When Does the Christmas season
begin…and end?
In
the U.S., winter brings several holidays or special days, and plenty of
decorations, celebrations, parades, special foods, and gift-giving. Christmas is the most popular theme—decorated
trees piled with presents, eggnog, endless holiday songs on TV and radio, etc. But while Christmas itself is a precise date,
the 25th of December, the season’s beginning and ending varies quite
a bit. We do have Thanksgiving, which
for the majority of individuals marks a transition from autumn to winter,
especially with the custom of “Black Friday” Christmas shopping. Commercial interests are not so
particular: as early as October, you can
see Christmas décor and candy on sale just across the aisle from Halloween
things. There’s not even a set time to
put up the tree and decorate it. Some
people do it on Christmas Eve, some do it weeks ahead. Some take all the décor down right after
Christmas, some after New Year’s Day. Some
can’t bear to return to the drabness of winter, and leave their outdoor lights
up until spring. In a recent comic
strip, the wife brings out a boxful of items.
Her husband protests, ”You already decorated the tree.” She retorts, “These are for next Christmas!”
In
Holland, the holiday season seems to begin on December 5th or 6th
– St. Nicholas Day. Even when the
country ceased to be Catholic, the jolly Dutch kept their custom of remembering
the kind fourth-century bishop of Myra (a city in Turkey). With his name adapted into Sinterklaas, he
arrives on horseback in his bishop’s robe, accompanied by his assistant, Zwarte
Piet (Black Peter), a colorfully dressed Moor.
For the Dutch, Sinterklaas lived not at the North Pole, but in the far
warmer climate of Spain! He and his
assistant appear in public and distribute sweets to children. It was traditionally on December 5th
(in some countries Dec. 6th) that presents are given. We have the Dutch immigrants to the new world
(New Amsterdam) to thank for Santa Claus (who is an amalgam of Sinterklaas and
Father Christmas). When I spent a winter
in Amsterdam in 1969-70, the custom was just as it is still described in
articles. One aspect of the season that
amused me was the décor: shop windows
and streets were decorated with red hearts,
which here are associated with Valentine’s Day.
In
Sweden, the traditional entry into the season is Sankta Lucia Dag (St. Lucy’s
Day). In honor of Santa Lucia, patron
saint of virgins, who died in Syracuse in the 4th century, the
eldest daughter of the family brings hot rolls to her parents in bed on the
morning of December 13th. You
can see that traditions like this presume a large family. And what if there are only boys? Besides, why did the Swedes fasten on an
Italian saint, and why do they sing the Italian sailors’ song that we learned
in grade school?
Well, the legend of Santa
Lucia, martyred for her faith and for refusing to marry, made its way to
Scandinavia in the Middle Ages. “Lucia”
means Light, and her feast day, the 13th, was, in the old calendar,
the same as the winter solstice, so this custom is part of the array of
coming-of-light traditions in the world.
Lucia wears a crown of candles, bringing light to winter. However, the custom of having a young woman
portray the saint and pass out saffron buns didn’t actually begin until the 18th
century, and it was in the 20th century that the celebration really
got going. It’s now part of the holiday
celebration in schools and towns and also in Swedish associations around the
world.
In
Spain, although Christmas Eve is a time for church and family, the high point
of the season—for children, anyhow—is January 6th, Dia de Los Reyes
Magos (Three Kings Day), generally known in English as Epiphany. It’s the day children traditionally get their
presents, which come from Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. When I lived in Spain, the department stores
featured not a Santa Claus, but all three wise men. Because the festive season began later than
it does here, I could not find Christmas cards in the stores until about
December 20th. Of course,
school did not begin again until after Epiphany.
Turkey,
being basically Moslem, not Christian, did not have a precise holiday season
for the winter when I lived there. But
there were New Year’s cards in the stores—so I sent my cards home rather later
than usual. While in Spain my language
classes liked learning the English words to “Silent Night” and other religious
carols, I of course did not teach these while in Istanbul; but I did teach
secular songs like “Silver Bells.”
However, there are quite a few Armenian Christians in Istanbul. While in Armenia itself, Christmas is
celebrated on January 6th, or even on the 13th (using the
old calendar), my students’ families used New Year’s Day, as it was already a
holiday in Turkey.
So
when does it end? American radio
stations abruptly switch from Christmas music to their usual format at a
certain hour, such as 11 p.m. Christmas night. People
without children can make their own schedules.
My sister and I agree that getting out the box(es) of decorations is a
good start, but it can be done at any time.
I may leave up my cards and the décor on my front door until “spring creeps over my windowsill” (borrowing
from Eliza Doolittle)!
What about you? When do the"holidays" begin and end for you?
