It’s easy to assume that what is, always was. This is not the case with Christmas.
Until relatively recently (mid-eighteenth century) the holiday was seen as a time for “behavior that most of us would find offensive and even shocking today—rowdy public displays of excessive eating and drinking, the mockery of established authority, aggressive begging (often involving the threat of doing harm), and even the invasion of wealthy homes.”
Obviously, things have changed. This short article from the Farnum Street Blog explains how “Christmas, as a festival, has changed a lot throughout history, with many of its core modern traditions being more recent than we think or of surprising origin. Historically, Christmas was often a time for upending social structures.”
You’ll appreciate the holiday you have today a little more, versus its surprising earlier versions, “A Look at the History of Christmas.”
