Many people think that the history of Christmas is simply all about the birth of Christ, the presents stemming form the gifts that he was given. However, it dates back much further and many of the traditions stem from very varied places.

Europeans used to celebrate the Winter Solstice which is the longest night. They would celebrate the rebirth of the sun as the nights got shorter again and they would kill livestock which would not survive through the winter and feast on them from late December to early January.

In Scandinavia the Norse people celebrated Yuletide where they would burnt giant log and feat until it burnt out.

In Rome, the festival of Saturnalia was celebrated from 17th to 24th December and there was feasting, gambling and the giving of gifts. Also roles were not upheld meaning slaves could disobey their masters and children did not need to do as they were told by their parents. There were also other festivals that occurred around this time as well.

During the fourth century Christians decided that they needed a celebration around the solstice to compete with the pagan ones. Church leaders therefore decided on December 25th for the Feast of the Nativity and it increased in popularity and importance over the following years although Easter was still seen as more significant.

In the middle ages Christmas was a mix of feasting and drinking as well as caroling for money. Behavior tended to be riotous and so religious puritans began to show their disapproval. They felt that it was blasphemous to behave in such a manner while celebrating Christ and so Oliver Cromwell canceled it in 1645. Soldiers even had to check on people to make sure that they were not cooking meat. A similar viewpoint was taken by Puritan sin America and Yuletide was banned in Boston for 32 years.

By the late 18th century Christmas was celebrated again in much the manner it is today. Washington Irving from New York, write many Christmas stories which have laid the way for many of the traditions that are celebrated today. Prince Albert introduced the Christmas tree to Britain and a popular engraving of his family in front of it led to the tradition being taken up all over the country.

By the 20th century Christmas was a much more commercial event with presents tending to be the main focus.

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For many people the main focus of Christmas is the gifts. Children are excited by the prospect of receiving presents and the adults spend a long time shopping for the right thing and hunting for bargains all through the year.

Parents are also happy when they receive their Christmas Gifts, like moms for an example.

Gift giving does seem to stem from the belief that gifts were presented to Christ just after he was born. Some Churches still celebrate the day that the magi arrived with gift giving rather than exchanging gifts on December 25th which is the usual custom.

Romans tended to trade gifts during Saturnalia and French nuns distributed gifts to the poor on St Nicholas Eve in the 13th century. But it was not until the 18th century that gift giving started to become more common.

Gifts were supposed to be a representation of Gods gift of Christ to mankind or the gifts that were given to the baby. However, in the 18th century stores started advertising Christmas gifts in newspapers. Within 20 years Santa Claus appeared everywhere and in 1867 Macy’s stayed open until midnight on Christmas Eve so that everyone had time to do all of their gift buying.

These days stores start to bring out their Christmas things in September and decorate in October. They really want to cash in with what has become a massive commercial operation. Many stores rely on Christmas to bring in more sales than any other time of the year which is why they start to get everything in the shops so early. It means that almost a quarter of the year has them focusing on getting consumers to buy Christmas gifts.

Some people like this as it means that they can buy early and spread the expense but others find it very annoying. It can mean that you end up spending more money as you buy something early to later find something much better that you buy as well.

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