Christmas in the USA: features, traditions, culture

Christmas is one of the brightest and most beautiful Christian holidays. It is with hope and joy in the heart waiting for millions of people. The magic Christmas night of even very serious people for a while makes you forget about your affairs and worries. Penetrating the fabulous spirit of the holiday, adults, like children, believe in miracles.

Christmas in the US, as in other countries where the majority of the population are Catholics, is celebrated on December 25. Despite the different faith of the multi-national population of the country, this holiday for Americans is one of the brightest and colorful. On the traditions and peculiarities of its celebration in the United States and will be discussed.

Preparations for the holiday

Long before the onset of the long-awaited triumph, the Americans are beginning to prepare for it. The streets of cities are decorated with sparkling colorful lights of electric garlands. Many shops hire decorators to decorate their windows according to the spirit of Christmas. So, the most famous department stores in Manhattan have been holding a tacit competition for a year in the creativity of Christmas decoration of their halls and shop windows.

In the pre-festive race of the décor the owners of houses and mansions take part. All this sparkling beauty is clearly broadcast movies about Christmas in the US, a list of which American filmmakers are supplemented each year with a new fairy tale story.

On the streets of the towns the sound of the bell of Santa Claus is heard, foreshadowing a meeting with a kind magician. Trading barkers dressed in his costume congratulate passers-by with the upcoming holiday and remind of Christmas presents. Large shopping centers for the role of Santa invite specially trained actors and equip a fabulous residence where the wizard listens to the cherished desires of the kids.

How to celebrate Christmas in the US

The multiethnic nature of the country also determined the diversity of Christmas traditions. So, the custom to decorate a fir came to the United States of America along with Germans. Famous Christmas carols received their distribution thanks to immigrants from England. And the varied decoration of streets with lanterns and garlands is an element of ancient Spanish traditions, when on Christmas Eve, simulating the illuminated path of Mary and Joseph, paper lanterns with a candle inside were exposed along the streets.

St. Nicholas (Sinterklaas), eventually turned Santa Claus - the giver of gifts, was one of the most revered saints among Americans of Dutch origin, but soon became one of the world's symbols embodying Christmas.

In the US, Santa got his recognizable appearance and red suit. The first was the cartoonist of Harper Weekly magazine Thomas Nast in 1863. Completed it for the advertising campaign "Coca-Cola" in 1931 artist Haddon Hubbard Sandblom.

Festive table

As mentioned above, the United States of America is a multiethnic country, accordingly, the culinary preferences of its citizens are different.

Christmas in the US for Americans with Scottish roots is unthinkable without filing a festive table pig. The Irish Christmas table should have a ham or a turkey. At the natives of Germany, the main meal of the feast is a baked goose. And it is believed that the fatter and bigger the bird, the more successful the coming year will be.

For Americans of Italian origin, in the Christmas menu, you must have a dish of cod. However, the Irish custom won, and now most Americans do not imagine a holiday table for Christmas in the US without the main dish - baked turkey.

Christmas spirit

About the approaching of the long-awaited holiday remind not only all kinds of Christmas fairs and sales. Christian churches are adorned adorned, and in school and preschool establishments are staged performances on the famous biblical theme.

Christmas for many Americans is not only an occasion to gather behind a festive family table and exchange gifts. First of all, the great Christian holiday instills in the hearts of people a belief in good and justice. Therefore, on the eve of Christmas, Americans pay much attention to charity. They transfer funds to various aid funds for the needy or join as volunteers for charity events.

Christmas movies

Cinematography and television also contribute to creating a fabulous mood. On holidays, the country's television screens show a lot of entertainment programs, concerts and TV shows.

But in this colorful program there is always a place for a long time fallen in love with the viewer films. For example, such a family film about Christmas in the United States, like "This Beautiful Life", first released on screens in 1946, has long been an indispensable attribute of the holiday. Without this picture, Americans do not represent Christmas TV as well as our viewer without the film "The Irony of Fate, or With Easy Steam!" During the New Year holidays.

Paintings "Alone at Home", "Miracle on 34th Street", "Bad Santa", "Christmas Story", "Exchange Holidays", "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Real Love" are also on the list of films that Americans like to watch During the Christmas holidays.

Graceful theme

The good and magical themes of the holiday are fertile soil for creativity, and every year the directors try to create a new interesting film about him. Christmas in the US is also the time for premieres of such films. So in 2015, films were released:

• "Krampus: The Thief of Christmas" (directed by Michael Daugherty).
• "Love Coopers" (directed by Jesse Nelson).
• "Just under Christmas" (directed by Sean McNamara).
• "Christmas" (director Jonathan Levin).

Despite the fact that the pictures did not receive laudatory reviews from critics, each found its viewer and, perhaps, for someone will become a favorite Christmas film.