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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

American Christmas

168 replies

RedHelenB · 17/12/2023 06:11

Just curious to know whether the naff Christmas movies are at all like the experience over there. Do you bake Christmas cookies and deliver to neighbours? Do you have candy cane lanes?

OP posts:
Loafbeginsat60 · 17/12/2023 21:39

Nonentity2023 · 17/12/2023 06:38

You’re joking, right? 😆 That’s as likely as all Scottish men having red beards and wearing kilts while drinking a wee dram of whisky in their castle, having returned from haggis shooting just in time for a ceilidh.

But this is what the Highlands of Scotland ARE like! Apart from everyone having a castle and haggis being notoriously difficult to shoot...

Honeychickpea · 17/12/2023 23:20

sandgrown · 17/12/2023 10:26

I was told Americans only get one day holiday at Christmas and don’t have the extended festival we do .

Do you believe everything you are told? People choose whether or not to take time off for Christmas. There is no assumption that everyone celebrates Christmas. Thanksgiving is the holiday unites us all.

Honeychickpea · 17/12/2023 23:26

SerenityNowInsanityLater · 17/12/2023 08:53

Nope. No crackers or Christmas tree bags (which were more of a thing when I came to the UK years ago).

They have crackers every year in tjmax and homegoods.

CarolinaInTheMorning · 17/12/2023 23:31

There is no assumption that everyone celebrates Christmas.

This is very true. And for many people who do celebrate Christmas in the US, the religious dimension is very important.

Honeychickpea · 18/12/2023 00:19

CarolinaInTheMorning · 17/12/2023 23:31

There is no assumption that everyone celebrates Christmas.

This is very true. And for many people who do celebrate Christmas in the US, the religious dimension is very important.

True. The religious aspect seems to be almost entirely absent in the UK.

mathanxiety · 18/12/2023 00:27

Maddy70 · 17/12/2023 08:53

Brits usually have a standard Christmas dinner of a turkey roast. Starter and Christmas pudding. Of course there will be changes due to personal tastes but that's what we have. It's not unreasonable to assume Americans have something similar ?

If Britain were a nation composed almost entirely of people who were born elsewhere, or their descendants, then Nritain and America would be comparable amd the assumption would be valid.

EconomyClassRockstar · 18/12/2023 00:30

I've lived here for years and I still couldn't tell you what the average American eats for Xmas dinner. It's an entire melting pot of cultures and each family do what their family traditions are. We eat filet mignon because Costco always do a deal on it around Xmas and I hate cooking turkey. With Home Goods or World Market Xmas crackers so we still get our hats. Others (particularly Italian Americans) have their biggest meal on Xmas Eve.

EconomyClassRockstar · 18/12/2023 00:34

And where I live, MANY people don't celebrate Xmas at all. It always makes me laugh reading some of the angst about Father Christmas on here as my kids all knew he was a fake from preschool as their friends told them.

MrsFezziwig · 18/12/2023 00:43

SerenityNowInsanityLater · 17/12/2023 10:25

Yes! Christmas stocking! 🤣 Sorry! See? I’m being American and calling it a sack/bag! So is it still a thing? We don’t do this (even though I’m more Brit than Yank now. ☺️).

Despite the snooty poster who corrected you, a stocking is not the correct name for a sack of presents. When I was a child, we had a pillowcase at the end of our beds with our presents in. In those days, we didn’t get so many presents that they wouldn’t fit in a pillowcase, which I think is why people nowadays have moved to having presents under the tree.
A Christmas stocking is….. well, a large sock containing token gifts, which you would receive in addition to your main presents.

TrinityTinselToes · 18/12/2023 01:06

EasternTennessee · 17/12/2023 06:19

You know it’s a big place right?

When I lived there, our closest neighbours were a drive away. It’s like that for a lot of people in a lot of states.

Before I moved here, I didn’t actually believe it was all tea, scones and talking like the Royals because I’m not thick.

Perhaps you are not thick but you are bloody Rude !!

The OP was just wondering FFS

Ruthietuthie · 18/12/2023 01:17

A Brit who lives in the US here.
In our neighborhood (a historic district of a big US city on the east coast) most houses are decorated, some with lights, but most with garlands of greenery and wreathes on the door. There's a big Christmas tree in almost every house. And, yes, we have received multiple boxes of home-made cookies from our neighbors.
For Christmas dinner, we will be having rib of beef and ham. Turkey isn't as popular as everyone had it for Thanksgiving.

EtiennePalmiere · 18/12/2023 01:36

I would say Christmas is bigger than thanksgiving. Boxing day isn't a thing in most countries I think. I was surprised by the intensity of the Christmas period in the UK, personally I think having Thanksgiving to dilute it is a good thing.

No there aren't a lot of Thanksgiving movies, maybe because there's no festive decorations to look pretty on film. Planes Trains and Automobiles is a stone cold classic though, with John candy who had a cameo in Home alone.

We had an identical menu as thanksgiving, but a chocolate dessert instead of pies, and fish on Christmas Eve. Sometimes a small additional ham but that was really for Easter which was a big deal for us (Catholic and EE orthodox background).

Edit - never heard of a Christmas bag or sack ! We did have crackers but they were presented as a novelty.

Lizzieregina · 18/12/2023 01:41

I’m also an Irish transplant to the US.

As previously said, there’s no “traditional” meal as there are so many different cultures. My friends in New Mexico have a completely different menu than us European types. My next door neighbor is Puerto Rican and their food is also not what I’d be used to, but they give us a huge container of rice every year (my DD loves it!).

Cookie baking is a big deal, but I’m no good at it. A friend recently baked 22 dozen cookies.

The most horrifying shock to me was the lack of time off at Christmas. The only guaranteed days are Christmas Day and NY Day. More than that, you have to use your very limited PTO.

Where I live, there will be lots of lights and decorations, and we even have an area they call candy cane lane as it’s very elaborate. Where my cousin lives, hardly a thing as it’s a primarily Jewish neighborhood.

A lot of people who celebrate Christmas are quite religious and there will be loads of church services.

Americans also tend to be extremely generous and involved in charitable endeavors especially at this time. Everyone in my family has been involved in something this month. Either volunteering or donating toys/clothes.

In my neck of the woods, a white Christmas is very much the norm, so it can look like a Christmas card with evergreens weighted down with snow. However not this year! It’s quite warm for December.

I know loads of families that do the Elf but none that do Christmas boxes.

we have our big celebration with family on Christmas Eve (big dinner and fun gift exchange) and our own small family gathering on Christmas Day which is when we also do our presents.

I haven’t been “home” (Ireland) for Christmas since 1990 and hope to make it before I die! I’d love some good Christmas cake and pudding, both of which you don’t really get here.

lavenderlou · 18/12/2023 02:11

mathanxiety · 18/12/2023 00:27

If Britain were a nation composed almost entirely of people who were born elsewhere, or their descendants, then Nritain and America would be comparable amd the assumption would be valid.

There seems to be a pretty "standard" Thanksgiving meal so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine there might be a standard Christmas type meal.

mathanxiety · 18/12/2023 02:11

lavenderlou · 17/12/2023 09:50

Is Christmas or Thanksgiving considered a more important holiday? Are there lots of cheesy Thanksgiving films like the Christmas ones, but they just don't make it to the international market?

I'm not aware of any cheesy ones.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is a very funny one.

Americans don't sit around watching movies on Thanksgiving Day - there are at least three football games on TV, and people often have family games of flag football outdoors too. In addition to the professional football there is college football on TV all weekend.

lavenderlou · 18/12/2023 02:13

Planes Trains and Automobiles is a classic. I had forgotten it was Thanksgiving rather than Christmas.

SenecaFallsRedux · 18/12/2023 02:14

In addition to the professional football there is college football on TV all weekend.

And this is the time that the big college rivalry games are traditionally played. In our family, we look forward to this Saturday almost as much as we do to Thanksgiving itself. It's a day full of watching football, eating turkey sandwiches, and consuming all of the leftover pie.

Sodullincomparison · 18/12/2023 02:42

Christmas Eve was really the event because we were all back to work on the 26th - no Boxing Day.

We had an Italian fish feast on Christmas Eve and hosted lots of people and a ham on Christmas Day.

the decorations all appeared on our apartment complex the day after Thanksgiving as if by magic.

the Christmas parties hosted by corporate companies are absolutely massive and the boxes of fruit ( eg peaches from Georgia ) was a bit overwhelming.

It all looked and felt so familiar yet was different to a British Christmas. it made me realise I love Christmas Eve and Boxing Day in equal measure but would happily sleep through Christmas Day.

mathanxiety · 18/12/2023 03:19

RedHelenB · 17/12/2023 06:11

Just curious to know whether the naff Christmas movies are at all like the experience over there. Do you bake Christmas cookies and deliver to neighbours? Do you have candy cane lanes?

I've never seen a candy cane lane, but there are many streets here where the residents put out luminaria on Christmas Eve. The entire metro area is laid out in a grid system so you see long vistas of illuminated streets.

I bake cookies for my family and also to bring to a cookie exchange that a friend hosts. There's also a big parish cookie sale that I bake for most years. By New Year's I am usually sick of the sight of cookies.

mathanxiety · 18/12/2023 03:23

SenecaFallsRedux · 18/12/2023 02:14

In addition to the professional football there is college football on TV all weekend.

And this is the time that the big college rivalry games are traditionally played. In our family, we look forward to this Saturday almost as much as we do to Thanksgiving itself. It's a day full of watching football, eating turkey sandwiches, and consuming all of the leftover pie.

My next door neighbours' two children are at U Michigan and Ohio State. They fly both flags.

StuckintheUSA · 18/12/2023 03:24

garlicandsapphires · 17/12/2023 08:52

They don’t have crackers. That’s all I know.

You can definitely get crackers here in the shops. I see more every year. Not sure if they're exactly the same as the British ones, as I've never bought them.

You can also buy M&S Christmas goodies at Target (a shop that sells, food, clothes, makeup, electronics, housewares, etc). I think this is a recent thing too.

DC1888 · 18/12/2023 03:29

DNAwrangler · 17/12/2023 07:58

Guac sounds great! Bag of nacho chips and you’re sorted for snacks.

When I was in the US I noticed Christmas was a lot less of a big deal. People didn’t travel to see families as much, for example. Probably because they just saw everyone for Thanksgiving.

It's not as big a deal there because the legacy of the Puritans (who banned Christmas, and almost everything else worth enjoying) is much stronger in the US than the UK. While the UK (England as it was) declared the draconian Puritan laws null and void in 1660 (ending the ban on Christmas (see the BBC link below), football on Sundays, holding hands while dancing, theatre, drinking/toasting etc. etc.), Puritans across the Atlantic had a much greater grip on power. Christmas didn't become a federal holiday in the US until the 1870s.

In 1917 the US writer H. L. Mencken wrote that the US had not cast aside the pernicious Puritans influence: "The Puritan's utter lack of aesthetic sense, his distrust of all romantic emotion, his unmatchable intolerance of opposition, his unbreakable belief in his own bleak and narrow views, his savage cruelty of attack, his lust for relentless and barbarous persecution – these things have put an almost unbearable burden up on the exchange of ideas in the United States."

Three years later the US had prohibition (no alcohol). Even today you have to be over 21 to drink there. Having extreme religious views also transfers into other aspects of society, such as attitude to race. The Ku Klux Klan (white, Christian nationalists) an example. The emergence of the second era Klan was triggered by a film (that's all it took)...Birth of a Nation (1915)...the black character (white actor in blackface) in the film was the villain of course (portrayed as a rapist)...with an audience member firing shots at the sceen to "save the white woman" running away from him. After the film four million people became Klan members, partaking in religious symbolism (cross burnings) as well as lynchings etc.

The Virginia trial court Judge Leon Bazile, who in 1958 charged Richard and Mildred Loving (interracial couple) with a felony (interracial marraige was illegal there until 1967) he defended his decision by invoking God: "When Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay, and red, and placed them on separate continents, and but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend the races to mix."

The Puritan legacy of guilt associated with sexual relations outside marriage...a teary Tiger Woods being wheeled out to do a press conference in 2009 because he had cheated on his wife (utterly surreal, wtf has his private life got to do with the golf or the public?).

Puritans were an extremist, persecuting cult, and that cult-like influence has been a major part of the 13 colonies/US landscape for centuries, as opposed to England where their reign of terror only lasted a few decades and ended in 1660. Christian fundamentalism, the bible belt, the megachurchs, the televangelists, the reciting a pledge every morning at school, the politicians having to publicly declare their faith (its everyone's business there, and you must have a faith otherwise they have no chance of being elected), nutters like Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert getting elected, Alex Jones, the latest school massacre followed by that very effective response of "thoughts and prayers" ...the legacy of an extremist sect, from the 1600s, goes on and on there.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20141219-when-christmas-carols-were-banned

When Christmas carols were banned

During the Puritans’ rule of England, celebrating on 25 December was forbidden. Singing yuletide songs then was a political act, writes Clemency Burton-Hill.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20141219-when-christmas-carols-were-banned

mathanxiety · 18/12/2023 03:30

lavenderlou · 18/12/2023 02:11

There seems to be a pretty "standard" Thanksgiving meal so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine there might be a standard Christmas type meal.

Thanksgiving isn't a holiday associated with any particular religion. It was basically created by Abraham Lincoln (though it had been observed on and off since the days of George Washington) and intended as a celebration of America and remembrance of the Civil War. So it could be expected to have more of a specific character than Christmas, where families bring all sorts of traditions to the table, and some don't celebrate it at all.

Pallisers · 18/12/2023 03:31

Crackers are everywhere in the northeast the past few years. Advent calendars too.

When I had my cuban-american sister in law, her brother, his spouse and their children (live in Florida) for thanksgiving dinner one year I made a cuban chicken and rice dish as well as the usual turkey. She said "oh thank you, the kids were anxiously asking "but will there be rice?" much the way my kids would have asked about potatoes.

But most important! @StuckintheUSA are there really M&S things in Target?? Like food or just housewares? I find M&S has gone downhill a bit but I still do miss their food. 20 years ago my mother sent me a chicken tikka masala in the post - and I ate it!

mathanxiety · 18/12/2023 03:41

@DC1888

You'll find that the kegacy of puritanism lives on in Northern Ireland. Indeed, the 'Troubles' there thst lasted 30 years started because the majority refused to give one inch to the demands of a civil rights movement that arose in response to systematic oppression of the minority from 1922 on.

Go back to the 1700s and you'll find the imposition of the Penal.Laws on Ireland are an example of many of the traits described by Mencken.