A brief history of Christmas - Part III

This post follows two previous ones, here and here. Thanks to Muriel Banz for this post.

Transformation and evolution of a myth

At the end of the XVIth century, the christian society found more appropriate to replace Saint Nicolas by the Infant Jesus or Christkindel, closer to the real meaning of the 24th december and the religious event.

Christkindel was represented by a young children, dressed in white, which given the presents. He was followed by an awful caracters, Hans Trapp, which role was to beat the nasty childrens.

In the city appeared markets. The oldest one (16th century) is the one in Strasbourg: Christenkindelmarket. At the of the XIXth century, the festivities of Christmas and the Nativity were losing their religious features to the profit of commercial ones. Christmas became a festival for the family, for the childrens, and also for everyone: believers and non-believers.

This two major christmas figures (Santa Nicolas and Christkindel) were brought together by the american press and illustrations, and especially by Clement Clarke Moore, who described in “A visit from St. Nicolas” a famous poem of 1823 Santa Claus as a curious little elf, who goes inside the chemneys, and travels through the air in a miniature sleigh pulled by 8 reindeers.

In 1860, Thomas Nast, an famous American illustrator gave him his white fur and his wide leather belt. The official residence of Santa Claus was known in 1885 : he settled at the North Pole, where was also his toy factory.

The final touch was brought by Haddon Sundblom in 1931 though the Coca Cola ads. During almost 35 years, the Coca Cola compagny used a re-looked mythic character for its campaigns all over the world. The new Santa Claus had a more jovial air, sympathetic face and a human stature…

A brief history of Christmas - Part I

To celebrate the year-end celebrations, we thought about this post about the history of Christmas. Thanks to Muriel Banz for this pot.

The Origins of Christmas Celebration

Until the IVth century, the christian church knew only one major religious celebration: the resurrection at Easter. The first celebration of Jesus’ birth “Natale Christi” appeared in the western world then. The aim was to make the festival of popular culture more “christian” and to replace the pre-christian cults, which were celebrated in december.

Saturnalia was celebrated from the 17th to the 24th of December in the Roman Empire to thank Saturne, the god of the Harvest. That was the celebration of Freedom and the Underworld (the role of each one were turned upside down).

The Cult of Mithras - “Sol Invictus” consisted in commemorating the Sun God’s birth by a bull’s sacrifice, on december 25.

During the Festival of Sigillaria celebration, presents were given to the childrens. It was beginning at the end of the Saturnales and the houses were decorate with some green plants.

Initially, Jesus’ birth was celebrated on the 6th of January. But in 354, Pope Liberus decided to introduce the “Nativity” in order to turn people away from the pagan festivals. Jesus was represented as “the light of the world” or “the sun of justice”. These are clearly influenced by the pagan symbols of the December festivals, and especially the cult of Mithras.

Otherwise, the christian celebrations took some other elements from the pre-christians cult, such as: the cleaning and the decorating of the house (mostly with green plants), the preparation of great feats and the distribution of present to the childrens.

Next post: A brief history of Christmas - The consolidation of a myth

Gifts and surprises

We are often asked: how can I have a Gifteer account and still look surprised when I get my presents?
Our advice is simple: put as many wishes as possible, so that you will never know which gifts are waiting to be open in your stockings! If you have only one or two wishes, then yes, it’s going to be harder to look surprises

Helping the environment?

What is the connection between Gifteer and the ecology? Mmmmmhh let me think….?

With Gifteer you know you’ll get the gifts you really want:  no more gadget-gifts that end up in the drawer or, worth, in the trash can after just a couple of weeks.

So help the environment…. create your wish list on Gifteer!

Gifteer ready for Christmas!

Our art director has gone the extra mile with the new Christmas theme:  check out www.gifteer.com to see the new look and feel of Gifteer. Is it magic?  Science-fiction?  We don’t really know for sure…

Prepare for Christmas with confidence using Gifteer:  create your wishlist and your children’s wishlist, and you know you’ll definitely have good surprises on Christmas day!