10 Beloved American Christmas Traditions and Why We Love Them
“Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.”
“You stink. You smell like beef and cheese. You don’t smell like Santa.”
“I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.”
“Why is the carpet wet, Todd?”
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night! And when I wake up, I’m gettin’ a CAT scan!”
Extra Credit:
“If this is their idea of Christmas, I gotta be here for New Year’s!”
>>The answers, in order: It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, A Christmas Carol or The Man Who Invented Christmas, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Santa Clause, and the controversial (and not family friendly) Die Hard.
As Americans, we love trivia, movies, and parties – and generally do things over the top. It’s what we’re known for. We like the biggest fireworks displays, music festivals, and Superbowl half-time shows. The same is true of how we celebrate Christmas. Many of our beloved traditions were inspired by or originated in other places and times – but once we got hold of them – we Americanized the heck out of them to fit our style and swagger.
For fun, we’re looking at ten American Christmas traditions to understand what brings the extra sparkle to our nation’s approach to this warmest, brightest, and most wonderful time of year.
1. Christmas Trees
The idea of a decorated tree indoors originated in Germany in the 1800s. Some believe Martin Luther was the first to use wires to attach candles to his family’s Christmas tree to simulate the stars he had witnessed on his walk through a winter forest. The tradition began to catch on in other nations after the popular and fashionable Queen Victoria (and her German husband) were featured with the family in a magazine in 1846, illustrated gathered around a decorated Christmas tree.
Americans began to take notice, and by early in the 20th century, the practice of decorating a tree began to take hold. In 1882, Thomas Edison’s associate, Edward Johnson, developed string lights (deemed safer than candles many still used). Eventually, homes began to glow with this new technology.
Today, the Christmas tree is central to holiday décor, with more than 94 million homes displaying one or more decorated trees inside and outside the house. For us, the main tree displays white lights with our collection of angels gathered throughout my life and travels, and a more jolly and colorful tree is in the basement rec room. One of our neighbors creates a new design for their Christmas tree each December. Others deck their tree with their favorite sports team colors. Then, some families show off the kids’ handmade ornaments and strung popcorn.
The American Christmas tree can be wildly extravagant or beautifully humble. Each brings its own American flair to our Christmas celebration!
2. Lights on Our Houses
We mentioned Edward Johnson, who brought America its first electric Christmas lights. Several years later, around 1890, General Electric began producing string lights, making them more readily available. Since their early development, the quality of the lights and the price have decreased. And Americans are hooked!
More than 150 million light sets are sold yearly, and we have learned that with them, almost nothing is out of reach. The Gay family in New York holds the Guinness World Record (for lights on a residential property) with 720,000 lights, which breaks out to 40 miles of string lights and roughly eight miles of extension cords. No report on what their electric bill looks like.
If you can’t make it to New York this year, you might want to check out Travel & Leisure’s list of “The Best Christmas Light Displays in Every State.”1
3. Gift Giving
If your love language is gifts, this season is the big dance.
As Americans, we go over the top in gift giving, spending on average $902 apiece. That comes out to roughly $965 billion last year.2 It’s what we do. While in many ways it shows our cultural leaning toward excess, wisely navigated, we can use it to teach our kids the joy of giving and the virtue of gratitude.
To pin down when the idea of Christmas gifting started, one might think of three kings who traveled with gifts for a toddler, Jesus. He was the greatest gift of all – God joining humanity to rescue us. His grace, love, and provision are hard to ignore, and our gifts to one another show a meaningful, though imperfect, picture of His giving nature.
Though we’ll never match the gift of our Savior, the beauty of a carefully chosen and thoughtfully wrapped gift is our way of expressing generosity – the spirit of the season.
4. Black Friday
For me, Black Friday has lost a bit of its luster. I fondly remember trekking out in the bitter cold at 4 am to stand in line clutching a cup of coffee to save twenty dollars on a GameBoy for my daughter. Just me? Many of us would pore over the advertised sales in the newspaper on Thanksgiving evening, formulating a plan to grab the best deals and special today-only offers before dawn.
Apparently, the term Black Friday came from the overextended police force in Philadelphia back in the 50s. The day after Thanksgiving was marked by massive crowds of shoppers and tourists who traveled to Philly for the coming Army-Navy game that weekend. It caused cops to work extra shifts and deal with additional headaches. It was a day to dread for them, so they named it Black Friday.
Our nation has shifted when it comes to holidays, with workers asked to keep stores open even on holidays like Thanksgiving. Black Friday has bled into what used to be family time. And this year, Black Friday sales seemed to last all month long.
So, the thrill is gone. While no one really likes to shop before sunrise, there was something about Black Friday the way it used to be. Don’t you agree?
5. Christmas Movies
We all have our favorite. What’s the walking dog for you? It’s a Wonderful Life? White Christmas? Home Alone?
Movies and Christmas TV shows like A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and The Little Drummer Boy have been central to the American Christmas experience all our lives.
Though the first Christmas movie, Santa Clause, was created in 1898, a silent film depicting Santa bringing gifts to sleeping children, its creator probably had no idea what lay ahead for seasonal entertainment. The most significant development in holiday cinema has been the Hallmark phenomenon, which has us glued to the tube for predictable yet somehow engaging holiday romance stories. As an alternative, Great American Christmas appeared after Hallmark slowly became less family-friendly. The new channel enlisted former Hallmark actors and actresses and more wholesome fare with traditional – and often Christian values.
Whether you fancy the TV romantic Christmas genre, the new theatre releases – or classic movies we’ve loved for decades, we have more at our fingertips than we can possibly watch. So, grab a snuggly blanket and your family to enjoy a little Christmas movie magic!
6. Cookies for Santa
This long-held tradition has a rich and meaningful origin story. I don’t know about you, but growing up, we always prepared a plate with cookies and a glass of milk – and carrots for the reindeer. Predictably, they were always partially eaten when we rushed downstairs on Christmas morning.
The practice began in the 1930s during the hardship of The Great Depression. Leaving cookies and milk for Santa taught the children that even when times are hard, giving to others is a value to embrace.
7. Regional Christmas Traditions
From coast to coast, Americans like to celebrate in style. There are unique offerings in all 50 states, such as Arizona’s giant tumbleweed Christmas tree and Rhode Island’s tree, made entirely of lobster traps.
Colorado invites skiers in Santa costumes to hit the slopes together, and California, in similar fashion, hosts a Surfing Santa competition. More regional traditions include Louisiana’s log pyramid bonfires all along the Mississippi to light a path for “Papa Noel” (the Cajun Santa) to find his way on Christmas Eve.
Another unique practice is Minnesotans dining on “lutefisk” at Christmas. After reading how it’s prepared – I have mixed feelings about this one! In Montana, they host “ice-climbing,” and Santa rappels down the famous Chimney Rock in North Carolina. You can view the house from A Christmas Story in Ohio (leg lamp and all) or fire “Christmas Guns” in Ohio.
Unique experiences are everywhere, illustrating our fellow Americans’ diverse beauty, creativity, and ingenuity. To learn more about these and other events and experiences found in every state during the season, try an internet search using the phrase “unique Christmas traditions by state.”
8. Santa Claus
St. Nicholas was a Dutch Orthodox saint in the 4th century. He was real, and Santa Claus is a name taken from this generous man of God. He had a reputation for secretly giving gifts to help those in need. His story is fascinating and is the origin of Santa. If you’d like to learn more, we recommend a book by historian William J. Federer, There Really is a Santa Claus – History of Saint Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions.
In Europe, many celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6th and receive goodies – candy and small items in their boots left outside the door overnight. The poem “The Night Before Christmas” was formerly titled “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” and was initially published in 1823. That work and illustrations in Harper’s Weekly by Thomas Nast inspired our visions of Santa as the jolly man dressed in red who slides down millions of chimneys every December 24th.
9. Christmas Eve Service
A Christmas Eve church service may mark the end of the hustle and busyness of your Christmas prep. Suddenly, unusual quiet and reverent ambiance surrounds you as strains of “O Holy Night” rise over the congregation. You gaze at your family, dressed nicely, lined up, and behaving (hopefully) – with eyes sparkling in the candlelight. All that’s left is to reflect on gratitude for this one-of-a-kind group of people you love more than life. It’s why you worked so hard through this month to prepare for tonight – and Christmas day.
Then again, your service may be a loud and boisterous celebration if that’s your church’s style. A worship party worthy of a newborn king. Such is the beauty of our differences and our shared values and faith. America welcomes all to celebrate and worship in their own way.
10. The Christmas Story
Americans embrace the nativity as both central to the holiday and a welcome contrast to the commercial side of the season. From our nation’s earliest days, our founders understood the concept of God sending His son to earth as a baby. And so do we. It was a sacrifice of deepest love as the Creator of everything humbled Himself to be confined within His creation and to die to give us a way back to Him forever.
My mom has more than 100 nativities. They came from all over the world – from Italy, Thailand, Africa, France, Spain, Brazil, Egypt, and pretty much everywhere she traveled with my military dad. Looking into those nativity scenes growing up allowed me to see each culture’s unique vision for this story that changed the world forever.
Imagine the frightened amazement of the shepherds in fields that exploded with light as the angel said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12)
And they did.
American moms know how to turn things up for holidays, and it’s my guess that there’s no other place on earth that does it quite like we do. So, pour the eggnog, crank up the Christmas tunes, and celebrate as never before. We at Moms for America wish you the happiest of Christmases as we set our sights on great things ahead in 2025.
God bless us, every one!
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Podcast Note: Rick Green, founder and president of The Patriot Academy, joins us this week to tell the incredible story of Christmas at Valley Forge, where courage and faith brought victory in the face of devastating hardship. Don’t miss this amazing true story.
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