Christmas Traditions of USA
The variations of the Christmas traditions of USA equal the number active cultures that have settled in the land. These cultural contributions were given a new lease of life by creative artists, authors, poets and songwriters, and it was melded together by the power of secular and commercialized media in record companies, radio stations, television, cinemas and now the internet. The unwritten law of media is the presentation of a seemingly uniform celebration of the Christmas traditions of USA. This is responsible for the world wide acceptance of a universal Holiday image which they get from the media. Nevertheless, the celebrations are peculiar to each region.
Because of the federal government declaration of Xmas as a recognized public holiday and the very celebration of Xmas by a majority of the Americans, there was great development of commercial opportunities for the Christmas traditions of USA. While businesses and offices close on Xmas Day itself, there is also boom in sales transactions. In the spirit of gift-giving, business owners and offices give bonuses of extra wages or salaries to the employees during this time which give the families shopping money. For some, this will be seen as responsible for a commercial Christmas traditions of USA, but the various regional and cultural celebrations will show that religious celebrations also abound the whole country.
The sharp contrast of the Christmas traditions of USA between the universal and native celebrations becomes more visible with each region. American media is responsible for presenting the universal contemporary form of Santa Claus to the whole world. The Dutch Sinterklaas was transformed by artists and writers into the present form of red suited, white bearded laughing man on a reindeer driven flying sleigh. The ancient rituals of the original settlers of the land have been left to a small fraction of the remaining American Indian population. The American Indians hold ritual dances during the winter solstice. These dances were Christianized in San Felipe Pueblo where the community holds native animal-masked dances after the Xmas Eve sermon. The various nationalities who settled in the land have their own forms and traditions that they brought from their origins.
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