Today Christmas celebrations are associated with colourful decorations, expensive numerous Christmas gifts and lavish dinner or lunch feast. People spend crazy money organizing the holiday in a “traditional way”. However, not many of us know what traditional Christmas is. The actual meaning of this concept is transformed and adapted to our modern understanding, needs and, above all, the modern economy. Interestingly, gradually Christmas becomes less and less traditional.
Back in the Victorian Age, in England this holiday was almost forgotten. That was until famous writer Charles Dickens revived the old Christmas traditions. In 1843, Dickens published his book A Christmas Carol capturing the essence and the true spirit of the holiday.
In the 19th century, life was very different from the one we know and live today. Many people were poor and they often fell victims of various diseases. Dickens himself also belonged to that group. The writer was born in a poor family which belonged to the lower middle class. As a result, his visions on Christmas are very idealized and simple. The author combined this idea of his with his life and the little-known old holiday traditions and presented them to the world.
Nowadays, it is considered that the Christmas spirit lies in the idea of giving and making good. In addition, that is strangely done in the form of presents and gifts. In the past, Christmas was a holiday during which the family was supposed to gather and do some home bounding activities together. The celebrations didn’t require loud music, flashy decorations or even a Christmas tree. Most of the times families simply played games like and Blind Man’s Buff and Snap Dragon.
Another interesting fact from the past is that on the Christmas table of the English people there was no full course dinner. In the 19th century, instead of a big and juicy turkey, there was a greasy and rather bony goose.
Also, in Dickens’ time the water was often contaminated and poorer people had to turn to other alternatives. Surpassingly, some alcohol beverages, like gin, were cheaper to drink than water. Nevertheless, people still celebrated the holiday and enjoyed together.
Traditional Christmas does not require lots of money, food cooking and gifts. It is a holiday that everyone, poor or wealthy, can celebrate. People are not supposed to go on shopping sprees or bargain hunting during Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales, or indulge themselves in culinary feasts in luxurious five star-hotels to celebrate Christmas. This is just the twisted modern perception of a consumer society.
*More about Christmas and New Year’s celebrations you can find at www.christmas-newyear.com.
