Christmas, or the more generic âholiday season,â always brings a rush of emotions, but none more than 2020 because of political and COVID-19 anxieties and isolation.
The Christmas season is a mixture of traditional, religious, commercial and cultural aspects that can overload even the steadiest and carefully-minded among us. This year most of us will travel less, window-shop less, visit family and friends less, socially celebrate less. We will have to work at it to make it a âHolly Jolly Christmasâ or to be âHome for Christmas (if only in our dreams).â
The modern American Christmas tradition stems from the popularization of Clement Mooreâs 1822 âTwas the Night Before Christmasâ that presented a fairy tale alternative to the Christian tradition of St. Nicholas celebrated widely throughout Europe. The poem is the basis for the modern notion of Santa Claus with his cheerful, rotund white-bearded face, calling his reindeer by name and bringing toys to children. Mooreâs poem may be the first poem most American kids learn voluntarily.