The World Encyclopedia of Christmas [Hardcover]

Gerry Bowler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2000

At last, a truly comprehensive look at Christmas and all of its customs with its long history around the world. The World Encyclopedia of Christmas contains articles on the history of Christmas baking, drinking, and merrymaking, and Christmas dramas, music, literature, art, and films. It includes entries on the evolution of the Christmas tree and the Christmas card, gift-giving, and decoration of church and home. There are profiles of the many gift-bringers, from Santa Claus to Babouschka, and miraculous tales of the numerous saints associated with the season. And there are histories of seasonal celebrations and folk customs around the world, from the United States to Japan, from Egypt to Iceland.

Who, for example, knew the links between the Punch and Judy show and Christmas? That the medieval Paradise tree hung with tempting apples was the forerunner of the Christmas tree? About the Peerie Guizers, who terrorized the Shetland Islands, going door-to-door for Christmas charity? Or what Freudians make of our interest in Christmas stockings and Santa’s entrance through the chimney? There are detailed accounts of Wren Boys and Star Boys, mumming and wassailing, the Feast of Fools and the origins of eggnog. And of course stories of the Nativity and legends of the Magi.

With beautifully illustrated accounts ranging from the pagan roots of Yuletide, through the birth of Christ, and the long and fascinating history of the festival ever since, The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, is a rich and continually surprising array of religious and secular history, trivia, literature, and art. This wonderful book deserves to find a home with every family that celebrates Christmas.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This encyclopedia is described as a "truly comprehensive look at Christmas and all its customs" on its book jacket. It provides more than 1,000 entries on worldwide secular and religious Christmas practices expressed in song, literature, events, film, arts, and trivia and is aimed at young adult and adult readers as well as researchers. Entries are primarily descriptive, but a number of them, especially those on films, contain critical commentary.

The entries proceed from A to Z with a liberal number of black-and-white illustrations and 16 pages of color plates. An entry heading is in boldface if it is historical or factual; in italics if it is a book, film title, or foreign phrase; and in quotation marks if it is a song or short story title. Cross-references are in capital letters or given as a see item. Notable among the entries are Quotes about Christmas, which lists quotations related to the season; a chronology of December 25 events; discussions of films such as A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life; entries giving the histories as well as the words of individual songs and carols; and descriptions of practices like mumming.

A serious shortcoming is the lack of a detailed index, which would bring together the various songs, carols, films, etc., that are referred to within the various entries. Lack of a bibliography or list of sources is another weakness, as is the fact that the scope is not explained in the introduction. Some countries have been omitted, including much of Africa, India, Korea, and Turkey. Finally, the illustrations, though they are captioned, lack dates or sources. It is tedious to scroll through the Copyright Holder's page for this information.

On the positive side, the book is enticing reading with its many descriptions of exotic customs and its blend of the ancient and the modern. It is written well and concisely. Many of the older books on Christmas customs, now out of print or difficult to find, are admirably updated in this new volume, which can enrich high-school, college, and public library collections. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“Meticulously researched, well-written, and often downright funny, this encyclopedia does justice to its fascinating subject.”
–Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Wholly delightful and generally informative.”
–Calgary Herald

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart; First Edition edition (October 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0771015313
• ISBN-13: 978-0771015311
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,196,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read this Christmas Season!, November 8, 2000

By 

Kate Jensen (Minneapolis, MN, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World Encyclopedia of Christmas (Hardcover)

Witty and authoritative, the World Encyclopaedia of Christmas is not only fun for casual reading but it has also served me well as a resourceful reference book. With such a wide array of entries including movies, an exhaustive history of Christmas, important historical events, ethnic traditions and carols, I was unable to find anything about Christmas that wasn't there! This comprehensive book exceeded all my expectations and made this my must read for the Christmas season and beyond. It is definitely going to be a Christmas gift in my family!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favourite Christmas Book, March 23, 2005

By 

M. G. SFAELLOU "Platanos" (Greece) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The World Encyclopedia of Christmas (Paperback)

I enjoyed every entry of Dr. Bowler's fascinating encyclopaedia. It is rich not only in folk traditions but also in terms of popular culture. There are many entries on Christmas films, modern fairy tales with a Christmas theme, carols, art, festive food, legends of flowers and plants associated with the Christmas season.There are also entries on Christmas games as well as biographical entries. Interesting details are shared about customs from a wide variety of countries and regional traditions of the British Isles are also represented. There is also a rich collection of technical terms from various languages that pertain to Christmas and New Year traditions. One very minor weakness of this book (apart from a lack of index and bibliography) was that it needed perhaps tighter editing with the use of some of these foreign words. For instance, in the excellent entry on Greece the correct word for carols is 'kalanda'(which is already plural in form) not'kalandas'. Moreoever, for consistency the Greek Christmas cookies 'loukoumathes' and 'kourabiedes' should not be spelt with different suffixes since they have the same penultimate consanant and should end in '-adhes'(i.e. loukoumadhes and kourabiedhes - the 'dh' beiong pronounced like the 'th' in 'then' rather than the 'th' in 'thin'). Moreover, the Romanian custom of the 'sorcova' in which children "tap their elders lightly with a small branch" is unlikely to be "derived from the word for 'forty'" as the author suggests. I would argue that this word is a cognate of the Northern Greek and Bulgarian word 'sourva'(this word is missing) which is a type of branch (usually from the cornel tree) which is used for tapping people at Christmas and New Year for good health. The author does provide some interesing related entries on 'holming' and 'beating'. The author also shows an awareness of a very unusual custom of placing a coin in the 'christopsomo' or Christmas (day) bread. As he correctly acknowledges, the most established form of this custom is the coin in the 'vasilopita'(or St. Basil's pie) on New Year's day. As I am interested in Celtic folklore, I was pleased to see many entries from Irish, Scottish and Welsh folklore (alas nothing from Cornwall). There are a few interesting entries from Manx (the newly revived language of the Isle of Man)one of which was the 'quaaltagh'. Although this is translated by the author as 'firstfooter' it does not apply to a first footer in the traditional sense (i.e. the first person to enter a house) but rather it had the unique nuance of refering to the first person met when one went OUTSIDE the house. The allusion to the 'eisteddfod' (Welsh cultuarl fesitval of music and poetry etc) is a little incongruous. Despite the fact that the first 'eisteddfod' did happen to take place at Christmas time. it has little direct relation to Christmas- and now does not take place in the Christmas season. By contrast, there were a few ommissions. For instance, an interesting entry is provided for Croatia but there is nothing for the distinct customs of Serbia (apart from the entry on the 'badnjak' which is common to both). Similarly we have the Irish 'Nollaig na bhFear' or 'men's Christmas' but not 'Nollaig na mBan' (i.e.'Woman's Christmas'). However, as I say, such details are minor indeed and hardly detract from the excellence of the work. I did learn a great deal from this work and it certainly deserves at least five stars!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great collection, January 9, 2001

By 

Larry Flynn (Winnipeg) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World Encyclopedia of Christmas (Hardcover)

I had heard about this book from a friend and didn't believe it could be so comprehensive or complete. When I saw it in the local bookstore, I was astonished at the breadth and depth of coverage of Christmas and the many customs which are associated with it from all around the world.

Over Christmas, a family discussion of Christmas activities in cultures not familiar to my own resulted in a look at the appropriate item in the encyclopedia, followed by a virtual cornucopia of additional reading as everyone suggested inquiries and questions, all of which were referenced. Hats off to Dr. Bowler!