The traditional justification for continuing with the Christmas gifts and gifting tradition lies in the story of Magi bearing gifts for the new born infant Jesus, and the fact that Christ, the lord was a providential gift from to mankind.
The history of Christmas and the tradition of Christmas gifts predate the birth of Jesus Christ. Ancient historic evidence indicates that the early European pagans marked the longest night of the year popularly referred to as the Winter solstice as a feast to herald winter. Livestock were slaughtered and preserved and eaten throughout the winter. Romans feasted for 9 to 10 days in December in honor of the agriculture deity and the Germans celebrated solstice to honor the deity Oden. It was only in the 4th century that the church set the date of nativity as Christmas day and that heralded the era of Christmas celebrations, gifts and joyous festivity.
Christmas is a festival that helps people to come together and enjoy. Family get together, parties and feasts are a part of Christmas celebrations. Families clean their homes and decorate it in a traditional manner. They use wreaths, twigs, flowers and lights to decorate homes. The activity of buying a Christmas tree is special and the entire family enjoys it. Once, the tree is brought home, everyone gets into the mood of decorating it with ornaments, tinsel, and so on. The entire atmosphere is full of gusto and festive fervor. The kids enjoy gifts and visit of Santa Claus while the elders love to spend quality time with family during the Christmas holiday season.
Exchanging gifts is an important tradition followed during Christmas. During pagan times, high ranking ministers in the Roman Empire gave gifts to the Emperor at the feast of Kalends. St. Nicholas was known for giving gifts to kids. Santa Claus brings gifts for children during Christmas.
The tradition of giving and receiving gifts is a well known tradition of Christmas. All the gifts are kept below the Christmas tree. They are opened on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. Traditionally gifts were in form of fruits, nuts, toys and so on. With passage of time, gifts too have undergone a change. Toady we see modern gifts in form of electronic gadgets, home and kitchen appliances, clothes and so on. The gifts are given as per the receiver's likes, hobbies and passion. The requirement of the person is verified before giving a gift.
In 1800, we could see stores in England and America started selling Christmas gifts. People used to go for shopping gifts for their loved ones. There were many critics of this tradition of giving gifts as they thought it was commercialization of Christmas. The Christmas gift is given to a person whom you love and respect. The price and size of the gift does not matter, the feeling with which the gift is given is more significant. There are people who give handmade gifts during Christmas. Everyone loves those gifts as they are prepared from some one's hard work and efforts.
Today, Christmas gifts are given in form crockery, cutlery, gift baskets, tickets to a drama, event and adventure sports and so on. Gift basket is the best Christmas gift one can think of. You can give a gift basket filled with fresh fruits, dry fruits and nuts. A wine bottle, wine glass, cheese, chocolates is another gift basket of great use during Christmas. Gift giving is a tradition to show your innermost feelings to the person who is receiving the gift.
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