www.whychristmas.com Cultures : Christmas Traditions and Christmas Customs

Find out about the history of Christmas Customs and Christmas Traditions. How many Traditions and Customs started and how they are celebrated. The history behind Christmas!

I’d always loved Christmas (yes, I’m a very big kid!) and had wondered about the ‘whys’ of Christmas; such as why do we have Santa/Father Christmas, why we have Christmas Trees and send Christmas Cards to each other?!

The site was originally created for some friends who were teachers in a local school. Knowing that I was a web designer, they came to me complaining that they couldn’t find a site that was child friendly and “wasn’t trying to sell the kids something”! So with the help of ‘Bruce the Spruce’ (the site’s Christmas Tree logo) I made a little site for them to use with their classes.

The site has always had a ‘no ads’ policy (although I’ve had plenty of offers). As the site has become more and more popular the hosting costs have also increased! If you really like the site, you can help to keep the site online.

As a Christian, the most important part of Christmas to me is the Christmas Story, when we remember and celebrate that Jesus was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago.

I’m also an all round ‘Christmas Nut’ listening to Christmas Carols and songs throughout the year. And to really get me into the Christmas spirit, I have to watch ‘The Muppets Christmas Carol’! Through researching and creating the site, I’ve also become a Christmasologist (yes, that’s a thing).

Christmas in the United States of America

The United States of America has many different traditions and ways that people celebrate Christmas, because of its multi-cultural nature. Many customs are similar to ones in the UK, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland and Mexico.

The traditional meal for Western European families is turkey or ham with cranberry sauce. Families from Eastern European origins favour turkey with trimmings, kielbasa/kielbasi (a Polish sausage), cabbage dishes, and soups; and some Italian families prefer lasagne!

For many Italian-American families a big Christmas Eve meal of different fish dishes is now a very popular tradition! It’s known as The Feast of the Seven Fishes (‘Festa dei sette pesci’ in Italian). The feast seems to have its root in southern Italy and was bought over to the USA by Italian immigrants in the 1800s. It now seems more popular in American than it is in Italy!

Some Americans use pop-corn threaded on string to help decorate their Christmas Tree. Making gingerbread houses is also popular to make and eat at Christmas! Eggnog is a ‘traditional’ Christmas drink in the USA.

Many Americans, especially Christians will go to Church to celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. Many churches have special Christmas Carol services and events where the story of Christmas is told.

In New England (the American States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine), there are shops called ‘Christmas Shops’ that only sell Christmas decorations and toys all the year round!

Americans also send out Christmas Cards, like Carol singing and there’s the unusual custom of the Christmas Pickle!

People in America like to decorate the outsides of their houses with lights and sometimes even statues of Santa Claus, Snowmen and Reindeer. Some cookies and glass of milk are often left out as a snack for Santa on Christmas Eve!.

Towns and cities often decorate the streets with lights to celebrate Christmas. Perhaps the most famous Christmas street lights in the USA are at the Rockefeller Center in New York where there is a huge Christmas Tree with a public ice skating rink in front of it over Christmas and the New Year.