Portal:Christmas/Selected article
If you wish to add an article for rotation within this portal, please
- Check its unofficial rating by a WikiProject; it must be B-class or higher to qualify
- Add the article in to a subpage of this portal, such as Portal:Christmas/Selected article/#, replacing the "#" with the number above the current highest. For example, if 21 articles are in roation, you would make the number of the article you are creating 22.
- Update the article maximum paramater on the main Portal
- If possible, please accompany the article with a freely-licensed image (such as images released under the GNUFDL, Public Domain.) Fair use images are not permitted, per Wikipedia:Non-free content criteria.
- Update this list accordingly.
Articles in rotation
The Christmas 1994 nor'easter was an intense macro-scale cyclone along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada. It developed from an area of low pressure in the southeast Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Keys, and moved across the state of Florida. As it entered the warm waters of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean, it began to rapidly intensify, exhibiting signs of tropical development, including the formation of an eye. It attained a pressure of 970 millibars on December 23 and 24, and after moving northward, it came ashore near New York City on Christmas Eve. Due to the uncertain nature of the storm, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) did not classify it as a tropical cyclone. The U.S. East Coast was affected by high winds, minor coastal flooding, and beach erosion. New York State and New England bore the brunt of the storm; damage was extensive on Long Island and throughout southeastern New York. In Connecticut, 130,000 households lost electric power during the storm. Widespread damage and power outages were also observed throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where the storm generated 30-foot (9.1 m) waves along the coast.
Christmas in the United States during the post-War years (1946–1964) reflected a period of peace, productivity, and prosperity. Americans staged sumptuous Christmases and enjoyed a variety of holiday foods unknown to previous generations. Several films, foods, toys, and television programs of the era have become American Christmas traditions. Once reliant upon Germany for its ornaments, toys, and even its Christmas customs, America became self-sufficient in the post-War years with Christmas ornaments and toys being manufactured in the United States that were considerably less expensive than their German counterparts. American Christmas customs and traditions such as visits to department store Santas and letter writing to the North Pole remained intact during America's post-War years, but the era generated contributions that have endured to become traditions. NORAD's tracking of Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve, for example, was initiated in 1955 and has become an annual tradition. The stop motion animated film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer remains an annual telecast on American television—almost fifty years after its debut. Several Christmas firsts mark the post-War era that include the first White House Christmas card, the first Christmas postage stamp, the first opera composed for television (Amahl and the Night Visitors), and the first Elvis Presley Christmas album.
A nativity scene is a depiction of the birth of Jesus as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. While the term "nativity scene" typically includes two dimensional depictions in film, painting, printmaking, and other media, the term popularly refers to static, three dimensional, commercial or folk art dioramas, or pantomimes called "living nativity scenes" in which real humans and animals participate. Nativity scenes exhibit (at the minimum) figures representing the infant Jesus, his mother Mary, and Mary's husband, Joseph. Some nativity scenes include other characters from the Biblical story such as shepherds, the Magi, and angels. The figures are usually displayed in a stable, cave, or other structure. Distinctive nativity scenes and traditions have been created around the world and are displayed during the Christmas season in churches, homes, shopping malls, and other venues, and occasionally on public lands and in public buildings. The Vatican has displayed a scene in St. Peter's Square near its Christmas tree since 1982 and the Pope has for many years blessed the mangers of children assembled in St. Peter's Square for a special ceremony.
Baby Jesus theft is the theft of plastic or ceramic figurines of the infant Jesus (or, "Baby Jesus") from outdoor public and private nativity displays during the Christmas season. Some attribute such occurrences to juvenile pranksters while others wonder if the thefts have anti-Christian undertones. The prevalence of such thefts has caused the owners of outdoor manger scenes to protect their property with GPS devices, surveillance cameras, or by other means. Washington DC journalist Daniel Nasaw of the online presence of Britain's The Guardian notes that dozens of communities across America have suffered thefts of Baby Jesus figurines, and, in some instances, entire nativity scenes. He observes that it is unclear whether such theft is on the rise, as it is not tracked by federal law enforcement.
Tirggel are traditional Christmas cookies from Zürich, Switzerland. Made from flour and honey, they are thin, hard, and sweet. Tirggel-like honey cakes were already popular in antiquity. The earliest known baking moulds for similar pastries date to 3rd millennium BC Mesopotamia. The recipe is believed to have come to Northern Europe with the conquests of the Roman Empire. In what is today Switzerland, Tirggel are said to have been used as pagan offertory cakes, cut in the shape of sacrificial animals. Tirggel are first recorded in Zürich as Dirgel in 1461. They have been manufactured there ever since with elaborately carved wooden moulds depicting biblical or regional themes. More recently, the wooden moulds – four of which are exhibited in the Swiss National Museum – have been replaced by polycarbonate casts, which are easier to handle. Tirggel dough is composed of flour, 29% honey,some sugar and water; although one source reports that it is or was made without sugar, which is taken to be an indication of the tirggel's pre-Christian origins.
"A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line) is a poem first published anonymously in 1823. It is largely responsible for the conception of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today, including his physical appearance, the night of his visit, his mode of transportation, the number and names of his reindeer, and the tradition that he brings toys to children. Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably. The poem has influenced ideas about St. Nicholas and Santa Claus beyond the United States to the rest of the Anglosphere and the world. The poem was first published anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823, and was reprinted frequently thereafter with no name attached. Authorship was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore and the poem was included in an 1844 anthology of his works.
Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or simply "Santa", is the legendary and mythical figure who, in many Western cultures, brings gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24 or on his Feast Day, December 6 (Saint Nicholas Day). The legend may have part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of gift giver Saint Nicholas. While Saint Nicholas was originally portrayed wearing bishop's robes, in modern times, Santa Claus is generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots. This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, and films. In the United Kingdom and Europe, his depiction is often identical to the American Santa, but he is commonly called Father Christmas.
Christmas controversy refers to controversy or disagreement surrounding the celebration or acknowledgment of the Christmas holiday in government, media, advertising and various secular environments. Modern-day controversy occurs mainly in the United States, Canada, and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom, and usually stems from the holiday's significant annual role in Western economy in conjunction with its Christian significance in an increasingly religiously diversifying Western society. The term "War on Christmas" is sometimes used to address recent controversy. In recent decades, during the annual approach to December 25, it has been noticed that public, corporate, and government mention of the term "Christmas" has declined and been replaced with a generic term— usually "holiday" or "winter"— and that popular non-religious aspects of Christmas, such as secular Christmas carols and decorated trees are still prominently showcased and recognized, but are vaguely associated with unspecified "holidays", rather than with Christmas. Supporters of using the word "holidays" instead of "Christmas" cite the fact that many of the symbols western societies have come to associate with Christmas were taken from non-Christian pagan traditions that pre-date the birth of Jesus.
Christmas celebrations in Puritan New England (1620-1850?) were culturally and legally suppressed and thus, virtually non-existent. The Puritan community found no Scriptural justification for celebrating Christmas, and associated such celebrations with paganism and idolatry. The earliest years of the Plymouth colony were troubled with non-Puritans attempting to make merry, and Governor William Bradford was forced to reprimand offenders. English laws suppressing the holiday were enacted in the Interregnum, but repealed late in the 17th century. However, the Puritan view of Christmas and its celebration had gained cultural ascendancy in New England, and Christmas celebrations continued to be discouraged despite being legal. When Christmas became a Federal holiday in 1870, the Puritan view was relaxed and late nineteenth century Americans fashioned the day into the Christmas of commercialism, liberal spirituality, and nostalgia that most Americans recognize today.
The Adoration of the Magi is the name traditionally given to the Christian subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worship him. In the church calendar, this event is commemorated in Western Christianity as the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6). The Orthodox Church commemorates the Adoration of the Magi on the Feast of the Nativity (December 25). Christian iconography has considerably expanded the bare account of the Biblical Magi given in the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (2:1-11) and used it to press the point that Jesus was recognized, from his earliest infancy, as king of the earth. In the earliest depictions, the Magi are shown wearing Persian dress of trousers and Phrygian caps, usually in profile, advancing in step with their gifts held out before them. These images use Late Antique poses for barbarians submitting to an Emperor, and presenting golden wreaths, and indeed relate to images of tribute-bearers from various Mediterranean cultures going back many centuries.
Candy Cane Lane is the name given to the 200 block of Summer Street in Duboistown in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania when it is decorated for the Christmas from Thanksgiving to Epiphany each year. In 2007 Candy Cane Lane celebrated its fiftieth anniversary and was honored with a parade and a proclamation by the mayor of the borough proclaiming the month of "December as Candy Cane Lane month forever more in DuBoistown". Summer Street runs north–south in Duboistown, with Winter Street to the west and Spring Street to the east. Summer Street is only two blocks long and the 200 block, between Euclid Avenue (which is also Pennsylvania Route 654) to the north and Highland Avenue to the south, is the part called "Candy Cane Lane". The 200 block of Summer Street has only thirteen houses on it: five on the west side and eight on the east. All of these houses are heavily decorated for the holidays with lights and figures. The proclamation for the fiftieth anniversary of Candy Cane Lane specifically recognized six residents of Summer Street who have lived there the entire fifty years.
The badnjak (Cyrillic: бадњак, Serbian pronunciation: [ˈbadɲaːk]) is a log brought into the house and placed on the fire on the evening of Christmas Eve, a central tradition in Serbian Christmas celebrations. The tree from which the badnjak is cut, preferably a young and straight oak, is ceremonially felled early on the morning of Christmas Eve. The felling, preparation, bringing in, and laying on the fire, are surrounded by elaborate rituals, with many regional variations. The burning of the log is accompanied by prayers that the coming year brings food, happiness, love, luck, and riches. The badnjak is treated as a person, to whom salutations and sacrifices such as grain, wine, and honey are offered. The log burns on throughout Christmas Day, when the first visitor strikes it with a poker or a branch to make sparks fly, requesting that the family's happiness and prosperity be as abundant as the sparks. As most Serbs today live in towns and cities, the badnjak is often symbolically represented by a cluster of oak twigs with brown leaves attached, with which the home is decorated on Christmas Eve. The festive kindling of the log commemorates the fire that—according to Serbian folk tradition—the shepherds of Bethlehem built in the cave where Jesus Christ was born, to warm the Baby Jesus and his mother throughout the night.
A Christmas tree stand is an object designed to support a cut, natural or an artificial Christmas tree. Christmas tree stands appeared as early as 1876 and have had various designs over the years. Those stands designed for natural trees have a water-well, which, in many cases may not hold enough water to adequately supply the cut tree. Some specialty Christmas tree stands have value on the secondary antiques market. Christmas tree stands have been around at least since 1876, when Arthur's Illustrated Home Magazine suggested connecting a Christmas tree stand into a stand for flowers. In that same year, Hermann Albrecht of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received U.S. Patent 183,100 and U.S. Patent 183,194 as two of the first Christmas tree stand patents issued in the United States. Some Christmas tree stands were uniquely designed and have value in the secondary antiques market. One example is a 1950s decorative Christmas tree stand designed by National Outfit Manufacturers Association and made of lithographed tin and featuring a holiday design. A Christmas tree stand such of the lithographed tin design could fetch up to $250 on the open market.
Christmas in the American Civil War (1861–1865) was celebrated in both the United States and the Confederate States of America although the day did not become an official holiday until five years after the war ended. The war continued to rage on Christmas and skirmishes occurred throughout the countryside. Celebrations for both troops and civilians saw significant alteration. Propagandists, such as Thomas Nast, used wartime Christmases to reflect their beliefs. In 1870, Christmas became an official Federal holiday when President Ulysses S. Grant made it so in an attempt to unite north and south. On the first Christmas Day during the war, Lincoln hosted a Christmas party during the evening; earlier that day, he spent many hours trying to legitimize the capture of Confederate representatives to Great Britain and France, John Slidell and James Murray Mason (the Trent Affair).
A Christmas village is a decorative, miniature-scale village often set up during the Christmas season. These villages are rooted in the elaborate Christmas traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Mass-produced cardboard Christmas villages became popular in the United States during the early and mid-20th century, while porcelain versions (especially those created by the company Department 56) became popular in the later part of the century. The tradition of decorative Christmas villages is rooted in the holiday traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch. In early-colonial American Moravian homes, the construction of a nativity scene at the base of a Christmas tree was a very common holiday activity. These nativity scenes soon became very elaborate, and often included sawdust or fine dirt spread to represent roads leading to the manger; stones and fresh moss to represent grottos or caves; and sticks and branches to represent miniature trees.
Mrs. Claus is the wife of Santa Claus. Unlike Santa Claus, however, she does not have a counterpart in folklore or mythology, but was the creation of American authors. She was popularized by poet Katherine Lee Bates in Bates' poem, "Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride" (1889). The character has since appeared in story, film, television and other media. The gift-giving bishop St. Nicholas was never portrayed as having a wife, and only when he was transformed, via Sinterklaas, into the more secular Santa Claus in the early 19th century did a wife appear. The wife of Santa Claus is first mentioned in the short story "A Christmas Legend" (1849), by James Rees, a Philadelphia-based Christian missionary. In the story, an old man and woman, both carrying a bundle on the back, are given shelter in a home on Christmas eve as weary travelers. The next morning, the children of the house find an abundance of gifts for them, and the couple is revealed to be not "old Santa Claus and his wife", but the hosts' long-lost elder daughter and her husband in disguise.
The use of decorative, festive lighting during the Christmas holiday season is a long standing tradition in many Christian cultures, and has been adopted as a secular practice in a number of other non-Christian, or non-predominantly Christian, cultures (notably in Japan). While the use of celebratory lighting during winter solstice festivals pre-dates Christianity, it is the European (and later North American) partly secularised traditions associated with Christmas which are now commonly recognised and enjoyed as Christmas (or festive, holiday-season) lights. The illuminated Christmas tree, became a Christmas tradition in Germany during the Early Modern period. The illuminated Christmas tree became established in the United Kingdom during Queen Victoria's reign, and through emigration spread to North America and Australia. Until the development of inexpensive electrical power in the mid nineteenth century, miniature candles were commonly (and in some cultures still are) used. The first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree was the creation of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of inventor Thomas Edison. While he was vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, a predecessor of today's Con Edison electric utility, he had Christmas tree light bulbs especially made for him.
A Yule log is a large wooden log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule or Christmas celebrations in several European cultures. It can be a part of the Winter Solstice festival or the Twelve Days of Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or Twelfth Night. The expression "Yule log" has also come to refer to log-shaped Christmas cakes, also known as "chocolate logs" or "Bûche de Noël". The Yule log is related to other Christmas and Yuletide traditions such as the Ashen faggot. The term "Yule log" is not the only term used to refer to the custom. In the north-east of England it was commonly called a "Yule Clog", and in the country's Midlands and West Country, the term "Yule Block" was also used. In the county of Lincolnshire, the term "Gule Block" was found, and in Cornwall, the term "Stock of the Mock" was as well.
A Christmas market, also known as Christkindlmarkt, Christkindlesmarkt, Christkindlmarket, and Weihnachtsmarkt, is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during advent, mainly the four weeks preceding Christmas Day. These markets originated in Germany and Austria but are now being held in many other countries. The history of Christmas markets goes back to the Late Middle Ages in the German speaking part of Europe. The Dresden Christmas market - first held in 1434 is often (incorrectly) said to be the oldest Christmas market. It attracts between 1.5 and 2 million visitors a year and has over 60 stalls. It is very unlikely that Dresden market is really the oldest as the city was a small town in 1434 and other cities had already earned market rights before this. One example is Bautzen Christmas market which was first mentioned in records in 1384. In many towns in Germany and Austria, Advent is usually ushered in with the opening of the Christmas market or "Weihnachtsmarkt". In southern Germany and Austria it is sometimes called a "Christkind(e)l(s)markt" (South Ger., literally meaning "Christ child market").
Portal:Christmas/Selected article/20
