{"product_id":"the-battle-for-christmas-vintage-a-social-and-cultural-history-of-our-most-cherished-holiday-9780679740384","title":"The Battle for Christmas Vintage A Social and","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • Drawing on a wealth of research, this fascinating book (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review)\u003c\/i\u003e charts the invention of our current Yuletide traditions, from St. Nicholas to the Christmas tree and, perhaps most radically, the practice of giving gifts to children. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnyone who laments the excesses of Christmas might consider the Puritans of colonial Massachusetts: they simply outlawed the holiday. The Puritans had their reasons, since Christmas was once an occasion for drunkenness and riot, when poor wassailers  extorted food and drink from the well-to-do. In this intriguing and innovative work of social history, Stephen Nissenbaum rediscovers Christmas's carnival origins and shows how it was transformed, during the nineteenth century, into a festival of domesticity and consumerism. \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003eBursting with detail, filled with subversive readings of such seasonal classics as A Visit from St. Nicholas","brand":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49917776691543,"sku":"9780679740384","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780679740384.jpg?v=1738449155","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-battle-for-christmas-vintage-a-social-and-cultural-history-of-our-most-cherished-holiday-9780679740384","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}