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These Insane Viral Trends and Fads Overtook History Long Before the Internet

Khalid Elhassan July 13, 2022 37 min

Viral - Marathon dancers in 1923 — Marathon dancers in 1923. Library of Congress

11. The Viral Christmas Riots

The only time America had an actual war on Christmas was when the very Christian Puritans banned its celebration. New England Today

Christmas nowadays is a family holiday that most Americans associate with a bundle of positive emotions and images. White snow; Santa and his reindeer; non-stop Christmas music at malls; presents under an evergreen tree; family and loved ones gathered around a dining table groaning beneath a sumptuous feast. The only controversial thing about Christmas today seems to be that fraction of the public who grow livid if they hear others say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”. That is pretty tame, however, compared to how many Americans viewed Christmas in centuries past.

Christmas was once a time of drunken riots, in which the streets were transformed into free for all drunken brawls and scenes of widespread viral crime. Back in the days, many feared and loathed Christmas. In the 1600s, the Massachusetts Bay Colony criminalized Christmas celebrations. The Puritans were not upset so much by the religious devotions, as by the disorders and crime sprees that accompanied Christmas celebrations. While many American families commemorated the holiday with wholesome outdoor activities such as skating or watching horse races, Christmas for single men was a time to get wild.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.