Quick question, have you ever felt magic? Have you ever known that no matter what, there’s something magical happening somewhere? Christmas time has captured that magic for children and adults for generations. The idea of modern Christmas has grown over time, it’s a group effort of writers, leaders, and other surprising characters. Of course Saint Nick himself is the main man here but rest assured, Christmas was a group effort. Let us introduce you to the history of the modern day Christmas. Join Saint Nick, Charles Dickens, Constantine the great, Maria Chapman, and Queen Alexandrina Victoria in their efforts to Craft Christmas.
St. Nicholas of Myra
St. Nicholas of Myra loved giving gifts, he loved giving gifts so much that he inspired whole nations to take up the spirit of gift giving. He became a symbol for charity, love, and sharing by spending his life helping those less fortunate than him. Tending to those in their time of need to help them survive or help their families to thrive. Saint Nick is indeed a jolly old soul. Spread cheer by boosting other players and receive more than you give, it’s good to give and to receive.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens wrote some of the all time greatest novels and novellas. A Christmas Carol has set the scene for the holiday for just under 200 years (written 1843 we’re coming up on the 180th anniversary of its printing on December 19th this year!). Charles Dickens wrote so many great works like Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and so many more. Dickens worked hard writing so often about all the things in his life, drawing his characters from people he met, making them larger than life. Now you can celebrate this amazing man by using his dominating skills as an author to change the world around you, Just like Charles did!
Constantine the Great
Constantine the Great, well it’s in the name isn’t it? Constantine celebrated the first official Christmas holiday party and that sounds pretty great to me. Constantine lived his life in the service of others through military service and other works he eventually became Caesar putting real power in his hands and eventually becoming the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He took his job very seriously, having lived as a citizen first he enacted some changes that would make life easier and strengthen his empire. When it takes historians thousands of years to start to call your character into question…then it becomes clear why the people who knew you called you Constantine the Great.
Queen Alexandrina Victoria
Queen Alexandrina Victoria of the United Kingdom was the great queen of the Victorian Era. When your empire, your education, your world understanding, and your quality of life change so much in just one lifetime, it’s no wonder they named an era after her. Now, you might ask yourself, why is Queen Victoria in the crafting Christmas deck. Well, do you like Christmas trees? the dance of the sugar plum fairies? Do you want to know who globally popularized Sugar Plums and Christmas Trees? that’s right good ol’ Queen Victoria. As a gift to her Husband who enjoyed Christmases growing up in Germany, where decorated trees were part of the tradition, she brought trees to decorate into Windsor Castle. She would give trees to various places like schools and army barracks making it a popular thing for people of all stations in life to enjoy. Spreading joy and prosperity to people was something Queen Victoria enjoyed and that giving is reflected in her cards.
Maria Weston Chapman
Maria Weston Chapman worked hard to further the movement to end slavery in America. She worked through the tough treatment she faced to create some of the most creative funding for the movement. She was the leader of a yearly Christmas time event where people would come to shop for gifts, celebrating both new and old traditions and collecting money to help progress the anti-slavery movement as well as editing The Liberty Bell which was a gift book that was sold as part of the fundraising effort. It takes a lot of brains to raise the kind of money she did to help support freedom. Money and brains, sounds familiar doesn’t it?