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Christmas in America$
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Penne Lee Restad

Print publication date: 1997

Print ISBN-13: 9780195109801

Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: October 2011

DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195109801.001.0001

A Traditional American Christmas

Chapter:
(p. 105 ) Chapter 8 A Traditional American Christmas
Source:
Christmas in America
Author(s):

Penne L. Restad

Publisher:
Oxford University Press
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195109801.003.0008

Christmas, if seen in terms of a celebration propagated by the Europeans on American soil as a hand-me-down tradition, went through a massive change and adaptation as Americans looked towards the reinvention of the holiday as their own. This chapter tackles the adaptation and changes Americans inculcated in their version of Christmas in terms of the customs and rituals of the past that were mixed with the modernization, mechanization, and urbanization of the land and society via the transformation of commerce and industry. This created a holiday meaning that now can be said to fit the call of the present times. Through the celebration of Christmas, Americans have found a way to retreat from the usual routines of contemporary life.

Keywords:   modernization, commerce and industry, Christmas, contemporary life, customs

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