Be honest! Even as an adult, Christmas for most folks is about the presents. The trend of gift-giving is nothing new—it’s been around for ages, or at least for decades. What started out as a family tradition reminiscent of a scene from A Christmas Story has turned into a worldwide trashcan of commercialism. Each year, one generation passes on the tradition of giving too much during Christmas to the next. If you’re one of the lucky few who still sees the holiday as a time to be grateful for family and friends, to gather around a table and ‘break bread,’ and to truly celebrate the meaning of the holiday—then you are truly an anomaly. But a lucky one at that.
The Tradition of Gift-Giving: A Deeply Rooted Custom
The question is, are presents really necessary at Christmas? Even if you claim to bask in the goodness of family during this special time of year, could you go the entire season without giving or receiving a single present?
First, it’s important to understand that the tradition of gift-giving during Christmas dates back to ancient times. Roman emperors were greedy souls and declared that they should be receiving gifts on New Year’s Day. People from all over the kingdoms would seek to find the most worthy gift to give an emperor. Perhaps the birth of our desire to find the ‘perfect gift’ is rooted in our ancestors. However, most of the gifts exchanged at this time were organic in nature. This tradition died when Henry III closed down all the merchants during December, furious because he felt the gift he had been given the previous year was inadequate at best. (Maybe selfishness too is rooted in our ancestry.)
Other celebrations revolving around the Yule also involved gift-giving on a much smaller scale. Most of the gifts were offerings to the Gods or shared among family members. The Yuletide celebrations lasted for weeks. This angered religious sects, and many early church leaders worked tirelessly to outlaw the merriment and gift-giving that often accompanied the Christmas season. Yet, they couldn’t stop it. So, with the attitude of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” traditional Christian religions sought to tie gift-giving with the celebrated birth of Christ. And so, today’s Christmas, in all its overindulgence, is truly rooted in the Victorian era.
Victorian England, in an attempt to renew the spirit of the holiday, engaged in extravagant gift-giving and family time, which most closely resembles the commercialized Christmas of today. With the invention of Santa Claus by the Americans, what began as an incredibly special time of year—due to both religious and solstice reasons—turned into what most of us today recognize as Christmas.
Today, many people feel that Christmas presents are a very important part of the holiday. Considering that the commercialization of Christmas is often responsible for making or breaking the bottom line of small and large businesses across the globe, it’s obvious that the economic condition of the world is greatly influenced by this holiday. Many companies report earning around 40% (or more) of their yearly earnings during the period from Black Friday to Christmas Eve. And because the economy is driven so heavily by the presents given at Christmas, marketing ploys are in place to ensure that people buy and buy big. And of course, this involves guilt—lots of it. Last year, Parenting Magazine ran a poll which indicated that around 79% of parents buy more than three presents for their children each year. 61% admitted to spending more than they could afford, using credit cards as a source of funding for the holiday. Additionally, many parents admit that they could not imagine a ‘traditional’ Christmas without presents under the tree and could never bear to let their children down.
On average, a typical American family gives gifts to 11 people outside of the immediate family. Many also feel that it is necessary to give and receive gifts from various people, seeing the lack of a present as rude or disrespectful. Teachers, mail carriers, local police officers, and even your favorite cashier may end up on your Christmas recipient list. Business partners, in what mimics the behavior of Roman emperors, often engage in elaborate gift-giving in an attempt to ‘one-up’ one another and gain respect through commercialism. All of this happens during a time of year when we are supposed to be reaching into our hearts to remember the simple things: to spend time with family, to appreciate one another in ways we often forget. Does it really take a present to show someone that you love and appreciate them?
Could it be that each of us has slipped into the black hole of marketing ploys and commercialism—without realizing that our pocketbooks are being taken for a ride? What would YOUR Christmas be like without presents? How would you, or your family, react if you decided to simply forego the fabricated tradition of exchanging gifts during this time of year?
Sadly, many people feel much like Jo from Little Women did when she said, “Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without any presents!” And so they (and likely you) shop. But it’s worth considering what the true meaning of Christmas is to you and your family. There is always time to start new traditions—ones that focus more on the people in your life than the presents you can afford. What an amazing gift THAT would be to pass down to your children. Chances are, in 30 years, they won’t remember the gifts under the tree, but they will remember the smell of hot apple cider and singing Christmas carols with Mom and Dad around a roaring fire. So, YOU be the judge. Could you have a Christmas without any presents?
