Six tips for families to make the best of Christmas and the holiday season this year. Here are some simple ways to get rid of all the clutter from the holiday season. They’re some of the most important people on your holiday shopping list. Christmas is the one time of year where collections of finely knit, red-and-green light-up sweaters adorned with bows, glitter, and knick-knacks emerge after being stowed away in cardboard boxes all year. These glorious garments make their debut only during this special season. The holidays are the perfect excuse to spread cheer to those around you and, in doing so, help you enjoy the holiday more, too.
The best known of these figures today is red-dressed Santa Claus, of diverse origins. The name Santa Claus can be traced back to the Dutch Sinterklaas, which means simply Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was a 4th-century Greek bishop of Myra, a city in the Roman province of Lycia, whose ruins are 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from modern Demre in southwest Turkey. Among other saintly attributes, he was noted for the care of children, generosity, and the giving of gifts.
In the United States, it has been calculated that a quarter of all personal spending takes place during the Christmas/holiday shopping season. Census Bureau reveal that expenditure in department stores nationwide rose from $20.8 billion in November 2004 to $31.9 billion in December 2004, an increase of 54 percent. In other sectors, the pre-Christmas increase in spending was even greater, there being a November–December buying surge of 100 percent in bookstores and 170 percent in jewelry stores. In the same year employment in American retail stores rose from 1.6 million to 1.8 million in the two months leading up to Christmas. Industries completely dependent on Christmas include Christmas cards, of which 1.9 billion are sent in the United States each year, and live Christmas Trees, of which 20.8 million were cut in the U.S. in 2002.
Radio has covered Christmas music from variety shows from the 1940s and 1950s, as well as modern-day stations that exclusively play Christmas music from late November through December 25. Hollywood movies have featured new Christmas music, such as “White Christmas” in Holiday Inn and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Traditional carols have also been included in Hollywood films, such as “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” in It’s a Wonderful Life , and “Silent Night” in A Christmas Story. American Christmas songs include religious carols and hymns, as well as secular songs featuring goodwill, Santa Claus, and gift-giving.
It followed Saturnalia, a festival where people feasted and exchanged gifts. The church in Rome began celebrating Christmas on December 25 in the 4th century during the reign of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, possibly to weaken pagan traditions. As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed.
In the East, the birth of Jesus was celebrated in connection with the Epiphany on January 6. This holiday was not primarily about the nativity, but rather the baptism of Jesus. Christmas was promoted in the East as part of the revival of Orthodox Christianity that followed the death of the pro-Arian Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The feast was introduced in Constantinople in 379, in Antioch by John Chrysostom towards the end of the fourth century, probably in 388, and in Alexandria in the following century. From furniture to seasonal décor, housewares to gifts, food & drinks to paper and party goods—your Christmas Tree Shops andThat! Our ever-changing selection of surprising finds offers endless possibilities to celebrate both special occasions and everyday living at a great value!
