Keeping Christmas: The Celebration of an American Holiday

Immigrants carrying their homeland traditions to the New World have given our Christmas holiday, in particular, a diversity of religious and cultural trappings. This collection of stories, memoirs, letters and articles traces the development of America's celebration through successive historical periods. In the Prologue, from the logbook of the flagship Santa Maria , we learn of a less than joyous December 25, 1492. Centuries later Nathaniel Hawthorne, echoing a Puritan note, treats the reader to an eerie observance in ``The Christmas Banquet.'' The pluralistic voices of a young democracy sound in the exuberant ``Christmas at Sutter's Fort in 1847.'' Quietly moving is Robert E. Lee's letter from the battlefield (``Civil War Album''), enclosing violets for his wife and daughter. The revelry of yuletide with a New York bite is found in Damon Runyon's slangy classic, ``Dancing Dan's Christmas,'' and Ray Bradbury's ``The Gift'' adds a contemporary SF flavor. Rich in diversity and seasonal entertainment, this historical sampler includes an extensive list of related reading. (Nov.)