When Christmas was forbidden

Although it may sound like the Grinch's fantasy, there was a time when Christmas was banned. Interestingly, the ban is connected to Thanksgiving. In that entry I told how Anglicans wished to reduce the number of holidays (96 days annually for Catholics before 1536, not counting Sundays), limiting themselves to a few, such as the days of Humiliation and Fasting, Thanksgiving, Sabbath, Election Day and little else. This allowed them to enjoy 300 days a year of work and a few celebrations, not always joyful, where to think of God.

The Puritans wanted to purify the faith of all pagan influences. That included Christmas and Easter. Many customs with pagan and Celtic roots, such as touching a piece of holly to the Yule log; decorating the house with boughs of holly and mistletoe; building fires and lighting candles; hanging gaudy decorations; wandering and singing to keep the Sun alive; caroling from door to door; or putting on costumed plays. They did not even allow banquets.

Therefore, upon arriving in Massachusetts, having the opportunity to create their own Christian paradise, they stripped away all pagan influences to practice pure Christianity. Although they still considered that their savior was born on December 25, they only celebrated it if it fell on the Sabbath. Otherwise, life, and work, went on.

They were of the opinion that the Bible said nothing about celebrating the birth of Christ. They saw it as a clever trick of the ancient church to attract adherents to Christianity among European pagans, who used to celebrate the beginning of the year around the winter solstice.

Seeing Christ as a manifestation of God, they saw fit to revere him, not venerate him as an idol. It should be added that, as already told in the entry on kissing under the mistletoe, the Christmas festivities were practically an extension of the Roman Saturnalia, so that for twelve days revelry, idleness, drinking and promiscuity predominated. 

In short, the very celebration of Christmas was heresy. Religious pastors could be arrested for offering Christmas services. From 1659 to 1681, anyone caught celebrating Christmas in Massachusetts was fined five shillings, about a typical week's wages.

The ban ended in 1681, but it remained taboo. Well into the 18th century, those who sang carols could be prosecuted for disturbing the peace. Even giving gifts or charitable donations was frowned upon.

Meanwhile, in England, after a series of civil wars between the 1640s and 1650s, during the interregnum, the Puritans imposed their religious fundamentalism. Christmas, Easter and other holy days were banned in 1647. However, the measure was so unpopular that they returned in 1660 with the restoration of the monarchy. In Scotland, because of the eponymous Church, it was observed discreetly. There it would become a national holiday from 1958, in the middle of the 20th century.

This encouraged more Puritans to go to New England, taking their war against Christmas with them. They also came to other places, such as Nassau in the Bahamas and parts of Virginia and New Jersey, but, not being in the majority, the holiday remained.

Some historians argue that the serfs and paupers who came to New England to work, rather than as a matter of faith, may have kept their customs secret. However, it was the great migratory influx in the mid-19th century, especially of Irish, that set the trend. This was also the cause of the popularization of Halloween, which the English had replaced with a day of thanksgiving on November 5 on the well-known Guy Fawkes Day.

The transition from prohibition to celebration was slow. It would be in 1870 when President Ulysses S. Grant proclaimed Christmas as a national holiday to unify the country after the Civil War. This would allow England and part of the United States to enter, along with Albania, Somalia or Tajikistan, among others, in the few countries to ban Christmas.