CHRISTMAS Past vs Present Which Era Reigns SUPREME!

Christmas Past vs Present Which Era Reigns Supreme?

00:00 A Not So Modern Holiday
01:10 The Greatest Advertisers of All Time
03:22 Christmas: Christ, Saturn and Sol Invictus
05:58 Christmastide, the Twelve Days of Christmas and Advent
08:30 Saint Nicholas
10:08 Christmas Trees
12:00 The Man Who Tried to Steal Christmas
14:30 Santa Claus
16:19 Where Did the Reindeers Come From?
17:48 A Feast for Christ’s Mass
19:55 Victorian Conventions
21:55 Modern Additions

Christmas is nearly as old and in many ways stretches back even further than the time of Christ and the advent of Christianity. It is rooted in Pagan beliefs, yet it is neither entirely old nor modern. Some traditions involved in the celebration of Christ’s Mass each year are thousands of years old, some are only hundreds and some are relatively recent inventions. Here we take a look at the history and development of Christmas, both old and new.


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Barry Cooper, ‘Christmas Carols’, in Sheila Whiteley (ed.), Christmas, Ideology and Popular Culture (Edinburgh, 2008), pp. 88–97.

Sara M. Dodd, ‘Conspicuous Consumption and Festive Follies: Victorian Images of Christmas’, in Sheila Whiteley (ed.), Christmas, Ideology and Popular Culture (Edinburgh, 2008), pp. 32–49.

Fanny Dolansky, ‘Celebrating the Saturnalia: Religious Ritual and Roman Domestic Life’, in Beryl Rawson (ed.), A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds (New Jersey, 2011).

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