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Holiday perennials
are rooted in myths,
advertising gimmicks
ByGwenTietgen
Staff writer
Most people know little about the reasons why they kiss
under the mistletoe or why around the holidays they start
singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Something else many may not know is that a lot of hol
iday traditions are rooted in myths, advertising gimmicks
and stories.
The Daily Nebraskan asked some University of
Nebraska-Lincoln students if they knew the origins of hol
iday traditions.
“I know the mistletoe is a parasite that grows on fir
trees, and people are supposed to kiss if caught underneath
it,” said Teresa Johnson, a UNL junior English and psy
chology major.
Geoff Reno, a sophomore psychology major, described
what he knew about Santa Claus.
“I know Santa Claus came from St. Nicholas of
England who was considered a saint and gave gifts to the
needy.”
v. Chris Wittrig, a sophomore economics major at UNL,
said: “All I know is he’s a really cool guy who gives out pre
sents.”
When asked what she knew about Rudolph, Kim Hyde,
a sophomore international studies major, said the deer was
one of Santa’s reindeer, and she knew of Rudolph only
through the song.
The very origin of Christmas and why it is celebrated
on Dec. 25 is also somewhat a mystery, according to sever
al reference books.Scholars believe it’s derived in part from
rites held by pre-Christian Germanic and Celtic peoples to
"I know the mistletoe
is a parasite that
grows on fur trees."
-Teresa Johnson
UNL junior
celebrate tile winter solstice.
Christians believe Jesus Christ,
the son of God, was bom on Dec. 25.
Christmas is a celebration of that birth.
Christmas festivals, generally
observed by Christians since the
fourth century, incorporate pagan cus
toms, such as the use of holly, mistle
toe, Yule logs and wassail bowls,
according to the Funk and Wagnalls
Encyclopedia.
ennstmas trees ana aecorations
had their origin in western Germany.
The trees, symbolizing the paradise tree in Eden, were used
in popular medieval plays about Adam and Eve.
Germans set up a paradise tree in their homes Dec. 24,
the religious feast day of Adam and Eve. They hung wafers
on it and in later tradition the wafers were replaced by cook
ies of various shapes, according to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica.
The mistletoe, an aerial parasite and holiday tradition,
was once believed to have magic powers and medicinal
properties.
Later, the custom of kissing under the mistletoe devel
oped in England. The action once was believed to lead to
marriage, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Pere Noel, Jizo and
Shengdan Laoren are a few names countries use to refer to
a well-known Christmas gift-giver.
Santa Claus, as he is called in the United States and
Canada, is derived from fourth-century patron St. Nicholas.
Although his existence is not proven by any historical
document, tradition says he was a bishop of Myra in the
fourth century.
Nicholas’ reputation for generosity and kindness
brought legends of miracles he performed for the poor and
unhappy.
The Santa Claus known in the United States came to be
in the 19th century.
The image of Santa Claus was influenced by Thomas
Nast, a newspaper cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly during
the Civil War.
Nast’s inspiration for the painting came from Clement
C. Moore’s poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” according to
Civil War Times Illustrated, December 1998.
Another popular holiday character and song, “Rudolph
die Red-Nosed Reindeer,” was an inspiration of Robert
Lewis May, an advertising editor in 1926 for Montgomery
Ward and Co. in Chicago.
Rudolph, a promotional gimmick for the store, first
appeared in a 32-page booklet that was distributed to their
customer according to James H. Barnett’s The American
Christmas: A Study in National Culture.