Christmas Eve Gift

A Tradition Unlike Any Other

Growing up, we had lots of traditions surrounding Christmas. We wrote letters to Santa. We went to the mall to see the jolly old elf. We put out milk, cookies, and carrots (for the reindeer of course). We drove around to look at Christmas lights listening to the Vince Gill Christmas album on cassette tape. We ate copious amounts of food and enjoyed spending time with our extended family.

But one thing stood out to me above the rest because it was unique. Around 8 AM every December 24th, my Mamaw would call and joyfully exclaim, “Christmas Eve Gift!” She would continue to use that as a greeting for the rest of the day when we would typically gather at her house for a family meal and gift exchange.

The night at her house would always end with someone trying to convince the whole family to sing Silent Night for Mamaw. It was great in theory since she loved the song, but the Reynolds family is about as musically talented as William Hung singing She Bangs on his American Idol audition tape back in the day. But we would always acquiesce and our day would end with Silent Night.

But it always started with that curious phrase “Christmas Eve Gift!” My Grandmama and Papa on the other side of the family didn’t say this. I hadn’t heard other people at church or school say it either. So I always kind of wondered if it was something she had made up or if she was one of the last disciples of a dying tradition.

Christmas Gift: an Origin Story

Sometime in the early 1800s a game began being played in the American south on Christmas Day. The idea was based on an exchange of power for a brief instance on a single day each year. Slaves and children were encouraged to be the first to greet their masters or parents with an exclamation of “Christmas Gift!” Whoever said this phrase first was entitled to a gift from the person who wasn’t quite fast enough to mutter the words.

Slave owners would often give money, clothes, specialty foods, etc. to their slaves on Christmas Day during this game. On the rare occasion that a slave lost the game, he or she would often give the master eggs, nuts, or berries.

While this is not the forum to discuss the horrible practice of slavery in the history of the world, in the American South, or as it still exists today, I don’t think we can ignore history and how things got started.

This “game” flipped the script on power and was played on the same day that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who also revolutionized the social and political concept of power and hierarchy. Ironically, these slave masters were pointing to the One who can save us all from slavery. That is being slaves to our sin.

According to the Dictionary of American Regional English (“DARE”), “Christmas Gift” first appeared in print in 1844. And Garden and Gun did a piece on this phrase a few years ago and even highlighted the number of Confederate soldiers that referenced the phrase in their letters back home.

Opening Presents on Christmas Eve: an Origin Story

“Christmas Gift” makes sense as a game to play if your family normally exchanges gifts on Christmas morning after Santa Claus has snuck down your chimney and placed them in your home. But what if you don’t believe in that and instead exchange gifts on Christmas Eve?

That is exactly the case for most Germans. Many Christians had begun the annual tradition of giving gifts to children on December 6th each year in honor of Saint Nicholas. But around 1520, as part of his broader Protestant Reformation, German priest Martin Luther introduced the concept of the Christkind.

The Christkind was an angel that brought gifts to children. He wanted Christians to be reminded of the greatest gift of all time, the gift from God of Jesus Christ. So he encouraged people to move their gift giving tradition to Christmas Eve (remember the Jewish calendar has each new day begin at sunset, so the gift exchange on Christmas Eve night is actually on Christmas Day for many).

While this concept didn’t take off everywhere it really stuck in Luther’s home country of Germany. But fast-forward 300 years and Queen Victoria marries German Prince Albert and the British Royal family adopts many German Christmas traditions including decorating a Christmas tree and opening gifts on Christmas Eve. Since Great Britain colonized most of the world, these German traditions starting popping up elsewhere too.

The merger of American Slave and German traditions.

And just as America has always been a melting pot of race, culture, religion, and traditions, we get “Christmas Eve Gift!” We don’t know exactly how or why it happened, but at some point someone in the Deep South with a history of playing the Christmas Gift game must have also loved the Royal Family and its Christmas Eve traditions. According to the DARE, “Christmas Eve Gift!” first appeared in print in 1954 although most believe it had been in use for many years before.

I’ll never know for sure where my family picked up the phrase, but my guess seems pretty straightforward. The Reynolds and Rineharts (my Mamaw’s maiden name) were both poor German immigrant families that served as sharecroppers (slavery by another name anyone?) in the Deep South in the late 1800s. One could easily infer that this is where they personally mixed the two traditions.

Maybe this is something you wished you hadn’t wasted your time reading about, or maybe it’s something you’d like to implement with your family. It sure beats the hell out of the creepy, George Orwellian “Elf on the Shelf” thing.

And if I’m the first to say “Christmas Eve Gift” to you this year (or any year for that matter) and you feel obligated to get me a gift. I’ll make it easy on you. I’m a simpleton. I don’t have a laundry list of inappropriate (but hilarious) things that I would wish for like Steve Martin did on Saturday Night Live.

No, I’m like Mariah Carey and only want one thing. All I want for Christmas is for you to tell someone about The Pig Sty.

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From The Pig Sty family to yours, Merry Christmas!

-WPS