Christmas Traditions come from the Dutch
Famous Miami Herald Columnist and Author Dave Berry said about Christmas:
In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it ‘Christmas’ and went to church; the Jews called it ‘Hanukkah’ and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say ‘Merry Christmas!’ or ‘Happy Hanukkah!’ or (to the atheists) ‘Look out for the wall!’
Of course this was long before Kwanzaa.
Today I have a story with pride for you. Pride in being Dutch and knowing how much the Dutch have contributed to the Warm and Fuzzies about Christmas in America. At a time when the Puritans made it unlawful to have a Merry Christmas in Massachusetts, the Dutch partied on Manhattan Island. With St.Nicholas as their sailors Patron Saint, these The good Dutch Fathers, true to the teachings of their forefathers, sailed for the New World with the image of St. Nicholas for a figurehead on their vessel.¬† The story comes from the eBook ” Celebrate the Holidays in Frugal Flair”.
They named the first church they built for the much-loved St. Nicholas and made him patron saint of the new city on Manhattan Island, then called Nieuw Amsterdam and later turned into New York.
Thanks, many many thanks, to these sturdy old Dutchmen with unpronounceable names who preserved to posterity so many delightful customs of Christmas observance. What should we have done without them?
They were quite a worthy people notwithstanding they believed in enjoying life and meeting together for gossip and merrymaking. Christmas was a joyful season with them. The churches and quaint gabled houses were trimmed with evergreens, great preparations were made for the family feasts, and business was generally ’suspended. The jolly old City Fathers took a prolonged rest from cares of office, even ordering on December 14, 1654, that, ” As the winter and the holidays are at hand, there shall be no more ordinary meetings of this board (the City Corporation) between this date and three weeks after Christmas. The Court messenger is ordered not to summon any one in the meantime.”
Now that is the spirit of living and holidays.
Sensible old souls! They were not going to allow business to usurp their time and thought during this joyful season!
The children must have their trees, hung with gifts; the needy must be
especially cared for, and visits must be exchanged; so the City was left to
take care of itself, while each household was busy making ready for the
day of days, the season of seasons.
What a time those brass, and copper treasures, in opening up the best rooms, and newly sanding the floors in devious intricate designs. A huge pile of wood was burned to bake the huge turkeys, pies, and puddings! What pains the fathers took to select the rosiest apples and the choicest nuts to put in each child’s stocking on Christmas Eve.
How fortunate it was that there were no trains or other rapid modes of conveyance to bring visitors from the Puritan Colonies at this season. There was no possibility of any of their strict neighbors dropping in unexpectedly to furnish a free lecture, while the Dutch families were merrily dancing.
The Puritans were located less than two hundred and eighty-five miles distant, yet they were more distantly separated by ideas than by space. But a little leaven was eventually to penetrate the entire country, and the customs that are now observed each Christmas throughout the Eastern, Middle, and Western States, are mainly such as were brought to this country by the Dutch.
Americans have none of their own. In fact, they possess but little that is distinctively their own because they are a conglomerate nation, speaking a conglomerate language.
According to the late Laurence Hutton, ” Our Christmas carols appear to have come from the Holy Land itself; our Christmas trees from the East by way of Germany; our Santa Claus from Holland; our stockings hung in the chimney, from France or Belgium ; and our Christmas cards and verbal Christmas greetings, our Yule-logs, our boars’ heads, our plum puddings and our mince pies from England. Our turkey is, seemingly, our only contribution.” Let us add the squash-pie!
Merry Christmas
PS Of course if you want a much dryer (unproven) version of the history around the Good Old Man you can always out this story.
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