How Christmas Has Changed Over the Last Decades in the USA

Christmas in the USA is one of the major holidays, marking the beginning of a whole festive week. Most adults do not work between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day on January 1st. It leaves them plenty of time to visit family and friends, do some cooking, and watch their favorite shows on TV. To find out more about the classic American Christmas, I spoke to one of LinguaTrip.com’s teachers Jo, who is American and has celebrated Christmas in the USA all his life.

Christmas Then and Now

In the past, Christmas was first and foremost a Christian holiday with a strong religious aspect. People were singing religious hymns and went to church for festive services. Nowadays, very few Americans take the religious part of the holiday seriously. If they go to church, they do it more our of respect for the family tradition rather than because they are strong believers.

Instead, Christmas became a consumerist holiday. The main aspects now are shopping and gift-giving. To boost sales, many companies have special offers. Most of the gifts are purchased in December, between the huge sale on Black Friday and Christmas Eve.

Since many Americans are not Christians anymore, some people and companies might say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”. Conservative Americans may get really anxious about this. But I don’t think it will influence the brands to change their ways. Their ultimate goal is to drive sales in this peak season.

The Art of Christmas Gift Giving

As gifts become central to Christmas celebrations, people find original and funny ways to exchange presents with each other. For instance, many families, small offices and groups of friends arrange a “Secret Santa” game. You write down the names of all participants on pieces of paper and put them in a hat. Then someone pulls your name out of a hat and they have to buy you a gift secretly. Usually, there is an agreed limit of money to spend on the gift, about $20. Often, they are humorous, nobody goes for serious and expensive presents with this game. Your “Secret Santa” will put the gift with a tag for you under the tree. When you open it, you can try and guess who bought it for you.

Another version of the game is Yankee Swap, common among the coworkers. In this case, everyone buys a gift that can be given to anyone in the group. When all gifts are placed under the tree, participants draw the numbers from a hat. The person with number 1 gets to choose a gift first, then goes number 2, 3, etc. All gifts are opened and usually, there is a lot of laughter about the gifts coworkers have chosen for each other.

Besides these games, adults don’t expect or give gifts to each other. In most families, gifts are bought for children. Usually, as a kid, you will get a bunch of gifts from your parents and a gift from each aunt, uncle, grandparent, and other relatives. For children, toys are a popular choice. Teenagers and adults often get gift cards as it saves the relatives the hassle of choosing a gift and then returning it to the store.

The Visit of Santa Claus

The role of Santa Claus used to be more important to children in the past. Usually, the parents will wait until the younger kids go to bed on Christmas Eve and place a bunch of gifts from Santa under the Christmas tree. Kids, on the other hand, will leave cookies and milk for Santa Claus under the tree, to show him an appreciation for his visit. In the morning, they will rush to the living room with the Christmas tree, to discover that gifts magically appeared and that the cookies and milk are gone.

Nowadays, kids can easily google whether Santa Claus is real and it steals part of the joy and fun from this tradition. However, there are still many stories, puzzles, and colouring books with Santa and his friends for children. And, of course, they still go to meet Santa at Christmas markets.

Christmas Decorations

Most people don’t start decorating until December. Lights, a Christmas tree, and stockings for small gifts hung on the fireplace mantle, are the basics. Some families fill their yard with snowmen, Santas, or reindeer. There are some houses decorated so extremely that other people drive from nearby towns just to see them. The wealthier neighborhoods also tend to have more decorations and arrange spectacular compositions in front of their houses.

White Christmas

The best Christmas for me was when I was maybe 7 or 8 and it snowed a lot in my hometown. No one could go anywhere, but my parents had already bought the gifts and food so it was not a problem. One of my gifts was a really fancy sled, and I was able to go outside right away and sled around my neighborhood. It doesn’t always snow on Christmas, so we call it “White Christmas” when it does. This is what we hope for as the snow helps you get into a festive mood and feel the magic of the Christmas season.

Christmas Meal

Usually, the meal on Christmas day is ham or turkey with potatoes and vegetables, but there is no set meal for the majority of Americans. It could be anything they like, unlike on the Thanksgiving when the typical meal is a turkey. Many families have their traditional Christmas dishes which create the festive feeling just for them.

We have some traditional Christmas foods, like fruitcake. But modern Americans find it old-fashioned. We look at it with laughter and never eat it.

What to do on Christmas

Christmas and New Year’s are technically celebrated for two days each: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are just as important as the following days. Most people don’t have to work from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, so they have all that time off. Americans work so much that the idea of getting days off is enough to be happy about.

Christmas is the season to spend some quality time with family and friends. Most people will celebrate at home or head to their relatives’ place to have a family dinner. Then, they spend the whole day chatting and watching kids playing with their new toys.

Americans watch a lot of TV, and any gathering usually has a TV playing in the background. All the shows have their special Christmas episodes so the TV is festive throughout the Christmas season.

If you want to go out on Christmas day, everything besides Chinese restaurants and cinemas will be closed. Some people turn this into a tradition and go out to have some Chinese food or watch a movie every year.

Spend Christmas in the USA

Feel like you’d like to visit the USA? Do it with LinguaTrip.com’s language courses abroad. There are numerous language schools in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, San Diego, and other American cities that are open during winter holidays so you still have a chance to book your spot and spend Christmas in the USA. Speak to our consultants to find the perfect language course for you.