Old Time Xmas
Winter festivals brighten the dark days of winter in northern Europe. The big squares have a Christmas tree and Christmas markets.
The French have yule logs. The Germans have more than a log, the whole evergreen tree brought into the house and decorated in candles, dating from before the age of electricity.
Finland has holidays to Santa's home, for families with children. Rival Santa theme park villages are in Sweden.
The Roman Catholic churches display nativity scenes showing the birth of baby Jesus in a manger. the story of the animals was made popular by St Francis of Assisi in Umbria in Italy. Christmas carols include Away in A Manger, Good King Wenceslas, and modern Christmas songs about Santa Claus.
Santa Claus is based on the story of St Nicholas who gave dowries to poor girls so they could get married. The story goes that St Nicholas was originally shown wearing green, but a cartoon of Santa in red was so popular that this had become the norm. Recently this traditional story has ben disputed and a department store claims to have started the Santa is a red hat and clothes. However, as the popular saying goes, why let the truth get in the way of a good story.
In the UK in London daylight saving time ends the third weekend in October. The festive
street lights are turned on by a famous personality to attract shoppers to do their pre-Christmas shopping at department stores.
UK Decorations Nationwide
Around the country, indoor shopping malls such as London suburbs Watford in the north, shopping mall have lights and Santa's grotto. Schools are decorated with paper chains. Restaurants hold Christmas dinners featuring decorations and a Christmas cracker for every diner.
Xmas cards are posted, and parcels. Xmas cards are placed on mantel pieces, or strung on string across the room.
Xmas Food and Drink
Clubs such as Harrow Writers' Circle and Harrovians Toastmasters have a Christmas party, in a restaurant or on a bring a dish basis.
Alcohol is often mulled wine, or a punch which is heated, at pubs and parties. You can buy sachets of mulled wine flavouring in supermarkets to add to your hot wine to warm you up on a cold day.
UK Supermarkets sell Christmas crackers, Christmas pudding, mince pies and turkeys. Why turkeys? The turkey is a big bird for the large numbers expected at Xmas dinner. The turkey is served with red cranberry sauce, roast potatoes, green Brussel sprouts. In the UK Xmas gifts are placed under the tree, or at the foot of children's beds to be opened first thing in the morning.
Christmas Cracker Story
The Christmas cracker was started by the Smith family in London. tom Smith was selling sweets successfully until rival companies took over. He saw that the Europeans (the French) wrapped sweets in a paper with both ends twisted, and copied this idea.
His innovation was copied by rivals. So he made bigger wrappers containing a bigger sweet or a selection of small sweets. Sitting looking at a crackling fire, he got the idea of putting something inside the sweet box which would make a noise.
Features of the cracker are a paper hat, a motto, fortune or riddle, and a small gift You can now buy crackers for other occasions such as birthday parties and weddings.
You cannot travel on planes with Xmas crackers because of the cracker taper.
Xmas Celebrations and Entertainment in the UK
The UK in a normal year would have ice skating at rinks set up outdoors in public places. This year Covid-19 restrictions mean that the Tower of London ice rink is not opening. But there is a rink at Hampton Court.
Floats of carol singers tour street, collecting money for charity. Groups of carol singers also go door to door singing and collecting money.
A feature of the UK is pantomimes, musical comedies based on fairy tales, which characters in drag and audience involvement. Popular subjects are Cinderella, Aladdin and Peter Pan and Wendy. Films at cinemas an on TV include Disney favourites including many with Santa and Xmas themes.
In the UK on Christmas day we watch the Queen's speech.
In the USA we would watch the parades from warm California.
January Snow
By January February when we lived in Washington DC it was often snowing. Flights were cancelled. You listened to the news to find out if the school buses were taking children to school. If not the roads were impassable, and the parents would be at home looking after children so lots of offices and shops and businesses would also be closed.
WHITE XMAS
Winter is the start of the ski season.
NEW YEAR
Christmas day concert from Vienna, light classical music, ballet in colourful costumes around tourist sites in Vienna, ending with a song which involves the audience. From the UK the TV channels will broadcast .
In the UK the Xmas lights stay up until January 6th, which is the 12th day of Xmas, as the song says.
Ice skating Hampton Court
India
Over in India the big hotels catering to expats have Xmas trees.
Singapore
The lights go up in streets and on shopping malls, with carols blaring from lamp posts and in lifts. Christmas lights disappear on December 26 and displays switches to Chinese New Year decorations.
USA
Not everybody likes the modern commercial Xmas. The puritans banned Christmas. This was not a popular move and the next regime reintroduced Christmas.
Russia
In Russia, when religion was banned, instead winter festivities featured Grandfather Frost, and the Snow Maiden. In some places the Snow Maiden is his daughter, but often his grand-daughter.
Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, and the Hannukiah
A hannukiah is lit in the USA in The White House and in many cities around the world, such as in Singapore and Ukraine, and Spain.
The hannukiah looks similar to a menorah. But it is not the same. The menorah is a candelabra with seven branches to hold seven candles, one for each day of the week. It is lit for sundown on the eve of the Sabbath. (Strictly speaking, Sabbath starts when you can see three stars, which was a useful guide before modern times, and also in modern times when not everybody could afford a watch or clock, or when you are in a place without access to timepieces.
The Hannukiah, however, is a nine branch candlestick for the eight days of Hannukah, festival of lights, with an extra branch for the candle which lights the others.
Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christmas_dishes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christmas_and_holiday_season_parades
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_objects_dropped_on_New_Year%27s_Eve
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah
About the Author
Angela Lansbury lived most of her life in the UK, but spent three years and several holidays including Christmas in the USA (with her family who loved skiing). She is now based in the UK and Singapore.
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, fashionista. Please share links to your favourite posts or one or more of the blogs
travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com
dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com
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