Christmas

A Candid History

Bruce David Forbes

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Paperback

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English

University of California Press
10 October 2007

Social & cultural history; Sociology: customs & traditions

Written for everyone who loves and is simultaneously driven crazy by the holiday season, Christmas: A Candid History provides an enlightening, entertaining perspective on how the annual Yuletide celebration got to be what it is today. In a fascinating, concise tour through history, the book tells the story of Christmas-from its pre-Christian roots, through the birth of Jesus, to the holiday's spread across Europe into the Americas and beyond, and to its mind-boggling transformation through modern consumerism. Packed with intriguing stories, based on research into myriad sources, full of insights, the book explores the historical origins of traditions including Santa, the reindeer, gift giving, the Christmas tree, Christmas songs and movies, and more. The book also offers some provocative ideas for reclaiming the joy and meaning of this beloved, yet often frustrating, season amid the pressures of our fast-paced consumer culture.

DID YOU KNOW

For three centuries Christians did not celebrate Christmas?

Puritans in England and New England made Christmas observances illegal?

St. Nicholas is an elf in the famous poem ""The Night Before Christmas""?

President Franklin Roosevelt changed the dateof Thanksgiving in order to lengthen the Christmas shopping season?

Coca-Cola helped fashion Santa Claus's look in an advertising campaign?

By: Bruce David Forbes
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 13mm
Weight: 227g
ISBN: 9780520258020
ISBN 10: 0520258029
Pages: 196
Publication Date: 10 October 2007
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. First There Was Winter 2. Christmas Comes Late 3. Christmas Is Like a Snowball 4. From Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus 5. And Then There Was Money 6. Wrestling with Christmas Notes Annotated Bibliography Index

Bruce David Forbes, Professor of Religious Studies at Morningside College, is coeditor, with Jeffrey Mahan of Religion and Popular Culture in America (UC Press) and coeditor, with Jeanne Halgren Kilde, of Rapture, Revelation, and the End Times: Exploring the Left Behind Series

Reviews for Christmas: A Candid History

""Colloquial, straightforward, and colorful... Forbes makes the details delicious."" Historian Magazine ""Wonderfully perceptive as well as entertaining."" Santa Fe New Mexican