Holiday Traditions brought to America by Immigrants

Our December 18th meeting was a fun get together in which we enjoyed some European holiday treats while taking a look at American holiday traditions started by immigrants. The following is the handout for that meeting:

Most of what constitutes a “traditional” American Christmas was brought over to us by immigrants, beginning with the Germans. The Moravians and Protestant Germans were the first to do so in America in the 1700’s with a Christmas tree and gifts. By 1856, the practice of “Christmas trees” had become so commonplace in the United States that President Franklin Pierce erected one in the White House for the first time. 

During the 19^th century, a torrent of German immigrants were streaming across the Atlantic and into New York. These immigrants brought with them more traditions that we associate with Christmas today, from songs (“Stille Nacht,” written in 1820 in Germany, and translated to english in 1859 as “Silent Night,” to the sending of Christmas cards, popularized by German immigrant Louis Prang who printed the first card with Christmas greetings on it in the U.S. in 1875.

The Germans would soon be displaced on the Lower East Side in New York by a flood of Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe, who would also contribute mightily to our common observances of Christmas — a holiday they did not themselves celebrate. 

If you’re dreaming of a White Christmas, you might thank Irving Berlin, who penned the famous song. Berlin, born in Russia in 1898 of Jewish parents, came to New York as a child and began a prolific songwriting career that generated many of the standards we still hum today, including “God Bless America” and “White Christmas.” 

Berlin was hardly the only Jewish songwriter to pen a Christmas classic: in fact, when the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers posted its list of the best 30 Christmas songs ever written in 2014, half of them (including seven of the top 10) had either a Jewish composer or lyricist. Another Russian emigrant, George Balanchine, would create one of our most cherished Christmas traditions, The Nutcracker ballet, in 1954.

The Dutch popularized the legend of St. Nicholas around this time, and Washington Irving introduced him to a more national audience. Through the imaginations of a few different writers and poets, St. Nicholas was slowly transformed into the jolly modern American Santa Claus with sleigh and reindeer.

Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene in central Italy. Today, many churches and homes display a nativity scene during the holiday season.