Take Cheer: Christmas the "retail orgy" has Been Out of Control for Centuries - by Matt Crenson
Once upon a time the holiday season was a quiet time spent with family and friends - simpler, less commercial, more spiritual, nothing like today's frenzied orgy of soulless consumption.
n his book "The Battle for Christmas," Nissenbaum puts that myth to rest by tracing the history of the holiday from colonial New England to the turn of the 20th century.
In the northern Europe of the late middle ages, gangs of young men would engage in "wassailing," a cross between Christmas caroling and home invasion. The gangs would visit wealthy homes, often in disguise, and sing songs that threatened violence if they were not invited in for food and drink.
Christmas and America's consumer culture have fed off one another ever since, said Russell Belk, a professor of business at the University of Utah. His research has shown that the more materialistic people are about Christmas, the less satisfaction they derive from the holiday. There's no doubt Americans are materialistic about Christmas. Almost half of all Americans crammed stores on the day after Thanksgiving this year, the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season. By the time the Christmas shopping season is over, the country will have spent in the neighborhood of $150 billion, most of it on gifts. That's an average of $500 for every man, woman and child.A holiday that began in ancient times as a debauched escape from everyday chores has become exactly the opposite - a frenzied season full of expectations, obligations and stress.
Merry Christmas.
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