It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s peaked American interest in the holiday?

The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.

In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, which contained a series of stories. Four of them focused on the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly.

In Irving’s mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status. Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs,” including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule.

Irving’s book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had ever attended – in fact; many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.

Also around this time, English author Charles Dickens created the classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story’s message-the importance of charity and good will towards all humankind-struck a powerful chord in the United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the benefits of celebrating the holiday.

The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas provided families with a day when they could lavish attention-and gifts-on their children without appearing to “spoil” them.

As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift-giving.

Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.

The Sketch Book

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, commonly referred to as The Sketch Book, is a collection of 34 essays and short stories written by Washington Irving. Published serially throughout 1819 and 1820, the collection includes two of Irving’s best-known works, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.” It also marks Irving’s first use of the pseudonym “Geoffrey Crayon,” which he would continue to employ throughout his literary career.

Washington Irving

American Editions

The first American edition of The Sketch Book initially comprised twenty-nine short stories and essays, published in the United States in seven paperbound installments, appearing intermittently between June 23, 1819, and September 13, 1820. Each installment was published simultaneously in New York, Boston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.

As indicated earlier, many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season. These accounts of Christmas were part of the Fifth Installment.

First Installment

• “The Author’s Account of Himself”
• “The Voyage”
• “Roscoe”
• “The Wife”
• “Rip Van Winkle”

Second Installment

• “English Writers on America”
• “Rural Life in England”
• “The Broken Heart”
• “The Art of Book Making”

Third Installment

• “A Royal Poet”
• “The Country Church”
• “The Boar’s Head Tavern, East Cheap”
• “The Widow and Her Son”

Fourth Installment

• “The Mutability of Literature”
• “Rural Funerals”
• “The Inn Kitchen”
• “The Spectre Bridegroom”

Fifth Installment

• “Christmas”
• “The Stage Coach”
• “Christmas Eve”
• “Christmas Day”
• “Christmas Dinner”

Sixth Installment

• “John Bull”
• “The Pride of the Village”
• “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Seventh Installment

• “Little Britain”
• “Stratford-On-Avon”
• “Westminster Abbey”
• “The Angler”

The chapters from the Fifth Installment will be provided in my next post, starting with the one titled “Christmas.”

Tags: Holidays