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This Christmas most of us will decorate a tree, send cards, and hang lights on our house.  These traditions have been a part of our conception of Christmas for many years.  But even these familiar customs can have unexpected origins.

 

The first candy canes were invented by the choirmaster of Cologne Cathedral in Germany.  The choirmaster realized that his younger singers became very restless during the long holiday services, and wanted to find a way to keep them from becoming disruptive.  Oddly enough, he thought that give the children sugar would keep them quiet, so he gave them sticks of sugar candy to suck on.  To make the candy more seasonal, he had the sticks bent so that they would look like shepherds’ crooks.

 

The idea for Christmas cards came from Sir Henry Cole, the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in England.  At this time, it was the custom to write Christmas letters to your friends, family, and acquaintances.  Because of his work Cole had a great many contacts.  He found the writing of so many letters to be cumbersome and asked painter John Horsley to design a card which could be printed with the same message and mailed to all of his contacts.  The cards Cole didn’t use were sold for one shilling each. 

 

The image of a jolly, fat, Santa Claus in a red suit is often said to be the result of the Coca-Cola advertisements of the 1920’s and 1930’s.  However, the single greatest influence on the modern perception of Santa Claus is probably Clement C. Moore’s famous poem Twas the Night Before Christmas, written in 1822.  This poem inspired artist Thomas Nash’s portraits of Santa, which are the first pictures of the Santa Claus we all know today. Until the 1920’s, Santa’s robes could be almost any color.  Blue, brown, and green were as common as red.  The Coca-Cola advertisements probably did help to cement red and white as the proper colors for Santa’s garments.  Designer Haddon Sundblom chose to portray Santa Claus in red and white in his advertising in order to promote the company’s colors.

 

These traditions are all very familiar.  But how many of you have ever hung a pickle on your tree as an ornament? 

 

According to one legend, American Civil War soldier John Lower was captured in 1842 and held prisoner in Andersonville, Georgia.  He was near starvation and begged the guard for “just one pickle before he died.”  The guard took pity on Lower and managed to find him a pickle.  Supposedly, this pickle gave Lower the mental and physical strength to live on.  Once Lower was released and returned home to his family, he began a tradition of hiding a pickle on the Christmas tree.  He said that the first person to find the pickle would be blessed with good fortune in the coming year.

 

Whether this story is true or not, the tradition of hiding a pickle ornament on the Christmas tree is becoming more widespread.  Pickle ornaments are now sold side by side with angels and stars all over the United States.

As you can see, many of the Christmas traditions we know have varied beginnings. The ideas we take for granted did not always exist in their present form. Looking back at the evolution of Christmas traditions shows us the true popularity and importance of this holiday.

 

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TPSers Contribute to Operation Christmas Child Christmas Traditions, Old and New