DECORATION DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON
Christmas is a time to celebrate and share with the family, it is that time of the year when many take the opportunity to slow down the pace of work and get into the Christmas spirit. This season is full of symbols and decorative elements that include colored lights, Christmas trees, sleighs, reindeer, elves, toys, among others. But, where do all these traditions come from?
Christmas was established as a federal holiday in the United States in 1870. This holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ was first celebrated in the world on December 25, 336 and was celebrated by the Roman Empire.
As well as some other American traditions, Christmas has pagan origins. For example, in the Roman Empire, December 25 was the day of the “natalis solis invict” (the Roman birth of the undefeated sun), while for the Iranians this date was celebrated as the birthday of Mithra, the “Sun of Justice“. The Roman festival honoring the sun known as the Saturnalia lasted from December 17 to 23. The feast of Saturnalia honored the Roman god Saturn. Romans held a public banquet, gifts were exchanged, feasting took place and servants were served by their masters. Singers performed in the streets and man-shaped cookies were baked.
Also, the winter solstice usually falls before December 25 and was celebrated as the darkest day of the year, a fact that explains, in part, the need to decorate cities with lights to illuminate and give warmth in the middle of the cold winter.
Specifically in the 19th century, Americans’ views on Christmas changed thanks to the popular American writer Washington Irving writing a series of essays published in a book titled
“The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.”
The essays tell the story of a wealthy British landowner who invites his workers to his home to celebrate Christmas. The landowner recreates a traditional Christmas as it was traditionally celebrated in England before Oliver Cromwell abolished these celebrations. Irving highlighted the old traditions and the idea that the different levels of society will come together to enjoy a festive and peaceful holiday.
Other symbols such as the traditional Christmas tree come from northern Europe where Germanic tribes decorated evergreen trees with candles and nuts. The tradition was incorporated into the Christian faith in Germany during the 16th century, decorating the trees in their homes with sweets, lights, and toys.
And finally in this recounting of legends and symbols we could not stay without talking about Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, who is commonly associated with toys and gifts for children who have behaved well during the year.
Born in southern Turkey around 280, he was a bishop in the early Christian church. There are several legends surrounding him, however one of the most important tells that he saved a poor family by throwing gold through an open window, it is said that the gold landed in a sock that was drying next to the fireplace, so the children began to hang up their socks hoping to receive gifts.
As we mentioned at the beginning, from the decorative point of view, Christmas offers a great variety of elements that allow to bring to every home, office, company, or commercial establishment the festive spirit. It is worth noting that the excess of decoration at Christmas is not in bad taste, on the contrary, precisely the combination of elements will allow to obtain a charming and magical result.
From our field we recommend, on the one hand, for the most daring, wallpapers with Christmas season prints, wallcoverings with reindeer, Santa Claus, Three Kings, stars, snowflakes, traditional Christmas sweets, among others. However, if you prefer to make a wallcovering that will last for a long time, we will advise you to choose the design that best suits your Christmas decorations and that will remain in force at any time of the year.
In any case, from the RG WALLCOVERING team we can only thank you and wish you a holiday season full of joy, peace, and love.
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