Growing up in a military family I became accustomed to
experiencing a variety of cultural practices, including but not limited to my
own German & American cultures. One
custom that I recall and always looked forward to as a child was the annual
Advent Calendar that my parents would bestow on me, typically on the first day
of December. The Advent Calendar (Figure
1) is a cardboard box filled with pieces of chocolate, and children are allowed
to collect one piece of chocolate for each day leading up to Christmas. The last chocolate prize was typically much
larger than the rest and was considered the ultimate Christmas surprise. As an adult I no longer receive an Advent
Calendar, but I have become curious about the custom and the traditions
associated with it. Today’s blog post is
dedicated to the discussion of the history of the Advent and the calendars now
used to celebrate the holiday.
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| Figure 1: Advent Calendar (Image Source: Sellmer-Verlag) |
The Advent is a holiday tradition associated with Christian
faiths. It dates back to the 1600s and
has always and still remains the period of time that leads up to Christmas,
which is day Christians associate with the birth of Christ. Early Advent traditions involved periods of
fasting to prepare followers of the faith for the Christmas celebration. The tradition eventually evolved and changed
as fasting was no longer favored. It has
since been replaced with the custom of lighting a purple candle on each Sunday
leading up to Christmas. Purple is the
color associated with Christ and royalty and can be traced back to 13th
century European values. On Christmas
night during Christmas Mass a white candle is lit, thereby ending Advent.
So where and when did calendars get added to the tradition? The launch of the Advent Calendar began in
the 1800s and is associated with a German woman who created an ingenious way of
dealing with her impatient child. Her
child was all too eager to collect his Christmas presents, which were to be
opened on Christmas Eve (as is traditional in German culture), so to prevent
him from being naughty she gave him a small gift, typically containing a small
cookie, each day leading up to Christmas.
The Advent Calendar became commercialized in the early 1900s, and today
Advent Calendars come in various different sizes and themes and even contain a
variety of prizes, ranging from chocolates, simply pictures, or even little
plastic toy prizes.
References Cited
Dias, Elizabeth. 2011. A Brief History of Advent. http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/01/a-brief-history-of-advent/
Flippo, Hyde. 2014. German Advent Calendar: Fact of the Day. http://www.aboutgerman.net/AGNwords/advent-facts-01.htm
No Author. No Date. Advent Calendars: The History of a Christmas
Tradition. www.sellmer-verlag.de/history.htm
27 comments:
Every year as a child my German grandmother would give me an Advent calendar but she gave it to me at Thanksgiving. My brother and I would get them and anxiously await Christmas Eve when we would then go to my Grandmother's house to open gifts. The advent calendar stopped being gifted to me a couple of years ago as I am now twenty but my mother, sensing my sadness of being an adult, bought me one last Christmas and we shared the candies together. This was always my favorite part of the holiday season.
These days, most Advent Calendars comes in different shapes and sizes and not in the form of a piece of chocolate. When I was in elementary school, I used to do lots of fun christmas projects. One project I remember doing was I cut up strips of red and green paper. Then I'd shape them in a circle and put it in some sort of a chain. There were 25 of them and on each day, I'd rip one off until Christmas Day hit.
Every year growing up we always got the Advent Calendar that was small chocolate pieces. Even still today as I am older we still search for them every year. It has become a family tradition that we are passing on to my nieces. It is interesting to find out where they came from. I did not realize they came from the Christian faith. It was actually nice to understand how they came about. Something you think is a family tradition is actual a common thing. I really enjoy getting them every year and it is nice to see others do it as well.
Leslie Milton
Anthropology 101
Course 3001
My family does a similar celebration. We have this little Christmas house with 24 windows and doors that you open everyday leading to Christmas morning. My mom and dad have put things from candy to little gifts in each compartment. I love looking back on family traditions, it makes me excited for the holidays!
As a child my father would always get an Advent calendar for the weeks leading up to Christmas. I had always assumed it to be a long held tradition, not something that came to be so recently. It is interesting how traditions grow and change over the years, yet still hold some semblance of their original meaning or structure. I most definitely prefer the chocolate over the purple candles!
My father was in the military but never did anything like this. I didn't hear about this until reading this. I would of loved the calander only cause I love chocolate. It seems like a fun little thing to do with your children.
Aaliyah Caldwell
I didn't know where the Advent calendar originated, before reading this blog, so this post interested me. As a child I didn't practice advent, so the thought never crossed my mind to do this with my own kids, until recently when my friends from back home posted their kids doing an advent on Facebook. I still was clueless as to why people practiced this tradition, but now it's more clear.
Aaliyah, they sell advent calendars are various places, such as Aldis and Barnes & Noble. You can pick one up and start the tradition this year if you are interested.
I am not from a military family, and did not grow up with them, but i know about advent calendar in the Catholic church which is approximately 5 weeks before Christmas.
I had no idea what advent was but I did have an advent calendar as a kid but I had no idea there was a deeper meaning behind it i was just happy to be getting money and toys.
My girlfriend has lived in Germany for three years, as she is a military child as well. I asked her about it and she's never heard of such so it makes me wonder if it's common in all Germany sub-cultures as well. Seems like a fun tradition to take part in though.
before reading this article I had never heard of the advent calendar. I have heard of people counting down 25 days till Christmas but never each Sunday. I think it would be interesting to try this. I think this was portrayed in the movie bad santa. I remember the kid pulling pieces of candy out of a calendar figure. you should watch the movie and observe.
I actually have heard of the Advent and advent holiday but never really looked it up or read in depth on it a all due o my lack of interest but after reading this it turned out to be a somewhat interesting post.
With the finding of Advent Calendars its neat to see what some parents due to take the children's mind off of a holiday that takes time to get to. The way I look at Christmas is just know the day before, it is my mothers birthday.
I am not a religious person nor do I have anything against religion, in fact this a fun fact that was very enticing to me and happy to learn about.
I don't celebrate holidays but this is a pretty decent read. In the post above I read that "The Advent is a holiday tradition associated with Christian faiths", it's interesting to see how many holidays are associated with Christianity.
-Monique McAllister
I participate in Advent when I was in high school because I went to a catholic high school and the mad us do things like this. Some people participate in this and don't even know it. In the month of Advent you're not suppose to eat meat on Fridays and a lot of school do this.
I have never heard of an advent calendar until i read this blog. learn something new everyday :)
I really have known about the Advent and appearance occasion yet never truly found it or perused inside and out on it an all due my absence of intrigue yet subsequent to perusing this it ended up being a to some degree fascinating post
My moms late bestfriend used to always put one up in her living room. I remember going over and seeing it every Christmas eve, having her youngest open the last door till christmas. It seems they are not too popular anymore.
I never heard of the advent calendar until this post. It's interesting how many holidays are associated with Christianity but are not really recognized by many people.
-Apreshana Page
My name is Tonii Saffore. I've heard about these calendars before, I've actually received one of these calendars in my childhood. The calendar i was given one Christmas contained chocolate in each little slot. It just seemed like something fun to look forward to during the season to keep the Christmas spirit. The chocolate was very good also, every kid loves candy.
I've never heard of an advent calendar. Im really not into religion as deep as alot of people are so many might know about it more than me. Im pretty sure my family has never taken part in this celebration.
-Jasmine Busby
Hi,
I think that many children would enjoy the idea of receiving one piece of chocolate a day leading up to Christmas. I also understand the need to change with a tradition. Was there a certain age that the giving up chocolate candy ended?
Joell Davis
My father was in the military but I didn't have the luxury of traveling with him to different countries. I found the calendars interesting. I like that the gift was well thought out.
Alliyah Mayweather
I’ve never seen an advent calendar although my grandpa and uncle was in the military I even thought about going.
Nick Moore
I have always seen this being shown on movies and tv shows but never knew where it came from, or why I never did it. Also besides that I have seen little toys being inside the cardboard box. Even ornaments instead of candy or toys. I also never knew it was associated with Christians. The idea of it does make a lot of sense. A lot of kids are very eager to open their presents when it comes to Christmas. I wonder if this is done in a lot of households. If so, I wonder if it keeps kids from opening their gifts.
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