The Book of Christmas Folklore, Tristram P. Coffin
This is one of the first books I read about Christmas history and customs, right out of the library. And when the library sold it off, I brought it home.
The chapters address different historical aspects of the holiday, starting, of course, how it ended up on December 25, since no Christian scholar believes that Jesus was born on that date. It was, instead, a co-opting of already established midwinter celebrations that existed among the Romans, the Celts, and the Teutons, among others. Despite efforts to extinguish the holiday, especially by the Puritans and other disapproving groups, it never truly disappeared, just modified itself. Coffin then traces the history of the tree, the feast, and other customs, and, most interestingly, how the Christmas story morphed once introduced into other societies. The fascinating chapter "The Stardust of a Memory" discusses how the Nativity story engendered apocrypha like the myth of Joseph of Arimathaea bringing the Holy Thorn to England and tales of Jesus' childhood. One of the tales told is a Native American version of Jesus' life.
There's also a history of Santa Claus (and related gift-givers), and this is the first book I recall that mentions the chance that Clement Moore was not the author of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," and that the true author was Henry Livingston, a relation of Robert Livingston who signed the Declaration of Independence; a history of the Christmas carol; a narrative about the "miracle plays" that brought the Nativity to life with some additional comic relief; the custom of mumming all the way through today's Philadelphia Mummers Parade; and finally the tale of Charles Dickens and Washington Irving, who together contributed to the modern Christmas.
Written in an informative, lively, and occasionally witty manner, this is a great primer addressing how a riotous midwinter festival grew and changed with the centuries.
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