We can hardly imagine a Christmas without gifts. Christmas is a unique celebration of merry making and gift-giving. The custom of giving presents in this time of the year owes its origin to the Magi. The magi, as you know, were wise men who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They came from the east of Jerusalem to greet the Babe in the manger with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Although the Magi are associated more with the Feast of Epiphany on January 6, they can be considered as the initiators of the gift-giving ritual following the birth of Jesus. In America giving presents at Christmas was not a custom until not long ago. It arrived with the introduction of St. Nicholas by the early Dutch settlers. Giving presents at New Year was a more common practice, especially amid the English and French settlers. But the joint German and Dutch influences in time resulted in all gift-giving to be done at Christmas.
The first advertising for Christmas presents originates from the early 1800s, around 1804. By the 1820s ads began to spring up more and more, and by the 1840s Christmas gifts were an fundamental part American Society. What had once been the undemanding practice of giving small gifts exploded into the consumer driven holiday we now know.
Many people are annoyed that Christmas today is all about presents, and state that is was not like when they were a kids. In reality people have been saying that for over 150 years already. In a story from the 1850s we learn that people said at that time already that it was not like when they were kids and that people were wasting a lot of money in the holiday season. And it is correct that the commercialization of Christmas happened in that period.
However, it can also be said that the gifts are getting bigger, more expensive and more extravagant in time. It is getting harder and harder to find a ‘special’ Christmas gift, especially when you have to find that one special gift among the heaps of commercial rubbish sold everywhere.