Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Two - Gifts

The nature of gift giving on Christmas takes its root in the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia. This festival was the origin of the "eat, drink and be merry" principle of our modern Christmas celebrations. Saturnalia lasted a full week and consisted of singing, gambling, feasts, practical jokes, and even the switching of slave/master roles in jest, although there was still an understanding of the usual roles. But also during this week long celebration, people would make and give gifts to one another.

Because Saturnalia ended on December 23rd, the traditions continued on as Christmas celebrations. Early church leaders did not like these traditions, as they were clearly pagan rituals. Many people continued on anyway, justifying it by the fact that the magi came with gifts for Christ. There was also one particular man who made the tradition famous (More on him later). By the Middle Ages, the giving of gifts was a generally accepted part of Christmas.

Eventually, the tradition of concealing the gifts in baskets and plain paper developed in order to keep the presents a surprise until they were opened. By the early 1900s, colored ink had become readily available and fancier wrapping paper could be printed and sold to gift givers.