Why don’t we have two Christmases in England?

Our online advent calendar about how Christmas is celebrated around the world has highlighted the fact that many other European countries have two present receiving days for children. They receive presents on 6 December and then again on Christmas Eve (24 December). In England, and the rest of the UK, children receive presents on Christmas Day. So, why don’t we celebrate St Nicholas’ Day (6 December) in England?

I believe it is because our version of Santa Claus (Father Christmas) does not originate from St Nicholas like he does in other European countries.

Father Christmas in England, was originally part of an old English midwinter festival, normally dressed in green, a sign of the returning spring. He was known as ‘Sir Christmas’, ‘Old Father Christmas’ or Old Winter’.

In this earliest form, Father Christmas was not the bringer of gifts for small children, nor did he come down the chimney. He simply wandered around from home to home, knocking on doors and feasting with families before moving on to the next house.

The Ghost of Christmas Present in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is based on Father Christmas. He is described as a large man with a red beard and fur-lined green robe.

Father Christmas, the man we know today dressed in red, became known in England during the 1870’s. We owe much about what we know about the Father Christmas today to the Americans of the 19th Century. In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore described what he imagined Father Christmas to look like in a poem and the image of the red coat was introduced to England in 1930s in an advertisement by Coca-Cola.

Christmas in England
www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/

Father Christmas
www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/santa.html

Christmas around the world Advent Calendar