Interlude 2: Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Interlude 2:
Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Celebrations of Christmas began centuries ago in Europe, many countries adopting differing traditions and beliefs which evolved over time. As such, the multicultural United States of America took sparingly from these European mythos, with many different regions incorporating different elements in their celebrations. Universally, the United States celebrates Christmas on the 25th of December, with Christmas Eve also being celebrated. Like in Europe, gift-giving (and the existence of semi-supernatural gift-givers) are commonplace, with gifts being exchanged on the 25th.Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Santa Claus (Eastern United States):
Originating from the Dutch Sinterklaas, Santa Claus is traditionally depicted as a Dutch sailor, green-vested and jolly, who drives ashore and delivers gifts to the children. Brown-bearded and big-bellied, it is tradition of children to leave oliekoek (also known as Dutch doughnuts) out for Santa to eat as he delivers his gifts. In regions away from the coast, Santa Claus is depicted the same, but instead he docks his ship and delivers gift by sleigh, pulled by a team of deer.
Santa Claus, as aforementioned, originated from Dutch and Low-Lander traditions, but his popularity surged following the American Revolution. Due to anti-British sentiments in New York City, people began to look into the Dutch ancestry of the port-city. Due to this, the Dutch gift-giver replaced the decidedly Anglo Father Christmas in the aftermath of the Revolution, and his presence became the status-quo.
Father Christmas / Père Noël (Southern and Central United States):
Origins of Father Christmas depends fairly strongly on where one is in the United States. In the Southern United States, he is far more inspired from Anglo traditions (though, much like the South, a boatload of cultures concoct the modern Father Christmas). There, Father Christmas is a white-bearded old man, dressed in red. Much like Santa Claus, he comes at night and delivers gifts, though his method of transportation is scarcely described in many traditional stories. Similarly (though not identically) to Santa, Father Christmas gives gifts to the generous, as opposed to just the good-natured. This likely stems from depictions of Father Christmas in the early-to-mid 18th century, where his popularity in England had declined and he had become more obscure. Stories which called upon "Old Christmas" depict him as a generous, though not-often-seen, soul.
Père Noël, which means Father Christmas in French, is more widely celebrated in culturally French regions of the United States, such as the Old Northwest and along the US-owned Mississippi River. Père closely resembles his Mainland French counterpart, in which he is a wise old man, travelling with his donkey named Gui (French for mistletoe). It is tradition for children, much like for Santa Claus, to leave stuff for Père. However, unlike for Santa, the French tradition is to leave carrots or other food for the donkey, for which Père will leave small gifts like money for the children. Though he is often accompanied by a donkey, this is not always the case. In French regions close to the Mississippi, some regions celebrate a Père Noël that travels up the Mississippi in a pirogue (a type of shallow canoe which is used more often among Cajun communities in the swamplands of Louisiana).
Belsnickel (Pennsylvania and Ohio):
Belsnickel is a combination of the benevolent and malevolent aspects of many gift-giving figures in Europe. While places in Europe traditionally celebrated a gift-giver who is followed by a punishment-dealer, Belsnickel is a combination of the two. Spawning directly from the immigration of Palatinate Germans into Pennsylvania and later into Ohio (the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch), Belsnickel is depicted as a smaller old man, with a grayer beard than his other counterparts. He usually wears disheveled and mismatched furs and clothes, and is often depicted as carrying a large bag which contains his supplies. Slightly more of a trickster, Belsnickel is often celebrated as telling riddles or giving requests to young ones, with the reward being nuts and candies. Described as a knowledgeable one, he knows which children are naughty, and punishes them for any naughty behavior. Though traditionally this was to be done through beating with a switch. However, over time this mellowed into simply gifting the child a birch log.
Morosco (Oregon):
Morosco stems from a mixture of the Russian Ded Moroz (or Morozko) and from the Anglo Father Christmas. This stems, obviously, from the complex history of trade relations between the Russians of Alyaska and the British (and later Americans) of the Pacific Coast. However, Morosco borrows most heavily from the former, being depicted as a wizard, clad in heavy winter boots and holding a magician's staff. He rides on a three-horse sleigh with his granddaughter, Snegurca (again from the Russian equivalent, Snegurka), who helps her grandfather. Over time, Morosco has been seen as illiterate, to which children will write to Snegurca to express what they want for Christmas. Unlike most other gift-givers in the United States, Morosco delivers his gifts in person (though the presence of Snegurca or his sleigh are variable).
Los Reyes Magos (Southern and Caribbean United States):
Derived from both Spanish tradition and the strong Catholic sentiments of formerly Spanish territories, Florida and the Caribbean follow Spanish principles in terms of gift-giving, in that it is done through the Biblical Magi (also known as the Three Wise Men). Much like Père Noël, children who believe in Los Reyes Magos leave stray grass in boxes to feed the Wise Men's camels. As per Biblical descriptions, the Three Wise Men are Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar. The last of these three Kings historically was represented through the use of blackface, though in recent years Seminoles and other African-Americans have begun to see greater employment as impersonators of Balthazar.
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A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! In the next coming days expect a somewhat accurate map of where in this USA what version of the famous holiday gift-giver is used. This is all subject to change of course, but I really enjoyed writing this!
