Christmas Five: Five British Christmas Traditions Introduced to the United States

The United States is a country of immigrants, and with the arrival of immigrants, Old World traditions emerged. Many American Christmas traditions come from other countries, such as the Christmas tree, which originated in Germany. Settled primarily by the British in the 17th and 18th centuries, of course, many American traditions originated in England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. Our activities, decorations, and even our meals in America come from traditions brought by our ancestors. Check out these five American Christmas traditions from the UK below and let us know your favorite American and British traditions in the comments, Holly and Ivy

In many American homes you will find fireplaces Mantles, shelves and other parts of the house are covered with tinsel and garlands. Some may even have a piece of mistletoe hung under the porch to force kisses on unsuspecting people. All of these green traditions come from England, where decorating a home with these plants was originally a pagan tradition during the winter solstice. Ivy was believed to ward off evil spirits, while the male holly with the female ivy symbolized fertility. As the country converted to Christianity, the evergreen tree symbolized the eternal life that comes with faith in Jesus Christ, and mistletoe also has its origins in pagan culture and fertility, although the reasons appear to have been lost to time. Christmas dinner

This is another American tradition, sitting down to eat with the family on Christmas Day, usually with different flavors of green beans, turkey, lingonberry sauce, yams, this tradition originated in the United Kingdom because of Christmas Festival was originally a festival. In the early days of British Christianity, Christmas was simply a special liturgy to acknowledge the birth of Christ, but as time went on, families began to use the holiday to celebrate with food and drink (if you could afford it) during the Protectorate period , Oliver Cromwell's Puritan *** banned the Christmas feast and actually ordered soldiers to confiscate any food prepared for the holiday. Christmas Carols "KDSP" Christmas carols started from the European continent with S.Francis of Assisi, and eventually spread to the United Kingdom. The British used the ancient tradition of "waswairing" to sing carols, or go from house to house to wish others good wishes. . This is evidenced by the songs "Here We Come, Waswairing" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." As with Christmas dinner, Cromwell banned public singing of carols, but eventually they became more popular during the Victorian era and made their way to the United States.

Christmas Cookies

Now, some would say this is not a tradition in America, but my family has been doing it since I was a kid and we have it here Hundreds of years. Of course, Christmas cookies were invented in 1845 by London confectioner Tom Smith. Smith initially tried selling French Bon candies wrapped in jokes or riddles, but when those didn't come off, he added cracked notes, inspired by the cracked wood in his fireplace. After his death, his son Walter put together paper hats, introduced the cookies to other countries, and figured out how to put something inside. The Twelve Days of Christmas

In the United States today, most people only celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, although originally, Christmas was celebrated for the full twelve days, a tradition brought from England . Unlike in the United States, Christmas celebrations do not begin until Christmas Day, the first day of Christmas, and last until January 5, also known as Epiphany Night or Twelfth Night. Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night cemented the day's importance in British culture. In addition to Boxing Day on the 26th, there are several days celebrating St. Stephen, St. Thomas the Becket and St. Gregory