Gifts were exchanged in the Roman ceremonies of Saturnalia, the festivities of solstice, the origin of our Christmas celebrations.
We know the exchanging of gifts best from the three magi mentioned in the Bible. Religious puritans reminded Christians that the Magi gave gifts only to Jesus, not to His family or to each other.
But since the celebration of Christ’s birth was incorporated with the solstice festivities outside the official church, and since Christmas really became widely popular during the last century, it has become a commercial phenomenon.
Today, Christmas shopping is a rush. Eighty-six percent of consumers do their Christmas shopping during December, 70 percent do not save for the Christmas period, and up to 87 percent decide at the point of purchase what they will buy. About 30 percent use their credit card as their main means of buying Christmas goodies, often leading to the Christmas blues by January and February. The use of credit is cited as a major cause of non-business bankruptcy, second only to unemployment.
Statistics show that people with high, medium and low income groups spend about the same amount on Christmas gifts.
didyouknow.org
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