The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum

He looks like a Plebeian but this particular figure of Santa Clause doesn’t come to make demands, he comes to give gifts to the narrators kids. He is carrying what amounts to a beggars pack on his back. I sprang from bed to see what was the matter.ĪYERS: What was the matter of course was that there was a little old fat man on the lawn just the kind of guy who would have joined up with those traditional holiday beggars. VOICEOVER: …When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter. He was just the kind of guy likely to be visited by Christmas beggars demanding the masters’ best food and drink. Now he owned a huge estate on New York’s West side. VOICEOVER: Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…ĪYERS: A visit from Saint Nicholas was written in 1823 by Clement Clark Moore, a theology professor and a member of New York’s very upper crust. This was a new development buying gifts for people, after all, it wasn’t a part of the old Christmas and a lot of those ads featured a certain character who is also a new addition to the holiday, Saint Nicholas AKA Santa Claus, first popularized in American newspapers in the form of a poem. Newspapers started running Christmas themed ads for local merchants. But despite the Puritan’s best attempts, people continued celebrating Christmas the old fashioned way well into the 19th Century.ĪYERS: And then in the 1820’s, something began to change. When we left off, our 18th Century guy, Peter was explaining that the Puritans not only didn’t celebrate Christmas, but actually made the holiday illegal which wasn’t too surprising considering that for centuries it had basically consisted of a multi-day bonanza of booze-fueled partying. It’s the moment, you might say, when the kids took over.īrian and Ed help introduce this interview from our show “Naughty & Nice: The History of the Holiday Season.”īRIAN: We’re talking today about the history of the so called holiday season. It turns into a transformation of family life. But it turns into something more interesting. PETER: Yes, Brian it’s class warfare, at least it begins that way with rowdiness on the streets. You’ll look at Christmas a little differently after hearing this segment.īRIAN: Now, I don’t want to get ahead of this Peter, and I really haven’t listened to this for years, but as I recall class warfare breaks out in this segment.

In this case, how a holiday we think we know keeps being reinvented. In this segment, Steve Nissenbaum tells a fascinating story about how and why we invent traditions. PETER: Awhile back, I spoke with Steve Nissenbaum about the commercialization of Christmas that began in the 1820s. So what better time to look at the history of the holiday season?īRIAN: I suppose there are worse ways we could peg that.

The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum