ● Made by Ben Croft ● ● To Celebrate HumanLight!