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?
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