Some traditions are as old as Father Christmas
Most Christmas traditions are followed the same each year because it reminds people of past Christmases.
Outlining buildings with lights and other outdoor decorations are customary in the U.S. today.
In 1867, Macy's was the first to design a window display around a Christmas theme.
Today, there are indoor and outdoor decorations, limited only by imagination.
For Christians, Christmas is the celebration or recognition of Christ's birth. However, most Christian religions believe Easter, Christ rising from the dead, is more significant than Christmas.
The commercialization of Christmas is not something that happened overnight. It has been a long and steady process that began with folklore and legends.
The date of Dec. 25 was chosen by the Church around 400 A.D. in an attempt to replace various pagan winter solstice celebrations with a Christian celebration.
It is believed Christmas trees originated as early as 700 A.D. in Germany from the annual bringing in the Yule log. The practice spread across Europe, and by the Victorian era, people were decorating trees with candles, candy, and cakes.
The use of mistletoe was a pagan tradition and remains today as a Yuletide ritual with the practice of kissing under it.
Caroling is an old tradition, too. It dates to ancient Greece, and originates in the word "choraulien," meaning "to dance to a flute." By the Middle Ages, it meant "to sing and dance together," and over time caroling became associated with Christmas songs.
In 1867, Macy's stayed open until midnight Christmas Eve to encourage shoppers to purchase gifts for family and friends. The tradition of gift-giving goes back to the Three Wise Men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant Jesus.
In 1880, Woolworth's sold the first manufactured Christmas decorations.
The giving of Christmas cards is a more recent tradition beginning in England. The cards originally were religious but slowly began to include humor and non-religious sentiments.
