Where are our British Christmas traditions going?

[RabbitsNBears]

I can’t help but feel ever so sad about the wonderful Christmas traditions we grew up with are disappearing. It's like we are raising our young ones in the USA. Who is “Santa”? In my day he was called Father Christmas. What is this elf on the shelf nonsense, as far as I can tell he teaches our grandchildren that misbehaving is amusing, not the old fashioned lessons of behaving as Father Christmas knows if you’ve been good or bad. And don’t even get me started on how my DIL had the grandchildren leaving “Santa” cookies and milk. What’s wrong with a glass of brandy and a mince pie?

He’s magic, isn’t he? He can absorb any number of tots of whisky/brandy/rum without it affecting his driving. TBH there aren’t exactly a lot of other sleighs for him to crash into anyway

Of course it's different house to house because it is all made up.

Some people say Santa, some people say Father Christmas
Some people do stockings, some people don't
Some people say all presents are from Santa/FC, some say just one/stockings are

Most households have milk, it's more accessible than things like brandy or whiskey. Some people also don't want their DC leaving alcohol for Santa.

Cookies are definitely more delicious than mince pies.

🤣 I don’t think it’s the official name, but it’s essentially the Sims’ version of Santa - players call him Daddy Winter

This

I always assumed Santa Claus came from the Dutch word. Just like many of our other Christmas traditions are based on a mix of pagan, Christian and German imports.

Leaving out a drink for Father Christmas seems like the least interesting bit about Christmas, doesn’t seem like it matters what it is as it’s just fun for little kids.

Plenty of people I grew up with in the South of England used Santa when I was a child in the 70s, so it’s definitely be in use in England for a long time

I would have to specifically buy brandy if I were to adhere to your strict traditions. What a waste of money!

You mean that's stopped?! 😭

No - the clue is in the name "English Heritage" which is quite clearly about mostly England, not Scotland or Ireland. Scotland is part of Britain and always uses the term Santa and always has done. Like Halloween, the Scots and Irish exported their customs to N America.

(I really can't believe we actually have to explain this to people).

I do. Out of interest why is it strange to buy brandy these days?

We used to tell the children the reindeer were driving so santa was just in the passenger seat.

Always been Santa for us in my part of Scotland. I loved doing Elf on the shelf for my DD - but then she is an only & I loved making everything as magical as I could when she was younger. Easter bunny hiding eggs & an egg hunt, a wee bunch of flowers from me on Valentines day. I think its lovely that people want to make their kids childhood as magical as possible. We also left Santa a bottle of beer & a slice of pizza at my DDs request! Traditions are individual to each family.

"It's like we are raising our young ones in the USA" - if they're celebrating thanksgiving in November then fine, but otherwise a bit of regional terminology differences does not an abandonment of all traditions make.

Do you also tut about how trick or treating and decorating for Halloween is an American-import.

Did you read what it said in the image the poster I responded to posted? Introduced to England in a story by an American author.

46 and I've never said Father Christmas. It's Santa Claus.

None of the uniquely 'British traditions' have gone away. We give Christmas cards, eat yule log, mince pies, Christmas pudding & brandy butter, Brussels Sprouts and bread sauce on our roast dinner, we drink mulled wine, sing carols, pull christmas crackers, kiss under the mistletoe, deck the halls with boughs of holly, go to the pantomime, watch the King's Speech...

But sure. Get mad and start a goady thread leaning into the boomer trend of Everything Foreign And/Or New Erodes British Culture because your daughter-in-law probably does all this with elf on the shelf on top and leaves out milk & cookies, not sherry & mince pies. 🙄

We have some brandy in but only to use it in cooking. I’ve never had a glass of brandy!

I am from Yorkshire and in my 40s. I only ever heard Father Christmas said by the posh kids in Enid Blyton books whose families could afford boarding school and summers in France.

Always mince pies left out for Santa, and they must be eaten warm with a piece of cheese.

Me and DH don’t like mince pies or brandy so we put out cookies (which I eat) and beer (which DH drinks). We grew up calling him Santa or Father Christmas and my DC do a mixture of both as well. And the elf on the shelf has made getting my DC out of bed for school so easy this month, all I’ve had to do is loudly say ‘look what the elf’s done’ and all 3 have been downstairs in seconds. Traditions change and evolve OP, nobody is being forced into doing these things, people do what works for their family.

My Gran, not known for fripperies, sentimentality or rashly adopting americanisms, only ever referred to Santa Claus. There's no Father Christmas in Scotland. Or at least the only people I ever knew refer to Santa as Father Christmas were both English and lived in joyless houses with no tinsel and rarely put the central heating on. They also referred to squash and not diluting juice. The horrors.

Santa got whisky and a mince pie when I was wee. In my house, he gets a beer and some nice biscuits.

He is also (clutch your pearls in advance @RabbitsNBears ) known as Santy in our house because of irish DH.

yeah I noticed that, op clearly doesn’t want to acknowledge that “Britain” isn’t England.

As for what’s left out for Santa, it’s whoever is responsible for leaving the gifts in his name’s preference. Why would you leave out brandy and mince pies if you don’t like them. What a ridiculous thread this is.

Yeah. Babies are all on Stella Artois these days.

But the OP specifically talked about "British Christmas Traditions".

Pretty clear she means ENGLISH Christmas traditions. Those of us not in England are used to the English struggling to differentiate.

When I was growing up it was always Santa Claus.

Dutch word, migrated across to America when the Dutch settlers did, now something to get our knickers in a knot about apparently.

Bring back Father Christmas and workhouses, I say.

I caught myself saying squash the other day. Bloody English DH.

Been 15 years and he still can’t get his head around how we use ‘juice’ up here!

I was born in 1974 in the UK and he was always Santa to me.

If you are that anti-American culture presumably you don’t eat burgers or use the telephone or switch on lights? All US inventions.