WEBVTT - How Did the 1800s Create Christmas as We Know It?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, Brainstuff, Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Vogelbaum here. Oh. When you imagine a classic Christmas, you

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<v Speaker 1>might think of things like Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and

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<v Speaker 1>twinkling lights. Oh. While some traditions are descended from more

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<v Speaker 1>ancient practices, Christmas as we know it here in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States is pretty much a product of the nineteenth century.

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<v Speaker 1>The eighteen hundreds were a time of remarkable change in

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<v Speaker 1>the Western world, including the birth of many holiday customs.

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<v Speaker 1>A For a long time before the mid eighteen hundreds,

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<v Speaker 1>people in England and by extension, the United States, barely

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<v Speaker 1>celebrated Christmas at all. For the article, this episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with doctor Bruce David Forbes,

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<v Speaker 1>Professor Emeritis of Religious Studies at Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa.

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<v Speaker 1>He said the Puritans opposed Christmas. They thought it was

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<v Speaker 1>a Catholic thing and that people were partying too much.

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<v Speaker 1>Even though the Puritan Revolution was in the sixteen hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>and didn't last very long, the discouragement of Christmas lasted

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<v Speaker 1>like a century and a half. It's kind of like

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas disappeared. However, beginning around the middle of the eighteen hundreds,

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<v Speaker 1>forces began gathering around the holiday. We've already talked on

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<v Speaker 1>the show about how gardening trends and successful marketing during

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<v Speaker 1>that time made the poinsettia a Mexican winter plant and

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<v Speaker 1>inner continental phenomenon. But let's talk about another plant mainstay,

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<v Speaker 1>the Christmas tree. It turns out we may have that

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<v Speaker 1>largely thanks to the young and fashionable British royal family

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<v Speaker 1>of the mid eighteen hundreds, headed by Queen Victoria and

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<v Speaker 1>her husband Prince Albert. Forbes explained the Christmas tree we

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<v Speaker 1>usually credit was starting in Germany. It comes to England

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<v Speaker 1>because Victoria is of the House of Hanover and that's German.

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<v Speaker 1>Prince Albert is German. In eighteen forty eight, London newspapers

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<v Speaker 1>published a photo of Victoria and Albert, along with several

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<v Speaker 1>of their children, gathered around a decorated Christmas tree on

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<v Speaker 1>a table in England, and soon thereafter in America, families

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<v Speaker 1>everywhere began putting up their own Christmas trees. A Forbes

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<v Speaker 1>said it took off immediately. In that image of Victoria

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<v Speaker 1>and Albert, their Christmas tree is on a table and

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<v Speaker 1>the presents are hanging from the tree or on the table.

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<v Speaker 1>As the presidents get more and more crazy, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>then we're going to need the bigger Christmas tree. And

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<v Speaker 1>now we have Florida stealing trees in our houses. And

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<v Speaker 1>then there's Santa While Saint Nicholas was probably a real

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<v Speaker 1>person celebrated in certain religious circles for centuries, it was

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteenth century that transformed him into Santa Claus. Forbes said,

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<v Speaker 1>what's Saint Nicholas. We don't know what's legend and what's historical.

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<v Speaker 1>He supposedly lived in the three hundreds in what's now Turkey,

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<v Speaker 1>and he was a bishop. Nicholas had a reputation for

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<v Speaker 1>generosity and was canonized a Forbes said, after that, he

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<v Speaker 1>kind of becomes the protector of everybody. He's like a

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<v Speaker 1>guardian angel. His Saint's Day is December sixth, so it's

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<v Speaker 1>not Christmas, but it's in that season leading up to Christmas.

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<v Speaker 1>Saint Nicholas was especially popular in the Netherlands, where he's

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<v Speaker 1>known as Center Claus. It was the Dutch who imported

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<v Speaker 1>him to the Americas. Of Forbes said, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Quakers,

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<v Speaker 1>all those people did not do Christmas in early America.

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<v Speaker 1>It was not a huge cultural thing. But in New

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<v Speaker 1>York at the time New Amsterdam the Dutch continue these traditions.

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<v Speaker 1>That's how Saint Nicholas gets his toe in the door

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<v Speaker 1>and the Dutch term Center Claus gets angelicized to Santa

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<v Speaker 1>Claus A. Saint Nicholas's transformation to the modern Santa comes

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<v Speaker 1>partially courtesy of writers like Clement Moore, who published a

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<v Speaker 1>Visit from Saint Nicholas, perhaps better known as Twas the

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<v Speaker 1>Night Before Christmas in eighteen twenty three, and Washington Irving,

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<v Speaker 1>who wrote a number of as celebrating old English holiday

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<v Speaker 1>festivities and the Christmas spirit. These works introduced Saint Nicholas

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<v Speaker 1>to a wider audience, and then Santa morphed from a

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<v Speaker 1>jolly old elf with a miniature sleigh and eight tiny

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<v Speaker 1>reindeer to the figure with a fur lined coat, a

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<v Speaker 1>bushy white beard, and rosy cheeks. Thanks to a political

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<v Speaker 1>cartoon from eighteen sixty two, inspired by tales of Saint

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<v Speaker 1>Nicholas and folk art of elves from his native Germany,

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<v Speaker 1>cartoonist Thomas Nast published the image of Santa bringing good,

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<v Speaker 1>cheer and warm socks among other gifts to Union soldiers

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<v Speaker 1>on the title page of Harper's Weekly. Meanwhile, electric Christmas

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<v Speaker 1>lights didn't become common in American households until the nineteen thirties,

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<v Speaker 1>but like so many other Christmas traditions, they were born

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<v Speaker 1>in the eighteen hundreds. In eighteen seventy one, businessman Edward

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<v Speaker 1>Hibbert Johnson hired a young inventor named Thomas Edison at

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<v Speaker 1>the Automatic Telegraph Company. When Edison left to form his

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<v Speaker 1>own company, Johnson went with him. Edison famously patented the

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<v Speaker 1>electric light bulb in eighteen eighty, and Johnson invested some

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<v Speaker 1>of his own money to start the Edison Lamp Company. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas was candlelight, and that gave Johnson a great idea.

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<v Speaker 1>He wired together eighty multi color Edison bulbs and wrapped

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<v Speaker 1>them on a Christmas tree. The decoration got a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of press, though they were still too expensive for most

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<v Speaker 1>people to afford for another few decades. But okay, there

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<v Speaker 1>is one more part of the traditional Christmas season that

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<v Speaker 1>we haven't discussed yet, commercialism. Okay. In eighteen forty three,

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<v Speaker 1>English writer Charles Dickens published a story that would cement

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<v Speaker 1>a particular form of Christmas cheer or should we say

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<v Speaker 1>spirit in pop culture forever. In a Christmas Carol, grouchy

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<v Speaker 1>businessman Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by four ghosts. Marle accounts literally,

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<v Speaker 1>it's what he does too much of anyway, and Scrooge

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<v Speaker 1>winds up learning a lesson in humanity. But long before

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas Carol was a December mainstay of local theaters and

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<v Speaker 1>singing muppets alike. Dickens was, in his own time, wildly popular.

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<v Speaker 1>Forbes said he was a rock star. He toured the

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<v Speaker 1>United States and people lined up for tickets. Businesses that

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<v Speaker 1>were open on Christmas Day saw themselves represented by Scrooge's attitude.

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<v Speaker 1>Forbes said, businesses recalculate they're thinking about it and saying

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<v Speaker 1>oh Christmas doesn't just equal lost business. There are business

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<v Speaker 1>possibilities here. Businesses embraced the holiday, and suddenly it was commercialized,

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps an ironic result for a story about the true

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<v Speaker 1>meaning of Christmas Thanks nineteenth century. Today's episode is based

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<v Speaker 1>on the article how the nineteenth century Invented Modern Christmas

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<v Speaker 1>on how stuffworks dot com, written by Kate Morgan. Brainstuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more

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<v Speaker 1>podcasts from my Heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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