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- catalog abstract "Americans who complain about the modern-day commercialization of Christmas may be surprised to discover that dissatisfaction with the way the holiday has been observed is by no means a new phenomenon. In 1659 the Massachusetts General Court declared the celebration of Christmas to be a criminal offense. What the Puritans were trying to suppress was a season of excess rooted in the ancient agricultural cycle - rowdy public displays of eating and drinking, mockery of established authority, aggressive begging, and boisterous invasions of the homes of the wealthy. In The Battle for Christmas, Stephen Nissenbaum shows how in the early nineteenth century, with the growth of cities, these Christmas-season carnival revels became even more threatening as they turned into gang violence and even riots. Attempting to get Christmas out of the streets, a group of New Yorkers - Washington Irving among them - led a movement to transform it into a new style of celebration that would take place within the secure confines of the family circle, and be concerned especially with the happiness of children. We learn how two classic texts helped refashion the holiday: Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. And we are shown the child-centered Christmas epitomized by the family gatherings and gift-exchanges of the Sedgwick family in nineteenth-century Massachusetts and New York. The Battle for Christmas also explores the not-always-proud history of Christmas charity, and the story of Christmas among the slave community in the antebellum South - a celebration reminiscent of the carnival tradition. Throughout Nissenbaum looks at what America's way of celebrating Christmas over the years reveals about the broad forces transforming our culture. And he shows us as well how it has been both an instrument and a mirror of social change in America.".
- catalog contributor b9983342.
- catalog created "1996.".
- catalog date "1996".
- catalog date "1996.".
- catalog dateCopyrighted "1996.".
- catalog description "Americans who complain about the modern-day commercialization of Christmas may be surprised to discover that dissatisfaction with the way the holiday has been observed is by no means a new phenomenon. In 1659 the Massachusetts General Court declared the celebration of Christmas to be a criminal offense. What the Puritans were trying to suppress was a season of excess rooted in the ancient agricultural cycle - rowdy public displays of eating and drinking, mockery of established authority, aggressive begging, and boisterous invasions of the homes of the wealthy. In The Battle for Christmas, Stephen Nissenbaum shows how in the early nineteenth century, with the growth of cities, these Christmas-season carnival revels became even more threatening as they turned into gang violence and even riots. Attempting to get Christmas out of the streets, a group of New Yorkers - Washington Irving among them - led a movement to transform it into a new style of celebration that would take place within the secure confines of the family circle, and be concerned especially with the happiness of children. We learn how two classic texts helped refashion the holiday: Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. And we are shown the child-centered Christmas epitomized by the family gatherings and gift-exchanges of the Sedgwick family in nineteenth-century Massachusetts and New York. The Battle for Christmas also explores the not-always-proud history of Christmas charity, and the story of Christmas among the slave community in the antebellum South - a celebration reminiscent of the carnival tradition. Throughout Nissenbaum looks at what America's way of celebrating Christmas over the years reveals about the broad forces transforming our culture. And he shows us as well how it has been both an instrument and a mirror of social change in America.".
- catalog description "Includes bibliographical references (p. 321-367) and index.".
- catalog description "New England's war on Christmas -- Revisiting "A visit from St. Nicholas" -- The parlor and the street -- Affection's gift : toward a history of Christmas presents -- Under the Christmas tree : a battle of generations -- Tiny Tim and other charity cases -- Wassiling across the color line : Christmas in the antebellum South -- Epilogue : The ghosts of Christmas past.".
- catalog extent "xiii, 381 p. :".
- catalog hasFormat "Battle for Christmas.".
- catalog identifier "0679412239 (cloth)".
- catalog isFormatOf "Battle for Christmas.".
- catalog issued "1996".
- catalog issued "1996.".
- catalog language "eng".
- catalog publisher "New York : Alfred A. Knopf,".
- catalog relation "Battle for Christmas.".
- catalog spatial "United States".
- catalog subject "394.2/663/0973 20".
- catalog subject "Christmas United States History.".
- catalog subject "GT4986.A1 N57 1996".
- catalog tableOfContents "New England's war on Christmas -- Revisiting "A visit from St. Nicholas" -- The parlor and the street -- Affection's gift : toward a history of Christmas presents -- Under the Christmas tree : a battle of generations -- Tiny Tim and other charity cases -- Wassiling across the color line : Christmas in the antebellum South -- Epilogue : The ghosts of Christmas past.".
- catalog title "The battle for Christmas / Stephen Nissenbaum.".
- catalog type "History. fast".
- catalog type "text".