Father Christmas Goes on Holiday

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Robertshaw, Ursula (2 December 1985). "The Christmas Gift Bringer". Illustrated London News (1985 Christmas Number): np. a b Hutton, Ronald (1994). The Rise and Fall of Merry England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 55. a b "Father Christmas" (first U.S. edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 4 December 2012. In 1658 Josiah King published The Examination and Tryall of Old Father Christmas (the earliest citation for the specific term 'Father Christmas' recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary). [21] King portrays Father Christmas as a white-haired old man who is on trial for his life based on evidence laid against him by the Commonwealth. Father Christmas's counsel mounts the defence: "Me thinks my Lord, the very Clouds blush, to see this old Gentleman thus egregiously abused. if at any time any have abused themselves by immoderate eating, and drinking or otherwise spoil the creatures, it is none of this old mans fault; neither ought he to suffer for it; for example the Sun and the Moon are by the heathens worship’d are they therefore bad because idolized? so if any abuse this old man, they are bad for abusing him, not he bad, for being abused." The jury acquits. [22] [23] Restoration [ edit ] Father Christmas appeared in many 20th century English-language works of fiction, including J. R. R. Tolkien's Father Christmas Letters, a series of private letters to his children written between 1920 and 1942 and first published in 1976. [97] Other 20th century publications include C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), Raymond Briggs's Father Christmas (1973) and its sequel Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (1975). The character was also celebrated in popular songs, including " I Believe in Father Christmas" by Greg Lake (1974) and " Father Christmas" by The Kinks (1977).

Armstrong, Neil R (2004). The Intimacy of Christmas: Festive Celebration in England c. 1750-1914 (PDF). University of York (unpublished). p.261. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 February 2016 . Retrieved 28 January 2016. During the Victorian period, Christmas customs enjoyed a significant revival, including the figure of Father Christmas himself as the emblem of 'good cheer'. His physical appearance at this time became more variable, and he was by no means always portrayed as the old and bearded figure imagined by 17th century writers. [3] 'Merry England' view of Christmas [ edit ] In pre-Victorian personifications, Father Christmas had been concerned essentially with adult feasting and games. He had no particular connection with children, nor with the giving of presents. [1] [9] But as Victorian Christmases developed into family festivals centred mainly on children, [57] Father Christmas started to be associated with the giving of gifts. Sandys, William (1852). Christmastide, its History, Festivities and Carols. London: John Russell Smith. pp. 152. England was merry England, when / Old Christmas brought his sports again. 'Twas Christmas broach'd the mightiest ale; / 'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale; A Christmas gambol oft could cheer / The poor man's heart through half the year." [39]Briggs completed a sequel, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday, published in 1975 by Hamish Hamilton in Britain and Coward, McCann & Geoghan in America. [6] This sort of character was to feature repeatedly over the next 250 years in pictures, stage plays and folk dramas. Initially known as 'Sir Christmas' or 'Lord Christmas', he later became increasingly referred to as 'Father Christmas'. [9] Puritan revolution—enter 'Father Christmas' [ edit ] As interest in Christmas customs waned, Father Christmas's profile declined. [1] He still continued to be regarded as Christmas's presiding spirit, although his occasional earlier associations with the Lord of Misrule died out with the disappearance of the Lord of Misrule himself. [1] The historian Ronald Hutton notes, "after a taste of genuine misrule during the Interregnum nobody in the ruling elite seems to have had any stomach for simulating it." [27] Hutton also found "patterns of entertainment at late Stuart Christmases are remarkably timeless [and] nothing very much seems to have altered during the next century either." [27] The diaries of 18th and early 19th century clergy take little note of any Christmas traditions. [24] Any residual distinctions between Father Christmas and Santa Claus largely faded away in the early years of the new century, and it was reported in 1915, "The majority of children to-day ... do not know of any difference between our old Father Christmas and the comparatively new Santa Claus, as, by both wearing the same garb, they have effected a happy compromise." [93] MJ (19 December 1868). "Fairy Gifts". Illustrated London News. London. p.607 . Retrieved 6 February 2016.

Barnett, Laura (16 December 2014). "How I made: Raymond Briggs on Father Christmas". The Guardian . Retrieved 10 August 2022. Alberge, Dalya (14 December 2019). "First letter to Father Christmas discovered from girl requesting paints in 1895". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Millington, Peter (April 2003). "The Truro Cordwainers' Play: A 'New' Eighteenth-Century Christmas Play" (PDF). Folklore. 114 (1): 53–73. doi: 10.1080/0015587032000059870. JSTOR 30035067. S2CID 160553381. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2018 . Retrieved 8 November 2019. The article is also available at eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/3297/1/Truro-Cordwainers-Play.pdf. Scott's phrase Merry England has been adopted by historians to describe the romantic notion that there was a Golden Age of the English past, allegedly since lost, that was characterised by universal hospitality and charity. The notion had a profound influence on the way that popular customs were seen, and most of the 19th century writers who bemoaned the state of contemporary Christmases were, at least to some extent, yearning for the mythical Merry England version. [40] A Merry England vision of Old Christmas 1836 Wanting to go somewhere warmer, Father Christmas flies to Las Vegas. Instead of continuing to sleep in his flying mobile home, Father Christmas stays at the Nero's Palace hotel. He is delighted that the hotel serves huge portions of French fries and has no shortage of ketchup. He makes use of many of the hotel's amenities, including its swimming pool, its casino and its theater where show girls dance.a b c Durston, Chris (December 1985). "The Puritan War on Christmas". History Today. 35 (12). Archived from the original on 15 January 2016 . Retrieved 14 January 2016.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Roud, Steve (2006). The English Year. London: Penguin Books. pp.385–387. ISBN 978-0-140-51554-1. The book's title character and protagonist, who lives in an ordinary house in what appears to be a provincial English town, decides that he needs to take a vacation. He travels to France, Scotland and Las Vegas, Nevada. He finds that each destination has its advantages and disadvantages. Father Christmas [1] is keen to blend in wherever he goes and to pass incognito. He leaves each of his three vacation destinations shortly after a child recognizes him. a b Simpson, Jacqueline; Roud, Steve (2000). A Dictionary of English Folklore. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 402. ISBN 0-19-969104-5. Pimlott, JAR (1960). "Christmas under the Puritans". History Today. 10 (12). Archived from the original on 28 January 2013 . Retrieved 23 December 2012.

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Uncle James (who after hours of making up rather fancies himself as Father Christmas). "Well, my little man, and do you know who I am?" The Little Man. "No, as a matter of fact I don't. But Father's downstairs; perhaps he may be able to tell you." A mummers play mentioned in The Book of Days (1864) opened with "Old Father Christmas, bearing, as emblematic devices, the holly bough, wassail-bowl, &c". [53] A corresponding illustration (below right) shows the character wearing not only a holly wreath but also a gown with a hood.