Christmas

Fülszöveg

his is the first book to encompass all the antiques of Christmas, from early church figures and fine paintings to the massproduced tree decorations and images of Father Christmas that ordinary people first began to buy in the 1860s. The traditions of the festival, with its ancient pagan origins, are traced and linked to the antiques which are now avidly collected. The text follows the popular modern celebration of Christmas, with its roots in the affluent middle classes of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and describes how it evolved from an amalgamation of German, English and American interests. From Germany came the decorated trees and the Christmas fairy, from Italy the domestic Nativity scenes, from Britain the cakes, puddings, carols, wassail and the Lord of Misrule. From America, the eating of turkey, sleighs pulled by reindeer and Rudolph himself. In most families across the world, our celebration is a mixture of all these characters and influences, so that the... Tovább

Fülszöveg

his is the first book to encompass all the antiques of Christmas, from early church figures and fine paintings to the massproduced tree decorations and images of Father Christmas that ordinary people first began to buy in the 1860s. The traditions of the festival, with its ancient pagan origins, are traced and linked to the antiques which are now avidly collected. The text follows the popular modern celebration of Christmas, with its roots in the affluent middle classes of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and describes how it evolved from an amalgamation of German, English and American interests. From Germany came the decorated trees and the Christmas fairy, from Italy the domestic Nativity scenes, from Britain the cakes, puddings, carols, wassail and the Lord of Misrule. From America, the eating of turkey, sleighs pulled by reindeer and Rudolph himself. In most families across the world, our celebration is a mixture of all these characters and influences, so that the festival is just too good to be restricted to Western cultures and is now enjoyed in Japan, with its own traditions in the manufacture of decorations. With its juxtapositions of darkness and light, pagan and Christian, noise and silence, conventions and misrule, the book celebrates the timeless attraction of Christmas and will appeal to everyone who enjoys it, as a celebration of the Nativity and as an opportunity for feasting and giving. Vissza