Traditionally, the Christmas season celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the son of God. His birth date is unknown since there is little information about his early life. There is disagreement among scholars on when Jesus was born. Christians celebrate Jesus’s birthday on December 25.
Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25, i.e., Christmas Day, has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.
The first federal holidays were created in 1870 when Congress granted paid time off to federal workers in the District of Columbia for New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. President Ulysses S. Grant signed legislation making Christmas a federal holiday in the District of Columbia. That gave federal workers Christmas Day off. The legislation, signed into law on June 28, 1870, also made New Year’s Day and July 4th federal holidays as well as Thanksgiving, although the date for that holiday had yet to be determined.
Christmas had been celebrated in some states, especially those in the South where it was part of the social calendar. Alabama declared Christmas a legal holiday in 1836 and Louisiana and Arkansas followed in 1838.
In Northern states, there was considerable pushback about a Christmas celebration. The Pilgrims who arrived in New England did not celebrate Christmas. They saw the holiday as a decadent man-made invention. They were not alone. Anabaptists, Quakers, and Puritans also believed celebrating Christmas was sinful.
The perception of Christmas began to change in the mid-19th century. Immigrants brought their customs with them, and publications featuring cartoonist Thomas Nast’s illustrations of Santa Claus and holiday recipes and decorations became more popular.
During the Civil War, Christmas Day was considered a day of peace and rest, not war.
The five gift rules say that a person should give five gifts to their loved ones: one for each of the following categories: something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read, and a special gift.
Since the holiday, this year, falls on a weekend, the rule is if a holiday falls on a Saturday, the Friday immediately preceding is the legal holiday. If a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is the legal holiday as it is this year of 2022, i.e., the public holiday of Christmas is Monday, Dec. 26, 2022.
Legally speaking, private employers do not have to give their employees time off on days that are designated as holidays by the federal government. Consequently, federal holidays are not an automatic day off. In fact, businesses are generally not even legally required to offer paid vacation.
Although many states recognize most or all federal holidays as state holidays, the federal government cannot enact laws to compel them to do so. Furthermore, states can recognize other days as state holidays which are not federal holidays.
In 567, the Council of Tours “proclaimed the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany (traditionally January 6th) as a sacred and festive season and established the duty of Advent fasting in preparation for the feast.”
Research done by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints generally places the birth of Jesus at some point in early to mid-April, whereas theologian, biblical scholar and author Ian Paul had suggested September or late March.
The origins of Christmas stem from both the pagan and Roman cultures. The Romans celebrated two holidays in the month of December. The first was Saturnalia, which was a two-week festival honoring their god of agriculture, Saturn. On December 25th, they celebrated the birth of Mithra, their sun god.
From ancient times, the season which we now know as Christmas was a midwinter celebration called The Winter Solstice, or Yule. The Winter Solstice, a pagan festival, was a time to celebrate the fact that the worst of winter was over, and the people could look forward to longer days with more sunlight approaching. However, by the 4th A.D., Western Christian churches settled on celebrating Christmas on December 25, which allowed them to incorporate the holiday with Saturnalia and other popular pagan midwinter traditions.
Most religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism do not recognize Christmas and Easter as they are ancient Christian festivals so the only religion to celebrate Christmas and Easter is Christianity. Among Christian sects or denominations which do not recognize the holiday include Quakers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and members of the Churches of Christ. Some of the half-dozen Christian faiths that do no celebrate Dec. 25 contend there is nothing in the Bible that says Christ was born on that day.
The character of Santa Claus is believed to descend from Bishop Nicholas of Myra, who lived in the 3rd or 4th century. St. Nicholas was considered a real man. He is said to be the said bishop, living in what is now modern-day Turkey.
The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting. Others posit that the modern Santa Claus is a direct descendent of England’s Father Christmas, who was not originally a gift-giver. However, Father Christmas and his other European variations are modern incarnations of old pagan ideas about spirits who traveled the sky in midwinter. However, Dutch families took the tradition of celebrating the feast day of Saint Nicholas with them to New Amsterdam in the American colonies, beginning as early as the 17th century. They referred to him as Sinterklaas. That name became Santa Claus to the English-speaking majority in the early United States.
For atheists, holiday celebrations can range from nonexistent to the full family affair. Some groups have started celebrating “Newtonmas,” named in honor of English scientist Isaac Newton, who was born December 25 by the Julian calendar in use in England at the time.
The American political cartoonist Thomas Nast fashioned Santa Claus’s image on the pages of the American magazine, Harper’s Weekly. In 1862, Santa was a small elflike figure who supported the Union. Nast continued to draw Santa for 30 years, changing the color of his coat from tan to the red he is known to wear today. St Nicholas, who was the historical figure on whom Santa Claus is based was originally seen as wearing red, since that was the color of the religious robes he would have worn for his role as the Bishop of Myra in Turkey. The red suit was first mentioned in 1881 when Thomas Nast illustrated the poem, “Twas the night before Christmas,” authored by Clement Clarke Moore and brought Santa to life. His drawing included all the features from Mr. Moore’s poetic description but also showed Santa in a bright red suit and carrying a black sack of toys.
SantaClaus.com states that Santa’s birthday is on March 15. When Santa Claus says, “Ho ho ho,” it is actually an expression of deep joy and happiness. The sound one hears is simply Santa laughing, because he is truly a holly jolly happy fellow.
The foregoing is just a brief and general overview of Christmas Day.
If you have any additional Questions regarding the foregoing or have any legal issue or concern, please contact the law firm of CASERTA & SPIRITI in Miami Lakes, Florida.