Celebrity Christmas

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" sizcache="2269" sizset="0" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody sizcache="2269" sizset="0"><tr sizcache="2269" sizset="0"><td sizcache="2269" sizset="0" style="text-align: center;"><div sizcache="2269" sizset="0"><div sizcache="2269" sizset="0"><span class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged" sizcache="2269" sizset="0" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reformation.gif" style="display: block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Reformation and Counter Reformation in Europe...." height="281" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Reformation.gif/300px-Reformation.gif" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" sizcache="2269" sizset="1" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reformation.gif">Wikipedia</a></span></span></div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Protestant lands in blue.<br />Catholic lands in olive.</td></tr></tbody></table>Christmas during the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages" rel="wikipedia" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> was a public festival that incorporated ivy, holly, and other evergreens. Christmas gift-giving during the Middle Ages was usually between people with legal relationships, such as tenant and landlord. The annual indulgence in eating, dancing, singing, sporting, card playing escalated in England, and by the 17th century the Christmas season featured lavish dinners, elaborate masques and pageants. In 1607, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_I_of_England" rel="wikipedia" title="James I of England">King James I</a> insisted that a play be acted on Christmas night and that the court indulge in games. It was during <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation" rel="wikipedia" title="Protestant Reformation">the Reformation</a> in 16th–17th century Europe, that many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christkind" rel="wikipedia" title="Christkind">Christkindl</a>, and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#Middle_Ages">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#Middle_Ages</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div sizcache="1236" sizset="1"></div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://lilorealtor.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/nicholas-day-is-celebrated-on-december-6th-in-germany/">Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6th in Germany</a> (lilorealtor.wordpress.com)</li></ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" sizcache="1236" sizset="2" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" sizcache="1236" sizset="2" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=862fb9be-8d03-43ba-84f1-de8279fc2b67" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>

Christmas during the Middle Ages

Image via Wikipedia Protestant lands in blue. Catholic lands in olive. Christmas during the Middle Ages was a public festival that incorpor...

<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_in_the_American_Civil_War" rel="wikipedia" title="Christmas in the American Civil War">Christmas in the American Civil War</a> (1861–1865) was celebrated in both the United States and the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America" rel="wikipedia" title="Confederate States of America">Confederate States of America</a> although the day did not become an official holiday until five years after the war ended. The war continued to rage on Christmas and skirmishes occurred throughout the countryside. Celebrations for both troops and civilians saw significant alteration. Propagandists, such as <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nast" rel="wikipedia" title="Thomas Nast">Thomas Nast</a>, used wartime Christmases to reflect their beliefs. In 1870, Christmas became an official Federal holiday when President Ulysses S. Grant made it so in an attempt to unite north and south.<br /><br />Soldiers not actively campaigning celebrated Christmas in several ways. Union soldiers would use salt pork and hardtack, which  is a simple type of <span style="color: #0b0080;">cracker</span> or <span style="color: #0645ad;">biscuit</span>, made from <span style="color: #0645ad;">flour</span>, water, and sometimes <span style="color: #0645ad;">salt</span>. Others were treated to special meals; a captain from Massachusetts treated his soldiers to foods such as turkey, oysters, pies, and apples. However, many soldiers received no special treats or privileges. In one incident on December 25, 1864, 90 Union soldiers from Michigan, led by their captain, dispensed "food and supplies" to poor Georgians, with the mules pulling the carts decorated to resemble reindeer by having tree branches tied to their heads. In some units, celebrating Christmas was not allowed. On December 25, 1862, soldiers of one unit were punished for celebratory gunfire for the holiday, when actually the gunfire was for a funeral salute.<br /><br />Carols, hymns, and seasonal songs were sung during the period, with some, such as "Deck the Halls", "Oh Come All Ye Faithful", and Mendelssohn's "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" (1840), still sung today. American musical contributions to the season include "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (1850), "Jingle Bells" (1857), "We Three Kings of Orient Are" (1857) and "Up on the Housetop" (1860). Although popular in Europe at the time, Christmas cards were scarce in the United States, and would not enjoy widespread use until the 1870s.<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his pacifist poem, "Christmas Bells" on Christmas Day 1863 at the news of his son Lieutenant Charles Appleton Longfellow having suffered severe wounds in November during the Mine Run Campaign. The poem was set to the tune "Waltham" by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Baptiste_Calkin" rel="wikipedia" title="John Baptiste Calkin">John Baptiste Calkin</a> sometime after 1872 and has since been received into the established library of Christmas carols. The carol does not include two stanzas from the original poem that focused on the war.<br /><br />For children, Christmas was altered during the war. Presents were fewer, especially in the devastated South. In We Were Marching on Christmas Day, author Kevin Rawlings notes that some southern children worried about the Union blockade, and one little girl, Sallie Brock Putnam, plotted the course Santa Claus would have to take to avoid it. Sometimes fathers on both sides were allowed furlough, and children were said to react to their fathers as if seeing "near strangers". Excuses for a lack of Santa included Yankees having shot him.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_in_the_American_Civil_War">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_in_the_American_Civil_War</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKE4omNbjrhqDTQT55S7DIwycffI0tp7jsqqgsoE-ahnHep4d1saCVIZ3kIGIoRYlTgvGeiKLWRcnOVBsYkTzo-RzpAJwT1ZzSgPx8vcCNn6ucFEHCWlOf1Tj_UEoZDltLJLTmLAPcGOzF/s1600/220px-1863_harpers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKE4omNbjrhqDTQT55S7DIwycffI0tp7jsqqgsoE-ahnHep4d1saCVIZ3kIGIoRYlTgvGeiKLWRcnOVBsYkTzo-RzpAJwT1ZzSgPx8vcCNn6ucFEHCWlOf1Tj_UEoZDltLJLTmLAPcGOzF/s400/220px-1863_harpers.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa distributes gifts to Union troops.<br />Nast's 1st Santa cartoon, 1863.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lkW5DIqjE0dd31WHl1Ame4RmL3qIteKEoPgZ58eaTgcmxhPat01HOBTU5OG7gF3uwVvjZsj-YnU7yKRaFEoXDV4ikM9ffX6Y2IV-vLl2jwjiU4M0lv2olUrQGzMvez_hQsizHzG_vxYK/s1600/220px-Greeting_Card_Christmas_c1860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lkW5DIqjE0dd31WHl1Ame4RmL3qIteKEoPgZ58eaTgcmxhPat01HOBTU5OG7gF3uwVvjZsj-YnU7yKRaFEoXDV4ikM9ffX6Y2IV-vLl2jwjiU4M0lv2olUrQGzMvez_hQsizHzG_vxYK/s400/220px-Greeting_Card_Christmas_c1860.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A silk greeting card. 1860</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj006Fv2EvpaWBXMSmCGdwwgXOzmL5hfBveQKi0CRT7SHpQaOpN4YpE-iRS5JVnMs_6R0YhyjFGt49T_BhLyyG10hmIl43m3-heWk0ZFd3bzhKhckVMCHrLTstSMflcpDoP6deWeyPJlkbQ/s1600/Nast_Civil_War_Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj006Fv2EvpaWBXMSmCGdwwgXOzmL5hfBveQKi0CRT7SHpQaOpN4YpE-iRS5JVnMs_6R0YhyjFGt49T_BhLyyG10hmIl43m3-heWk0ZFd3bzhKhckVMCHrLTstSMflcpDoP6deWeyPJlkbQ/s400/Nast_Civil_War_Christmas.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A husband and family<br /> separated by war. 1862</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSCh270NDG-KHLBwNI5E69_KX1uHb5iKPAl05HIIcD8riGz6foOPL0sxDoB9ez9EWVlOXap5Wb7dzdUFSHZJYA_tehz0VyFEf05CIs3zWvd1Cq3Odjj4i0cna2pUS-GDloqHxdmW6RqMy/s1600/a9746r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSCh270NDG-KHLBwNI5E69_KX1uHb5iKPAl05HIIcD8riGz6foOPL0sxDoB9ez9EWVlOXap5Wb7dzdUFSHZJYA_tehz0VyFEf05CIs3zWvd1Cq3Odjj4i0cna2pUS-GDloqHxdmW6RqMy/s400/a9746r.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> The lyrics of this beloved carol date<br /> back to the American Civil War.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">Related articles</h6><div class="zemanta-related"><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://marybiever.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/christmas-bells/">Christmas Bells</a> (marybiever.wordpress.com)</li></ul></div><div class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><br /></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=4faf0c5b-62ec-4c17-9021-c4231a327322" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>

Christmas in the American Civil War

Christmas in the American Civil War (1861–1865) was celebrated in both the United States and the Confederate States of America although th...

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Christmas during the Middle Ages

Christmas in the American Civil War

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