Columns & Opinion Douglas Adams Ed.D. is the Industrial Training Coordinator for Mississippi Delta Community College

“Tis the Season”
by Douglas Adams

“Christmas comes earlier every year!”
“Stores are decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving!”
“No kidding, Santa is in the mall on the day after Halloween.”
These lamentations have become as much a part of the Christmas season as fruit cake and Frosty the Snowman. Those who bemoan the “commercialization of Christmas” might take pause to examine how, and when, the Christian religious observance of the birth of Jesus Christ became a retail phenomenon.

“The Reason for the Season”

Christmas comes from the words Cristes maesse, or “Christ’s Mass.” The first celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is believed to have taken place among the Romans in 336 A. D. In the United States, Christmas is both a holiday and a holy day. This is not surprising in light of the fact that 85 percent of Americans, or 241 million in a total population of 281, profess to Christianity. Because there are 1.8 billion Christians in a global population of 5.5 billion, Christmas is celebrated by Christians throughout the world.
It is widely believed that the tradition of Christmas gift giving came from the wise men
who presented the Christ child with gifts of “gold, incense, and of myrrh.” Interestingly, the Bible makes no mention of three wise men. Scripture mentions only that there were three gifts.
Given the precedent of gifts from the wise men, the custom of exchanging Christmas presents did not evolve in the United States until the late 1800's. For this reason, the retail sensation known as the Christmas shopping season can trace its origin in relatively recent history. Indeed, Christmas shopping and Christmas presents as we know them today simply did not exist in this country prior to 1860. Not coincidentally, the current practice of Christmas presents is more tied to jolly old Saint Nick than to the gifts of the Magi.
“Here Comes Santa Claus”

The popular perception of Santa Claus has its origins in the person of Saint Nicholas, a minor saint from the 4th century known for kindness and generosity. Nicholas was Catholic. Because the celebration of “saints” was at odds with protestant convictions, Saint Nicholas all but disappeared through much of Europe during the Reformation. In Holland the legend of the kindly Sinterklaas (the Dutch derivative of Saint Nicholas) remained. When the Dutch settled in North America they brought their tradition of Sinterklaas to New Amsterdam. In 1664 New Amsterdam became New York and the benevolent Sinterklaas evolved into the Anglican “Santa Claus.”
Mixing Nordic myth and Christian legend, Santa Claus was thought of as a kindly magician who punished misbehaving youngsters and rewarded good children with presents.
The elfish Santa Claus would undergo a radical transformation in 1822. Clement C. Moore, a prim professor of classics at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, wrote “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” for the amusement of his children. Know informally as “The Night Before Christmas,” it was Moore’s poem which gave us Santa’s famous entry and exit via the chimney, his bag of toys, and a flying sleigh pulled by reindeer whose names are now familiar. Printed in newspapers and magazines, “A Visit for Saint Nick” took the nation by storm and captured the imagination of children around the world.
Between 1863 and 1886 the Santa Claus engravings of Thomas Nast appeared in Harper’s Weekly, one of the nations most popular periodicals. Nast’s illustrations provided a visual image of Santa Claus as well as our concepts of Santa’s workshop, Santa reading children’s letters, and Santa checking his list --- and checking it twice!
Commerce quickly addressed the growth of Santa Claus lore. In 1867 Macy’s department store in New York City was the first to stay open until midnight on Christmas Eve to accommodate shoppers. Again it was Macy’s in 1874 that was the first to devote a window display to Christmas.

“The Most Famous Reindeer of All”

With Santa Claus firmly established in the popular imagination and making his yearly flight on Christmas Eve, it remained for Montgomery Ward stores to further alter the Yuletide landscape. In 1939 over two million complimentary copies of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” were distributed to children visiting with Santa in Montgomery Ward stores. Written by an advertising department employee named Robert May, the popular children’s story became song in 1949. The Gene Autry recording of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” is the second highest selling record of all-time. The best seller? White Christmas, the Bing Crosby recording of the Irvin Berlin classic.

Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom

On the heels of Rudolph, the 1950's witnessed a doubling of personal disposable income in the United States followed by a similar increase in the 60's. By the early1970's Americans were 6 percent of the world’s population but accounted for about 40 percent of global wealth. This economic boom was all but muffled by an all-together different boom, the post-war “baby boom” — a demographic phenomenon that added 50 million children to the nation’s population by the end of the 1950's. A generation that had known the want of the “Great Depression” and the anxiety of a World War played Santa Claus. Those raised on the abundance of Christmas in the 50's and 60's have shown little inclination toward holiday frugality.
The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas have become critical to retailers. The survival of many merchants is dependent upon a successful Christmas shopping season. Seasonal sales are estimated to account for as much as 70% of annual volume. Is there any wonder that stores and malls do whatever is necessary to stimulate Christmas shopping?

The Vanishing Epiphany

The famous “Twelve Days of Christmas” are the 12 days that separate Christmas Day and
the Epiphany on January 6th. These twelve days, the time between the birth of Christ and His baptism, mark the liturgical celebration of the Christmas season. Gift giving through the “Twelve Days of Christmas” is foreign to impatient Americans. By Christmas morning, it’s over. The celebration of Christmas is often laden with seasonal weariness. By Christmas, many profess to being “tired of Christmas.” On Christmas, we rest. The sales start tomorrow.

Three Questions With: Wayne Cole Chief Administrative officer for the City of Cleveland

What do you like best about your Job?
I like working with people and working on projects that make a difference in the lives of our citizens in Cleveland. We have conscientious city officials and employees that I enjoy working with. I also enjoy our relationship with the Chamber of Commerce. I have had the pleasure of working on a variety of projects that I hope in some way has improved the quality of life in Cleveland. Public service can be a demanding career, but it also can be very rewarding when you are able to accomplish things that help people. It may be a small thing, like helping someone find an address, listen to someone's problems, or it may be working on a major project that actually helps someone get a job. Helping people and completing projects are what I like most about my job.

What do you like best about living in Bolivar County?
I like the small town atmosphere, the closeness of people. In this rapidly changing world, things are still for the most part rather slow in the Delta. I like that. Especially the older I get, it feels good not to have to rush, rush all the time. I like being close to everything-work, recreation, and stores. I like the low crime rate we have in Cleveland. I can walk or jog around town and feel safe.

How could Bolivar County be improved?
Probably one of the most important ways to improve Bolivar County is for all segments of the population to work together for the betterment of the community. To do this I think we need more positive thinking rather than being negative. It is amazing what can be accomplished when everyone is working together with a positive attitude. Of course, Bolivar County needs skilled workers, jobs, improved infrastructure, training, and the list goes on. However, many of our needs could be met if we joined together in positive way- Leave personal agendas at home- Work for the overall good. People working together is a positive way will result in a great improvement to our city and county.