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Christmas in America: A History by Penne Lee Restad (Paperback, 1997)

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The manger or Macy's?. Virginians hunted, danced, and feasted. Puritan New Englanders denounced the whole affair. --The New Republic"Reading this book is a bit like taking the hand of the Ghost of Christmas Past in Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

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The manger or Macy's? Americans might well wonder which is the real shrine of Christmas, as they take part each year in a mix of churchgoing, shopping, and family togetherness. But the history of Christmas cannot be summed up so easily as the commercialization of a sacred day. As Penne Restad reveals in this marvelous new book, it has always been an ambiguous meld of sacred thoughts and worldly actions-- as well as a fascinating reflection of our changing society. In Christmas in America, Restad brilliantly captures the rise and transformation of our most universal national holiday. In colonial times, it was celebrated either as an utterly solemn or a wildly social event--if it was celebrated at all. Virginians hunted, danced, and feasted. City dwellers flooded the streets in raucous demonstrations. Puritan New Englanders denounced the whole affair. Restad shows that as times changed, Christmas changed--and grew in popularity. In the early 1800s, New York served as an epicenter of the newly emerging holiday, drawing on its roots as a Dutch colony (St. Nicholas was particularly popular in the Netherlands, even after the Reformation), and aided by such men as Washington Irving. In 1822, another New Yorker named Clement Clarke Moore penned a poem now known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, virtually inventing the modern Santa Claus. Well-to-do townspeople displayed a German novelty, the decorated fir tree, in their parlors; an enterprising printer discovered the money to be made from Christmas cards; and a hodgepodge of year-end celebrations began to coalesce around December 25 and the figure of Santa. The homecoming significance of the holiday increased with the Civil War, and by the end of the nineteenth century a full- fledged national holiday had materialized, forged out of borrowed and invented custom alike, and driven by a passion for gift-giving. In the twentieth century, Christmas seeped into every niche of our conscious and unconscious lives to become a festival of epic proportions. Indeed, Restad carries the story through to our own time, unwrapping the messages hidden inside countless movies, books, and television shows, revealing the inescapable presence--and ambiguous meaning--of Christmas in contemporary culture. Filled with colorful detail and shining insight, Christmas in America reveals not only much about the emergence of the holiday, but also what our celebrations tell us about ourselves. From drunken revelry along colonial curbstones to family rituals around the tree, from Thomas Nast drawing the semiofficial portrait of St. Nick to the making of the film Home Alone, Restad's sparkling account offers much to amuse and ponder.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Oxford University Press Inc
ISBN-13
9780195109801
eBay Product ID (ePID)
94748692

Product Key Features

Author
Penne Lee Restad
Publication Name
Christmas in America: a History
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Subject
General Knowledge
Publication Year
1997
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
230 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height
204mm
Item Width
136mm
Item Weight
212g

Additional Product Features

Title_Author
Penne Lee Restad
Topic
Religious History
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

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item 1 Christmas in America: A History by Penne Lee Restad (English) Paperback Book
AU $61.01
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item 2 Penne Lee Restad Christmas in America (Paperback)
AU $70.88
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item 3 Christmas in America: A History
AU $96.03
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4 out of 5 stars
by papaboss31910 Oct, 2008
Christmas in America
Christmas in America by Penne L. Restad gives a very nice look at how the customs of Christmas were molded and shaped from all the various religious and secular traditions brought here by imigrants from all over the world into what has become a truly American Christmas. The book is well written, smooth flowing and very interesting for anyone interested in how our current traditions came to be. It details the influence of religion (although the Church itself stayed away from Christmas celebrations for a time) and merchants in forming the holiday season we now know. I found this book informative and enjoyable reading and would recommend it.

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Christmas in America: A History by Penne Lee Restad (Paperback, 1997)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Dimensions

Additional Product Features

All listings for this product

item 1 Christmas in America: A History by Penne Lee Restad (English) Paperback Book

item 2 Penne Lee Restad Christmas in America (Paperback)

item 3 Christmas in America: A History

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Most relevant reviews

Christmas in America

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