The People of Christmas: Washington Irving

If asked what writer did most to extend the spirit of Christmas, most people would probably respond "Charles Dickens." But many Americans might not know that one famous short story writer contributed more to the revival of Christmas in the United States than anyone else: Washington Irving, who's better known today as the author of the spooky Hallowe'en tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and also "Rip Van Winkle." Both these stories appeared in Irving's book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Esquire, but fully five other stories describe a grand Christmas celebration in England. These chapters greatly contributed to the emergence of Christmas as an important holiday in the United States, as the holiday was suppressed in New England almost through the Civil War, and was only a big celebration further south of New York City.

Irving, the youngest child of a Scottish father and English mother, was named after George Washington and met the first President at age six. He was a lackluster student who nevertheless had a mania and a talent for writing. "Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip" were inspired by trips to Tarrytown, NY, and to the Catskill Mountains. His first noted work, Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York, a fictionalized "history" of the Dutch founding of the city, created the myth that St. Nicholas was the patron saint of the city, and, long before Clement Moore put his hand to poetry, wrote "...and, lo! the good St. Nicholas came riding over the tops of the trees, in that self-same wagon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children" as well as "...when St. Nicholas had smoked his pipe he twisted it in his hatband, and laying his finger beside his nose, gave the astonished Van Kortlandt a very significant look, then mounting his wagon, he returned over the treetops and disappeared."

Old Christmas (a.k.a. Christmas at Bracebridge Hall)

"How Washington Irving Shaped Christmas in America" 

"How Christmas Became Merry"

The complete The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Esquire

Knickerbocker's History of New York