American Christmas?

[estepheia]

Did you miss me? I had an awfully busy week and an even busier weekend. I spent this weekend stocking the kids' advent calendars with second hand lego, chocolate, and some change (Tina is saving for a gameboy); I also translated for several hours, tidied, did laundry, dug out the Christmas decorations, went to a puppet theatre with hubby and the kids, and set up several Playmobil auctions in ebay. As you can see, I was too busy to keep in touch with LJ. I probably won't have the time to catch up either, because I have tons of laundry to fold - now that the kids are in bed (I'll sweeten the bitter pill with a few S2 epis of Andromeda)
Obviously, I haven't written a thing. But I feel kinda productive and virtuous, which usually means I'll get into writing mode soon.

I have not signed up for Secret Slasha (*sob*) because I don't want another WIP. Having said that I'd like to ask a few questions about American Christmas customs because I'd like to use the info as background for a Christmas-y fic I'm planning:
When do people get the tree? What are vital elements of a successful Christmas event? What do you eat? When does the mistletoe go up?

Comments

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Yay for cleanliness and productivity! ::hugs::

[flaming-muse.livejournal.com]

Hello, you amazingly productive woman! Nice to see you around. :)

The answers to your Christmas questions are: it depends. Every family does it differently.

I have some friends who go and pick a fresh tree the day after Thanksgiving (or earlier - they might tag their tree at a farm as early as Hallowe'en) and have it up all month. My parents tend to put up their tree around the middle of December, and I put ours up by the 10th or so. (We also have an artificial tree, due to bad experiences with cats and live trees in the past.) Mistletoe (also fake, in our case) would probably go up around the same time as Christmas decorations, which would be in the first half of December. Wreaths on the doors would be a part of that, though not everyone has wreaths; we have jingle bells on the front door. Some people wrap their front doors like big presents. In our neighborhood this year, lights on houses went up as early as the weekend before Thanksgiving.

As for Christmas events, Christmas parties before the day take many forms. I've gone to ones that were formal and had sit-down dinners, while others are more focused on appetizers, chatting, and singing carols.

Our traditional family Christmas dinner is actually Wienerschnitzel (though we make it with pounded chicken these days), but growing up my parents had turkeys or big roasts, kind of like Thanksgiving.

Opening presents also depends on the family. My tradition is to open gifts on Christmas morning, but some families open them on Christmas Eve and others wait until Christmas afternoon. mr. muse's family tears into all of their presents at once, while we watch each person open up each gift. Some people open their stockings as soon as they get up, while others wait to open them with the rest of the presents.

That's probably not as helpful to you as you'd like, but pretty much every family does its own thing. My family has very strong traditions, while others do whatever they feel like on a given year. :)

[libco.livejournal.com]

As for parties, many have fancy cocktail type parties with eggnog, etc. Heavy hor'doerourves mostly for food-most folks don't do the Christmas dinner thing unless its family. And my family never sits down for Christmas dinner. We pretty much snack all day but that may be because everyone visits all day. As Mexican Americans we eat tamales for Christmas. When I'm having a party is when I put the mistletoe up-otherwise I don't bother.

[zubiemom.livejournal.com]

Everybody does it differently here, but the trees are generally on sale the day after Thanksgiving. We have an artificial tree (allergy problems when we had real ones), and I put it up Thanksgiving weekend. We don't do mistletoe since it's toxic. Between the dogs and the cats, nothing is safe, even hanging from the ceiling, so we just don't bring toxic vegetation into the house. And even though I have no children, there are 7 stockings hanging off the bookcases in my living room (we don't have a fireplace) - one for each of the 5 dogs and 2 cats. The puppy will have her picture taken with Santa next weekend, so it can join the other Santa pictures on my desk at work.

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

When do people get the tree?

Anytime after Thanksgiving, up till Christmas Eve.

Some folks, literally, go out the day after Thanksgiving, and get their tree. We'll probably get ours in two weeks.

What are vital elements of a successful Christmas event?

Define 'event'. A Christmas party, or Christmas itself?

Ok, speaking as a non-Christian who celebrates it because I am from a family full of Christians (but it's all mixed up with Yule in my life and in my noggin - as my daughter once said when she was 5, "how many times do I have to tell you, Mom? Christmas IS the Winter Solstice") a successful Christmas includes a real, live tree, with a sheet tucked around it for the presents to sit on, presents, naturally, Yule music (and some secular Christmas music), cookies, hot chocolate, candy, fruit.

My grandfather grew up dirt poor - Christmas for them was a peppermint stick, an orange, and a dime. When I was growing up, he would fill the house with candy and fruit. So, I do, too. :)

On Christmas Eve, my family gets together and eats a customary supper of fried country ham, french fries, and homemade biscuits. Then we open presents. :) Afterward, the grownups have wine and listen to music. The next morning, Santa has left presents for the kids, and we cook a big turkey dinner. :)



What do you eat? When does the mistletoe go up?

[saraslash.livejournal.com]

American Christmas...I feel like individual traditions vary a LOT from family to family, but in my family we put up the tree a week before Christmas. Vital elements would include:

Everyone gets to open one gift the night before. For the kids, it's always pyjamas.

Early Christmas morning, there are stockings, as early as the adults can be persuaded to get out of bed. Then breakfast (with hot cross buns) and after that gifts, starting around 11:00. In the afternoon, we have a big Christmas dinner with turkey/stuffing/mashed potatoes/cranberries/etc.

We don't do mistletoe in my family. We do have an advent calendar, where we open one window each day in December up until Christmas.

[metaforgirl.livejournal.com]

As said above, traditions vary widely from family to family. I suppose, since many of our ancestors came from Europe, there is a little remnant from many cultures in each family's traditions.
When do people get the tree? Supposed to directly after Thanksgiving but what with drying out and fire hazards, usually one waits until a couple of weeks before. Of course, if it's artificial then as soon as possible.
What are vital elements of a successful Christmas event? Drinking. Nah, though the nog doesn't hurt. Usually each family has some kind of tradition that must happen year to year. Ours was singing loudly and off key and visiting Santa Claus at Marshall Field's (department store) downtown.
What do you eat? Weirdly, my mother is of English decent, so plum pudding, which no one wants. My dad is of Swedish decent, so ludaviske which is inedible. But there it is, we have to have it. And then someone makes a turkey so we don't starve.
When does the mistletoe go up? before the boy comes over

[justhuman.livejournal.com]

I'm from the North-East, which means that folks around here tend to identify more with the religious/cultural heritage of their immigrant ancestors. So in Italian and Polish families you might still see all fish dinners on Christmas Eve. My friend with German roots has a glass pickle on her tree. Every family is very different and the others have captured that.

For my family, the tree went up mid-December. With it, all the other decorations were put up. Stockings on the door frame near the tree - many American homes don't have fireplaces. I didn't see an Advent Calendar until college and it was a cardboard affair with cheap chocolate behind each day - your's sounds much more elaborate.

We would bake cookies. And bake cookies. And bake cookies. Some families do many kind, mine did a cream cheese cookie from a cookie press in the shape of trees and wreaths sprinkled with sugar. I make ginger bread houses now. Mine's a hard cookie as opposed to a cakey texture. It's all held together with royal icing and candy.

Mistletoe was completely optional. I'm told that it is harvested in some parts of the US and you find tiny packs of it in some stores. It's one of those things that's talked about, but not always used. Most of our Christmas carols are from England and quite a few of them talk about things that we've got no clue about. 9 out of 10 people on the street have no idea what a figgy pudding' is.

Christmas Eve was the bigger deal in our family. Shrimp, pasta oleo, kielbasa, candied yams, Swedish meatballs, creamed onions and a wild assortment of other foods. The kids could open one gift from a relative. After the kids went to sleep "Santa" would come and deliver the rest of the goodies. Later on when we were older, we went to mid-night mass. "Santa" came at 3 am when the youngest finally went to sleep.

Around 5am the kids get up. In my family we could unload our stockings, but we had to wait forever ;-)for mom and dad to get up. Later on there would be more gifts with the aunts and uncles. Dinner on Christmas was a big traditional meal, like Thanksgiving with either turkey or ham.

I've been a pagan for years and I've incorporated many of the Christmas trappings into my Yule celebration - after all, most Christmas traditions are co-opted pagan ones. I find many pagans focus on the idea of keeping a vigil for the sun's return. My friends would gather at someone's home, stay up all night eating, telling stories, just to see the dawn.

Christmas customs

[collinwood.livejournal.com]

I agree with other comments that everyone does it differently. A big factor is children. When we celebrate at my aunt's house, her grandchildren are a big focus. She actually decorates 2 trees, one real, one fake. The real one goes in the den, and the fake one in the formal living room. All the presents are stacked around the real tree. After a family dinner, presents are opened with much mayhem. (This is often on the Sunday before Christmas.)As a contrast, my husband and myself, usually with my father-in-law have a very sedate celebration. We have a fake tree. It is already put up, but not decorated. Thanksgving weekend is a good time to do the time-consuming chores like tree-assembly, and putting up outdoor decorations like lights and set pieces like fake deer and snowmen. (See National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) Again, the degree out elaborateness of these decorations usually depends on whether you have kids. We just stick a wreath on the door. Some neighborhoods have competitions for outdoor displays.

[poshcat.livejournal.com]

Hi, I was just cruising the LJ strip, and ran into your post. I hope you don't mind me joining in. Some Christmas details you may find useful (even though they're Canadian details, but still):

When getting/decorating the tree (the second week of Dec??), someone will do all the work, someone will bitch throughout, someone will watch Trading Spaces/play Gameboy instead of participate, and someone will grimly attempt to recreate their wondrous childhood tree-decorating memories which are cut almost entirely from fantasy.

The vital elements of a successful family Christmas event are booze and denial. That will get anyone through anything. That, and a ham ball.

Mmm...Christmas party food. Nuts to crack. Seafood dip. Spinach dip. Olives. Endless cheese and crackers. Chocolates, chocolates, and more chocolates.

I have never seen mistletoe go up in real life, ever. Lots of open-mouthed kissing even without it, but that was at company Christmas parties, mind you. If you simply must have mistletoe make an appearance in your story, any time during the month of December would be accepted by any North American.

Ah, the holidays. :0) Good luck with your story, and your laundry too.

LOL.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Heee. Thanks.
Finished the laundry last night. Took me 4 episodes of Andromeda to get through the pile. But at least I had the pleasure of watching JM play Charlemagne Bolivar. Christ, he looks delicious in that episode. Absolutely lickworthy. *sigh*

The story is progressing nicely. Ladycat and I are planning an advent calendar like fic, with a little post every day. :-)
I'm currently describing the tree. And there will be mistletoe.

I enjoyed your snarky account of Christmas customs and will bear them in mind. :-D Thank you very much.

[hellsbells.livejournal.com]

Can I just jump in here and say how interesting it's been to read how different Christmas customs vary.

I'm in the UK and I don't know about anyone else, but here the decorations go up in shops any time from the beginning of October. So, by the time Dec 25th actually arrives, you're sick of the sight of tinsel!

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

So, by the time Dec 25th actually arrives, you're sick of the sight of tinsel!
I can imagine! I feel the same way.
And yeah, the posts were very interesting.

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

The short answers to all of these: depends.

In my family:

When do people get the tree?

Sometimes as late as Christmas Eve -- usually the weekend before Christmas.

What are vital elements of a successful Christmas event?

Our tradition is to decorate the tree ahead of times, hang stockings, go to bed. (When I was a kid and believed in Santa, I left out cookies for him and carrots for the reindeer, and my parents put the "Santa" presents under the tree while I was asleep.) In the morning we get up early, come downstairs in pajamas, and open the under-the-tree presents, taking turns until they're all done. Then we have a big fancy breakfast with some kind of gourmet treat we don't usually get -- fancy jam or honey, cream and bananas or raspberries, bacon, crumpets, eggs, cocoa, grapefruit, that sort of thing. Then we take our coffee back into the living room to open the stocking presents.

Later in the day we play with our toys, call our extended family, make a fire, sometimes visit friends or go to the movies, and usually eat a nice dinner (rack of lamb, crown roast, duck, and suitable side dishes), but it's really the morning that is the focus of it, and the immediate family. We also make special cookies (nut tarts, chery shortbread, cut-out cookies, Swedish (butter nut) cookies in powdered sugar. We get out special Christmas dishes and decorations, listen to Christmas music, etc.

Mistletoe is not a big deal in our house. We have a little artificial branch that goes up with the rest of the decorations any time after Thanksgiving and before Christmas depending on free time and energy, and hardly anyone notices it.

Mer