Christmas in Christmas in the United States (USA)

Christmas in America is a $900 billion industry, a federal holiday, a cultural phenomenon, and, for many, a deeply personal family tradition. The country that turned a modest European religious observance into the most commercially significant holiday on earth has a complicated relationship with Christmas. It is simultaneously sacred and secular, intimate and spectacularly public.

How America Reinvented Christmas

The Puritans who settled New England actually banned Christmas celebrations. In Boston, celebrating December 25 carried a fine from 1659 to 1681. It was not until the 19th century that Christmas gained widespread acceptance in the United States, driven by a handful of writers and artists who essentially invented the holiday we know.

Washington Irving's 1819 sketches of old English Christmas customs created nostalgia for traditions most Americans had never practiced. Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' gave Santa his sleigh, reindeer, and chimney entrance. Thomas Nast's Harper's Weekly illustrations between 1863 and 1886 gave Santa his red suit and North Pole workshop. By the turn of the century, the template was set.

The Season's Rhythm

American Christmas begins on Thanksgiving. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, running since 1924, ends with Santa's arrival on a float, symbolically opening the holiday season. The next day, Black Friday, launches five weeks of intensive shopping that accounts for roughly 20% of annual US retail sales.

Trees go up in living rooms during the first weekend of December. Light displays appear on houses and lawns. Office parties fill the calendar. By mid-December, the National Christmas Tree is lit on the White House lawn, a tradition since Calvin Coolidge in 1923.

Christmas Day Traditions

December 25 is a federal holiday, one of only eleven. Children wake early to find gifts under the tree and stockings filled with small presents and candy. Families gather for a large meal that varies by region and heritage: turkey or ham in the South, prime rib in the Northeast, tamales in the Southwest.

Television specials are a fixture. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) air every year. Many families watch them as ritual rather than entertainment.

Regional Differences

Christmas in New England means white clapboard churches, lobster on Christmas Eve, and a reasonable chance of snow. In the South, fireworks on Christmas Eve are common in many communities, and Christmas dinner often includes cornbread dressing and sweet potato casserole. In the Southwest, luminarias (paper bag lanterns) line streets and rooftops, a tradition from Spanish colonial New Mexico.

Hawaii celebrates with a distinct Pacific flair: Santa arrives by outrigger canoe, and the Christmas luau blends Polynesian and American traditions. Alaska, with its long winter darkness, takes Christmas lights seriously, and some communities celebrate with dogsledding events.

Frequently Asked Questions