Christmas: A Candid History

This is a good and informative book. It becomes a little Christian-oriented in the final chapter, but otherwise, an educational summary of Christmas and all of its trappings - the history, the journey of Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus, the cultural touchstones, and the commercialization of the celebration in the twentieth century, with its attendant implications. Worth reading either as a light overview, or to bring together multiple strands of research.

Fundamentalists won't love this book, but for the rest of us who want to understand how Christmas got the way it is today (for better or worse), Forbes's work is excellent. Forbes admits at the beginning that he wanted to provide a concise, balanced overview rather than a one-sided treatise from a secular or theologically-based position, and he succeeds. The somewhat brief book is sustantial in content, if not length.

This Christmas I am buying a dozen copies of this delightful little book to give friends who suffer holiday stress. In addition to providing clarification on the actual evolution of the holiday, it offers the excellent suggestion that the Twelve Days of Christmas (from December 25 until January 6) be the time for a peaceful religious celebration of Christmas. Forbes embraces both the commercial holiday and the religious celebration and encourages readers to style their holiday celebration to suit their own needs. The only false historical note which sounded for me occurs on page 62 of the hardback edition when Forbes states that "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens fails to mention religion except for three words indicating that Scrooge went to church. That is simply incorrect. In addition to the many instances of "God bless you" and "God save you" sprinkled throughout the story, there are specific references to Christ when Bob Cratchit recalls Tiny Tim hoping "the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." And Marley's Ghost asks of Scrooge, "...Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men..." And there are a number of other religious references to Christ's birth throughout Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." I checked the notes to see whether or not Forbes had cited the Dickens work. He had indeed cited an annotated edition of "A Christmas Carol" edited by Michael Patrick Hearn. Forbes would do well to spend a little more time with Dickens this Christmas. The book is still valuable for distilling an abundance of historical material into an easy and pleasant read to soothe the holidazed.

Bruce David Forbes' CHRISTMAS: A CANDID HISTORY is a must read for anyone who loves the holiday season, or at least anyone who loves the religious aspect of the holiday season and enjoys the secular aspects as well. In this slim volume, Forbes looks at Christmas from its earliest incarnations to our present day celebrations. This is not a hackneyed presentation of common beliefs about Christmas. Forbes offers fresh perspectives about many commonly held theories about Christmas, especially what may be the three most common assumptions about Christmas, namely that it's a Christmas answer to winter solstice celebrations, that most of the symbols are pagan symbols with a Christian flair, and that Charles Dickens is responsible for Christmas as we know it today. For Forbes, Christmas is both all of the things and none of these things. Forbes begins by looking at the variety of winter solstice celebrations since Christmas is a winter holiday then ventures into the religious aspects, reminding readers that Easter, not Christmas was the central Christian holiday and, for that matter is still supposed to be the central Christian celebration. He then ventures into looking at Christmas symbols such as the Christmas tree, the poinsettia, St. Nicholas becoming Santa Claus, Christmas in Victorian England and the United States, and Christmas as we know it today. Throughout the book Forbes uses the analogy of a snowball as a way of explaining Christmas. If someone wishes to make a snowman, it starts as a small ball of snow, gets rolled around and picks up all sorts of things along the way: dirt, twigs, rocks, dead leaves, etc. as well as snow. The result is the large snowball that becomes the base, torso, or head of the snowman. Much of how we now celebrate Christmas started the same way. A tradition started, different cultures, peoples and time periods added something to it, and today much of what we celebrate is a combination of a variety of additions and adaptations. It turns out to be a fascinating read. As we read we learn that Christmas was never the purely spiritual holiday we sometimes imagine it to be and that there's always been a struggle to mingle the two, keeping the fun in the holiday while not forgetting it's central message--the birth of Jesus Christ.. We also see how Christmas went from a religious holiday with an excuse for reveling to the family centered holiday many now celebrate. We even get a critique of modern culture and consumerism as well as glimpses into the more recent "Happy Holiday/Merry Christmas" debates. While it's not specifically a "put Christ back into Christmas" book, Forbes as a practicing Methodist and religious studies professor appreciates the primacy spiritual aspect of the holiday while also loving the more secular aspects of Christmas, gives us a greater appreciation of Christmas. He offers his readers insights as to what the holiday ought to be about, and in a very real way rescues Christmas.