Christmas in the United States, find out how it is celebrated 
Christmas in the United States is one of the main holidays of the year. The Christmas season begins as early as the fourth Thursday of November with the celebration of Thanksgiving and ends on January 6th. Flamboyant decorations flood the streets and homes with Christmas lights and ornaments, towering pine trees, mistletoe, Santa socks and gingerbread biscuits.
Due to the multicultural nature of the United States, there are many different traditions for celebrating Christmas. But the truth is that the vast majority of citizens do celebrate it. 9 out of 10 Americans and almost all Christians (96%) celebrate the holiday, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. Moreover, according to the same study, a large proportion of non-believing Americans (81%) join in the celebration.
Today we tell you how Christmas is celebrated in the United States:
CLASSIC CHRISTMAS DINNER
In the USA there is no special celebration on the 24th like in Spain. But the shops stay open until 12 midnight so that all families can buy last minute gifts. The 25th begins with the little ones opening the presents that Santa Claus has left them. It is one of the most important days in the month of December for the youngest members of the household.
A family dinner is also celebrated on this day, which usually includes turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy and savoury pies. The traditional Christmas Eve drink is the eggnog, made from milk, cream, sugar, beaten eggs and brandy or rum.
CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS IN THE U.S.A.
- Stocking or Santa socks
While it is true that Santa Claus is the main icon of Christmas in the USA, another fundamental element of the American Christmas is the stocking or Santa socks. They are a symbol of Christmas in the USA, as each member of the family has a stocking in which they find the sweets and gifts that Santa leaves them.
Where does the Stocking tradition come from? According to legends, this tradition comes from the story of a noble father and his three daughters. He was a wealthy and lucky man until his wife died. Sadness and grief caused him to lose all his wealth. He had no way to pay for the wedding of his daughters who were his support day after day. One night Santa took pity on this family’s situation. He went down the chimney and left a bar of gold in the daughters’ stockings, which were left to dry on the fire in the fireplace. Thanks to this legend, both the youngest and the oldest members of the family leave a sock on the chimney, hoping that Santa will leave them a present.
- Natural Christmas tree
The natural Christmas tree is a tradition that Americans cannot skip. As a kind of family ritual, the whole family goes together to buy the tree. This is known as the Christmas tree decoration party. The natural pine trees are usually purchased from what are known as Christmas Tree Farms, farms that specifically grow natural Christmas trees. The family takes a stroll through the maze of trees looking for the most suitable tree for their home. Once chosen and felled, all family members gather to decorate the tree.
- Decoration and lights
In the United States, not only do they decorate the streets and shop windows, but they also place great importance on decorating their homes. In most of them, you can see the outside full of coloured lights creating Christmas designs and figures such as reindeer and stars.
This tradition is so important that they organize Christmas decoration competitions, families go out into the neighborhood with their children to enjoy this spectacle of lights.
- Mistletoe
The mistletoe is another of the most typical elements of Christmas in the United States. Every time two people meet under the mistletoe they have to kiss each other and pick a fruit. The berry was a healing fruit in the Middle Ages. However, this tradition was created to be able to steal a kiss from the girl you like by scaring her that if she refused she would have bad luck.
- Gingerbread biscuits
Christmas in the USA is also characterized by several culinary traditions. First of all there is Eggnog. Then there are the traditional gingerbread biscuits or Christmas cookies. These are gingerbread sweets in all sorts of Christmas shapes: stars, trees, snowmen…
- Christmas parades
The USA does not enjoy the Three Kings Parade as in Spain, but some of the big cities organize Christmas parades. In New York, the festivities begin on Thanksgiving Day with the Macy’s parade, which brings together more than 3 million people on the street and another 50 million watching it live on television.
- New Year´s Eve
Celebrations on the night of December 31st continue into New Year’s Day with friends and family. Some of the traditions of this day include watching the ball drop in Times Square, kissing someone in the middle of the night or big fireworks.
- Ugly sweater day
The literal translation in Spanish is: “El día de jersey feo”, with a Christmas theme. It is a very modern tradition that started in the 1980s. It had its biggest boom in 2003 at one of the first parties that were held, in Canada, to raise funds for cancer. In a couple of years this party has spread worldwide and is now celebrated on the third Friday of every December. As a rule, a Christmas jumper is the outfit to wear to family gatherings, with friends or even to work. It is the ideal time to use that handmade knitted jumper that everyone has in their wardrobe.
LIVING CHRISTMAS IN THE USA
Many of our students return home at this time of year, but many others stay for a new experience to discover Christmas in the USA at least once in a lifetime.
Carolina Romero is a young woman from Zaragoza who finished her degree thanks to an academic scholarship at the University of Toledo (Ohio). She is now doing a master’s degree and sends us these photos with all her classmates celebrating Christmas in the United States.
The last months of the year bring together the most typical festivities in the United States, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, but they are not the only ones. Discover in our post The 6 most typical festivities in the USA that you can’t miss. But as you have seen in this post, Christmas is a time of the year that you must experience at least once in the United States. You won’t be disappointed!
(Español)
