By Jim Studer
In the midst of the holiday season my mind wanders in strange directions. I end up wondering why the eves seem to outdo the days. So many of our holidays were born as a result of religious holy day celebrations, hence the word holiday.
In the fall we have Halloween. To the surprise of some, the origin comes from the Feast of All Saints. The word Halloween is derived from All Hallows Eves, October 31st. The day after All Saints Day in the Catholic church became All Soul’s Day. The Spanish speaking culture refers to it as Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). All the religious culture seems to be lost as All Hallows Eve has turned into Halloween. I am led to believe it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, money-making celebrations for US commerce: trick-or-treat, jack-o-lanterns, witches hats, black cats and more. According to what I learned over the years watching American Pickers, Halloween as we know it today came after World War I.
Christmas Eve in my lifetime seems to have become more important than Christmas Day. I suppose that is because Santa Claus is supposed to visit sometime on Christmas Eve after the children have gone to bed. Santa in person often showed up in Central Minnesota on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus owes his origin to the feast of Saint Nicholas, on December 6th. Saint Nick often left gifts for children who behaved.
Christmas Day was born in the religious significance of that day. It seems to have become secondary. In my grade school years Midnight Mass, when Christmas Day officially begins, was a monumental event. I remember walking to church as snow fell on a beautiful night to get to Midnight Mass. Today few churches actually have a Midnight Mass or service. Instead, churches offer 4, 6, 8 or 10 pm services; I guess we don’t care for the inconvenience of the midnight hour.
I could never understand the reason for celebrating January 1st, New Years Day. Yes, a new year, but to me, so what? In my youth and until recently New Years Day meant the Rose Parade, bowl games, Rose, Orange, Sugar and Cotton. Today we have more bowls than grandma has in her cupboard. TV’s money dumped on the NCAA has replaced those with a playoff. I liked it better when fans could debate as to which team was a mythical National Champion.