Unwrapped: A Brief History of Gift Giving at Christmas
By Sarah January
Presents are arguably the biggest part of the Christmas holiday. People spend billions of dollars every year buying gifts for their kids, parents, spouses, and other relatives and friends. There is an entire industry set up around this single day and many folks spend months looking for the “perfect” gift. Seeing the look on a loved one’s face when you give them a gift from the heart is, of course, a special thing. But, have you ever wondered where the tradition of gift-giving even came from?
Giving presents during this time of year is a custom that dates back to ancient Rome. Societies during that time exchanged presents as part of celebrating the winter solstice. With the establishment of the Christian holiday of Christmas, most of the pagan traditions died out, and this included gift-giving, for a while.
It was not until 336 AD that December 25 was officially declared as Christmas Day and that gift giving became more popular. The connection to the biblical story of the Three Magi and the gifts they brought to the baby Jesus is often thought to be the reason for this.
It was not until the 4th century that we have serious gift-giving enter into the Christmas season on a worldwide scale. Widely referred to today as Santa Clause, the man who inspired the story…
