Topic: Merry Christmas
LUNG1954's photo
Sun 12/25/22 10:25 PM
I wish you all a Merry Christmas! :christmas_tree::blush:

LUNG1954's photo
Mon 12/26/22 09:45 PM
why does the US say 'Merry Christmas'?

It's unclear why the greeting changes, but many theories say it might be due to the popularising of 'Happy' in the UK by the royals. This could be because of the association of the word merry, which means the same as happy, with being intoxicated or unruly.

SwtSCNrse26's photo
Tue 01/10/23 07:29 PM
I'm hopeful your Christmas was blessed ! I drove home to Kentucky and spent it with family. Easily the best time of the year ! Happy New Year.

LUNG1954's photo
Tue 01/10/23 10:53 PM

I'm hopeful your Christmas was blessed ! I drove home to Kentucky and spent it with family. Easily the best time of the year ! Happy New Year.


Hope you nice time always with your family

JulieABush's photo
Wed 01/11/23 03:52 AM
Because of the woke society you almost can’t say Merry Christmas but Happy Holidays is fine. At work I don’t say it unless the customer wishes me one or the other and I’ll say the same right back. It’s my constitutional right through freedom of speech to say Merry Christmas.

LUNG1954's photo
Wed 01/11/23 05:52 AM
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS
Written on December 23, 2017 by Mindy Haas
CHRISTMAS IN AMERICA
Christmas in early America was a mixed bag. Many with Puritan beliefs banned Christmas because of its pagan origins and the raucous nature of the celebrations. Other immigrants arriving from Europe continued with the customs of their homelands. The Dutch brought Sinter Klaas with them to New York in the 1600’s. The Germans brought their tree traditions in the 1700’s. Each celebrated their own way within their own communities.
It wasn’t until the early 1800’s that the American Christmas began to take shape. Washington Irving wrote a series of stories of a wealthy English landowner who invites his workers to have dinner with him. Irving liked the idea of people of all backgrounds and social status coming together for a festive holiday. So, he told a tale that reminisced about old Christmas traditions that had been lost but were restored by this wealthy landowner. Through Irving’s story, the idea began to take hold in the hearts of the American public.
In 1822, Clement Clark Moore wrote An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas for his daughters. It’s now famously known as The Night Before Christmas. In it, the modern idea of Santa Claus as a jolly man flying through the sky on a sleigh took hold. Later, in 1881, the artist Thomas Nast was hired to draw a depiction of Santa for a Coke-a-Cola advertisement. He created a rotund Santa with a wife named Mrs. Claus, surrounded by worker elves. After this, the image of Santa as a cheerful, fat, white-bearded man in a red suit became embedded in American culture.
A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
After the civil war, the country was looking for ways to look past difference and become united as a country. In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant declared it a federal holiday. And while Christmas traditions have adapted with time, I think Washington Irving’s desire for unity in celebration lives on. It’s become a time of year where we wish others well, donate to our favorite charities, and give presents with a joyful spirit.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS
So, where ever you may be, and whatever traditions you follow, we wish you the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of holidays!

JulieABush's photo
Thu 01/12/23 12:52 AM
Edited by JulieABush on Thu 01/12/23 12:53 AM
Now that you mentioned Dutch that’s what I’m part of on my dads side of my family. I even grew up in a Dutch town in Illinois and remembered that they called him Sinter Klass. He had a closed booth in town where you could go to, tell him what you wanted for Christmas and he gave you a candy cane. Another thing people forget about is that before it was New York it was New Amsterdam.