Chris Writing Anything

When interested in history, I love to delve into details. Because, when surrounded by intricacies, that’s when better understanding arrives. Tonight, I was surrounded by such a quest.

A few nights ago, I had found a documentary on YouTube. It provided a brief history of Christmas. While I prepared a midnight snack, I listened to the rather disjointed synopsis of this ancient holiday.

What really interested me, being that I own a volume of Washington Irving tales, was the documentary’s take on his Christmas story. The documentary’s writers hailed it as a very influential piece. Their claim, one, after reading this literary work, I wholly accept as fact, was that it brought about household Christmas celebrations.

Around the story’s publication, which was 1821, and that was practically a full generation before the Victorian era, Christmas time had become scandalous. In fact, in New York City, a bloody riot pushed the city council to create a police force. I’m paraphrasing statements made by the documentary. But, given what I know about Christmas past, I accept the information as accurate.

In Washington Irving’s piece, you get a sense that, in his mind, Christmas has gone awry. And as a remedy, he goes into great length while describing a celebration at an old, stately English estate. Once a site for the mingling of social classes, Christmas at the Bracebridge Manor is now a festivity for the Bracebridge family.

At first, when I began reading, and imagined myself next to an English Inn’s fireside, I had wondered why this account had been forgotten. But as I finished, while enchanted by Irving’s narrative, I had realized that this story had no plot. Yet, even if it’s seemingly a dry read, Irving illustrated so many aspects of Christmas, ones that still survive in our modern celebration. Christmas Mass, carolers, card playing and a family dinner were moments that bore strident parallels to my own holiday endeavors.

So, this Christmas, I’ll be in awe of this holiday’s endurance. Even in Irving’s time, the magical elements of the time, while stemming from totally different superstitious lore, were prevalent in those days as well…

Happy Holidays!