1 Origin of Christmas

The story of Christmas starts with immigration.

Since the late 15th century, European explorers, settlers, missionaries, and labourers migrated to different parts of the world.

They brought their Christmas culture to the new home.

Dutch Santa Claus, German Christmas tree, French yule log, Italian panettone and different Christian dominations thus encountered each other in the European colonies in America.

For example, German immigrants were the first to display Christmas trees in the US in the early 1800s!

Tomorrow, we will experience the Christmas immigration journey.

Reference:

The Oxford Handbook of Christmas, ed. by Timothy Larsen (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), Ch.3, 4, 22, 25