Customer Reviews

Christmas Unwrapped - The History of Christmas (History Channel) (A&E DVD Archives)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This documentary originally appeared on the history channel back in 1997 and has been repeated every year. It has become a holiday favorite of mine even though I've seen it numerous times. It's narrated by "Early Show" host Harry Smith and traces the roots of Christmas back to its earliest beginnings as a pagan Roman holiday of feasting. We then see Christmas virtually outlawed by the Puritans but never forgotten. TRhe holiday would enjoy a rebirth in the mid 1800's thanks to several people including Clement Moore's poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas", and cartoonist Thomas Nast who helped define the look of Santa Claus.

From there we see the holiday further defined by popular culture in movies and TV and also by consumerism, as the holiday shopping season is invented and begins to really flourish at the turn of the 20th century. Nast gives way to Haddon Sundblom's Santa paintings that he did for Coca Cola, finally giving us the jolly, fat santa we know today. Throughout he documentary we get comments from historians such as Stephen Nissenbaum and Penne L. Restad who've written their own books about the origins of Christmas. And comments from Humorist jean Shepherd, whose works the famous holiday film "A Christmas Story" was based on.

It's a wonderful documentary. As a Christmas fanatic I only wish it would have been longer but I never tire of seeing this each year. One viewing and you're guaranteed to be filled with holiday cheer!

Harry Smith does a nice job narrating this history of Christmas and is backed by a well-rounded and erudite group of experts on Christmas, religion, and folklore.

This documentary appeared on The History Channel ten years ago but it isn't outdated. It's nice to have for an annual Christmas season viewing.

Stephen Nissenbaum, Historian at the University of Massachusetts, reminds us that Christmas in old time England was really like a carnival similar to today's Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We also hear from Alan Dundes of the Folklore Department at U.C. Berkley, Leigh Eric Schmidt and Elaine Pagels, both of the Religion Department at Princeton University and A. W. Purdue, Historian at Open University in England.

For those who see a modern day conflict between the religious and secular aspects of the season, Penne L. Restad, Historian at the University of Texas, says that there has always been other ceremonies associated with the Christmas season in addition to Christ. This conflict goes back to the very first celebration of the liturgical feast.

The story reveals the Pagan roots for many of today's traditions and shows that many traditions we think "ancient" are recent inventions. It studies the cultural material of Christmas - trees, shopping, and songs.

Rev. Forrest Church, Minister at All Souls Church in New York City points out that people have deep needs to connect with family and friends during the Christmas season. This illustrates how Christmas is more than just a time to attend a church service; it's a time for family gatherings.

This year, why not gather with your family to view "Christmas Unwrapped."

This presents a fairly good and quick background of Christmas history. It is not fully comprehensive, but does cover the basics of the origin of the holiday from both pagan and christain backgrounds. It also includes the secular icons and how they came to be celebrated today.

Okay, I have to admit, I am a person who likes to know why things are the way they are. So watching the history of various traditions of Christmas was a great experience for me. I think it's also a good learning tool for children. I mean, I don't want to go through the motions of putting up a Christmas tree because "that's the way it's always been done." It hasn't, and now I can tell my kids where all these traditions came from.

For all of those you who beleive Christmas has become to "Commerecial" this is the documentary for you! You see, Christmas has always been "commercial" from the begining!

I do not want to spoil the documentary but here a few topics covered.

- Why December 25th was selected even though it probably was not the actual birthdate fo Christ.

- Why we have "Evergreens'

- The development of "Santa Claus"

- Why the firts generation of "Americans" (post 1776) did NOT celebrate Christmas.

- Why Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas after he overthrew the English Crown.

"Unwrapped" transports us throughout history and how the traditions and ideas of the holiday evolved. From the drunken festivals of medieval England to the movie "A Christmas Story" and its Red-Rider BB gun. "Unwrapped" effectively mixes the secular with the religous and shows us how and why wee celebrate it the way that we do. A must see for any fan of the Christmas holiday!

I love to discover the origins of things, because everything in life has a meaning and a purpose behind it. Events like Christmas are no exception. This DVD presentation by the History Channel covered the 3,000+ year history of the world's greatest holiday--its ancient origins in pagan festivals, the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and many other interesting aspects. I might've rated this DVD four stars, because it is not as fully comprehensive as other history sources. But since I don't believe that was the filmmakers' intentions, I believe they lived up to their intentions and therefore, I rate this five stars. I would strongly recommend this DVD to anyone wanting to know more about this very special holiday.

Good to finally get to the truth on some of these holidays. Christmas will never be the same! Excellent video.

I loved this dvd! As kid's were told about how Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. Well, that's not exactly the truth. Other religions have been doing the same thing since way before the birth of Jesus. Christianity borrowed it from other religions. I found that part really interesting. It also told on how the Church was pretty much against Christmas and banned it for years.

We get to lean so much about the real story on how Christmas was stated. We get to see the different Christmas traditions that we have today, and where they came from. We learn about the why we have a Christmas tree, why we give gifts, the foods we eat, and even how we decorate the tree.

We also learn about how Santa came to be. The story behind The Night Before Christmas and how and why Rudolph was created. We also get to see those who were really against Christmas, and the reasons why.

I can't say enough good things about this DVD. It was fun and I learned a lot of new things. If you want to know the real story on how Christmas was started, then you need to see this DVD.

This is a great history lesson on exactly WHERE christmas came from. Not many people know that it was not an early christian holiday. Where did the tree come from? Who is St. Nick? Why Dec 25th? You will be better educated after watching this video.

I applaud the History Channel for providing the true history behind this pagan holiday. The origins predate the birth of Christ, and the traditions of sun worship, festivals, and wild parties are revealed within the program. Unfortunately, the masses are unaware the true about the day that has been passed off as the birth of Christ. Christmas is anything but Godly, and it's all about Capitalism.....