1. Christmas Crackers – and not the edible kind! What’s better than a dinner party favor that provides enjoyment in 3 ways? First, the excitement and fun of popping them open with the person next to you (and startling the dogs). Second, adorning your head with the colorful, paper crown. And finally, seeing what cheesy gift is inside the cracker. Will it be a fake moustache? A plastic ring? A miniature horse? Basically it needs to be small, plastic and something little children could choke on to be a good Christmas cracker.
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| Here I am modelling crown & toy from a Christmas cracker in 2009. |
2. Boxing Day – Typically occurring in commonwealth countries (UK, Canada, Australia, etc.) Boxing Day is a bank holiday on 26th of December. Part of the Christmas season, it often involves more eating (leftovers usually), seeing family and relaxing after the busy day that is Christmas. The history of Boxing Day is unclear and several theories exist. But whatever the case, it’s wonderful to enjoy this paid day off directly following Christmas Day.
3. TV vs Movies –In America, Christmas a big box office day for cinema. Blockbusters are released on Christmas day and you can enjoy going to the movies which I’ve done several times myself. However, in the UK the cinemas shut down completely. But in its place, there is a lot of expectation of Christmas TV, usually highlighted by special Christmas episodes of popular TV shows: Doctor Who, Downton Abbey and a generous helping of cheesy Christmas specials.
4. Christmas cards to everyone you know – this may be a very specific ‘Valerie Tanswell’ difference based on just my own experience. In America, it seems we mainly use Christmas cards to send greetings and holiday wishes to friends and family we don’t see very often. But in the UK, it seems you give Christmas cards to even those you see every day. “Good morning, Valerie, this is for you.”
6. Father Christmas – Santa Clause is also known as “Father Christmas” here. Side-note: it’s also common to wish someone a “Happy Christmas” instead of a Merry Christmas.
7. Close everything down – no Starbucks run in the morning (which was a very LA thing I used to do). No last minute runs to the grocery store to pick up forgotten bits. Good luck finding a petrol station that’s open. This country closes down on Christmas Day and you’d better be prepared!
8. The Queen’s Speech (Royal Christmas Message) - established in 1932, it’s the one time a year where the British Monarch communicates directly to the Commonwealth nations independently of any ministers or other government influences. Broadcast on Christmas day, Her Majesty will include milestones for the monarchy (her own “year in review”) and what Christmas means to her. Note: I’ve never watched one in full; they’re quite dull (forgive me die-hard Anglophiles).
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| "1992...has turned out to be an 'Annus Horribilis. '" |
9. Not breaking the bank – overall I find the Brits less focused on having to give big presents than Americans. Everyone struggles at Christmas to manage their budgets, but Brits have a bit more grounded approach to gifts. I think Americans tend to show their love by how big the gifts they give are but it doesn’t seem Brits have that need to the same degree. At least not in my experience.
10. Food – Traditional American Christmas foods include turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie etc. British Christmas traditional food isn’t totally different from the US but there are a few very specific Christmas items that are different. Strangely all three of my examples include dried fruit. Ummm… okay.
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| Mince pies – modern mince pies are small, sweet pies which include currants and spices. Best served warm. |
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| Christmas pudding - Not pudding in the American traditional sense (in the UK, a pudding = dessert). It’s a cake made of dark sugars, currants and raisins and often a nice dose of alcohol (brandy for example). It’s served hot with custard or cream. |
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| Christmas cake – Basically it’s a heavy fruitcake! Sometimes made with alcohol as well, this type of cake can be made months before and if finished with a 1 inch thick layer of hard icing. For this American, it’s a very odd cake and not my favorite. Incidentally, it’s the same recipe that is used here for traditional wedding cake. |
Honorable mention goes to traditional English Panto which I’ve never seen myself but Wikipedia describes as, “a popular form of theatre, incorporating song, dance, buffoonery, slapstick, cross-dressing, in-jokes, topical references, audience participation, and mild sexual innuendo.”
What do you think? Are any of these a surprise? Do you agree with them? Have I missed anything important?
Having not spent christmas in the states I'm in no way qualified to comment on the differences but that seems a perfect summary of the british christmas.
ReplyDeleteTo pick up on a couple of things above: No one actually watches the queens speech, they just like it being there. And no decent person likes Christmas pudding, but that will not stop half the population serving it up on Christmas day right after the dry overcooked Turkey.
I can't imagine going to the cinema on Christmas day, but considering it is the law to drink at least five different types of alcohol during christmas day, driving to anywhere isn't much of an option. Suggested drinking approach: Bucks Fizz for breakfast, beer during the morning, warm mulled wine for afternoon, sherry as a pre-dinner aperitif, wine for dinner, port with cheese, Gin and Tonic to help settle the stomach during Dr Who , Whiskey night cap.
I'd stress that everything, EVERYTHING really does shut on Christmas day, except the pubs. Which probably says it all.
The Scottish traditionally celebrate New Year (Hogmanay), much more than the English. North of the border everything is closed and no trains run on New Years day. In England, people are busy going crazy in the January Sales (a percentage of the population will spend their Boxing day is the mad rush as these sales open - I always feel for the sales assistants who have to be there at the crack of dawn - after the drinking ritual noted above - to prepare for this).
I don't know if it is like this in the States, but there is a unhealthy obsession with Victorian/Dickens imagery. Christmas cards, Biscuit (cookie) tins, and everything else show well-to-do Victorians skating on a iced over thames. And that reminds me, everyone - like Bing - dreams of a white christmas, even though we haven't had one for years.
All spot on.
ReplyDeleteYou really should go see a panto, but you'll probably need to take a child. :)
ReplyDeleteMany of the (live) Christmas tv shows include panto references too.
Even though I don't often go to see a pantomime that often they are part of christmas for me.
As far as I know, commenter Chris Keene is the only person in the world who doesn't like Christmas pudding...
ReplyDeleteOuterhoard may well be right! But no cream or custard on a Christmas pudding, must be white sauce with brandy or rum. If people think otherwise they must be southerners or Lancastrians or otherwise strange.
ReplyDeleteI think it's worth making clear that the Queen's speech is less than 10 mins, and includes a video montage, so the actual speech is even shorter.
Also worth saying that big outdoor light displays on private homes are in many subcultures seen as vulgar or environmentally unsound, so they're a niche appeal here.
Is another difference that on tv / film there seems to be a very specific USA tradition of people standing on streets dressed as santa collecting for charity? Not that that sort of thing never happens here, but it's more of a touring Father Christmas from the local Lions club or similar.
You've made me so homesick... (British expat in the States)
ReplyDeleteLoving all the comments, thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous -- The "street-corner Santa" as depicted on screen is indeed a real phenomenon, and specific to the Salvation Army. That said, the Santa suit is actually an uncommon bonus. Bell ringers are generally stationed on corners in downtown shopping areas, and next to the entrance of anchor stores (usually a large supermarket or big-box store like Walmart) in suburban strip malls. Many are beneficiaries of the charity's services who've turned around and volunteered to help others, and most wear street clothes.
ReplyDeleteThere's a summary of the program's origin here.
Re your point 9, interestingly I just read this article
ReplyDeleteTis not the season to be shopping
which says that proportionate to size of economy the UK spends even more in the run up to Christmas (and Hanukkah) than the USA does.
This is bullshit ultimately a waste of your life. Brilliant, well done.
ReplyDeleteGreat summary, but Christmas pudding is a PUDDING not a cake and should be served with brandy sauce. They are often made well in advance of Christmas day and it is traditional for every member of the family to stir the mixture and make a wish. Coins wrapped in foil are sometimes added so if you're lucky you might find a pound coin in your Christmas day dessert!
ReplyDeleteI would agree with a previous comment that excessive Christmas lights are considered to be quite bad taste and un-environmentally friendly, but there is more emphasis on the switching on of the local town's display of Christmas lights - often done by a celebrity. Is this also done in the US?
Yes - as Anonymous says (not the abusive one @6.46, the one who mentioned pudding): Christmas pudding is a pudding, not a cake. This means (in the UK) that it's made in a bowl, sealed up and and steamed for hours and hours, many months before Xmas. It is still sort of cakey, but it's got to be made in this specific way, and it's moist and heavy and puddingy. And this use of the word pudding is different from the use you mention in the post, whereby pudding = dessert (also true, but more general). A pudding (steamed in a bowl) can also be savoury (steak and kidney pudding, for instance). What's a US pudding?
ReplyDeleteIn America, a pudding is the equivalent of a type of mousse, perhaps, the most common would be a tapioca or Jello pudding (yuck!)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chocolate_pudding.jpg. We don't have so many words to describe these things. They are all desserts under that heading usually are either a cake or a pie! Your puddings, cakes, crumbles, desserts...all the variations are confusing to us in a way. But also awesome, I love the variety.
ReplyDeleteThere's not a lot wrong with Christmas pudding except that people are usually so full after the turkey that it's not really a good time to serve it! It should be served with brandy or rum butter - and I, for one, prefer it served cold on Boxing Day, thickly spread with said brandy or rum butter!
ReplyDeleteWhat you have failed to mention is the very significant differences in the accompaniments to our roast turkeys. Not for us sweet potato pie or green bean casserole - ours are served with Brussels sprouts, roast potatoes and parsnips (and in my family broad beans, totally out of season!). Also, although cranberry sauce has become popular in recent years, it is less traditional than bread sauce and/or redcurrant jelly. The turkey was traditionally stuffed with sausagemeat stuffing at one end and chestnut stuffing at the other, but these days with fears of salmonella poisoning, the stuffing is usually cooked separately and there are little chipolata sausages cooked round it, and, of course, streaky bacon across the breast to add flavour.
And do Americans enjoy delicious turkey dripping on their Boxing Day toast?
THANK YOU for clearing up the mystery for me of US "pudding" vs UK!
ReplyDeleteI love Christmas pudding by the way and made mine a couple of weeks ago. We turn all the lights out (it's Christmas so it's dark by the time we get round to the pudding) pour warm brandy over the pudding then light it so the pudding comes into the dining room in the dark with a beautiful flickering blue flame. Then we add even more alcohol by eating it with brandy butter!.. or a little cream for the children.
Then retire to the sitting room and lie on the sofa, groaning gently. Lovely
Other differences between the UK/US Christmas...
ReplyDeleteWith the dinner, I've more often found in the US people tend to eat ham or even roast beef on Christmas since we've just had turkey for Thanksgiving. In the UK don't forget that often stuffing isn't bread based, but meat based. And don't forget the chipolata sausage wrapped in streaky bacon!
I find that in the UK people will often decorate their trees each year using a different colour theme. So one year it might be silver and red baubles, and the next white and blue. In the US we tend to have a motley assortment of decorations collected over the years. It tends to only be the department stores/window displays that have these colour-themed trees.
And I'd disagree about the gift giving aspect. I think because in the US we have so many autumn holidays that the Christmas shopping is usually left quite late because we're busy with Halloween and Thanksgiving. While people in the US may buy/receive a high-value gift, I don't think they get the quantity of gifts that they do in the UK. I've spent Christmas with a few different families here and have been amazed at the number of gifts people give and receive.
Going back to the difference in Christmas Lights (I was the anonymous at 12.40) I've just found this video by one of my favourite comedy acts that sums up the British attitude to big light displays on private homes (does include some language NSFW).
ReplyDelete