1) In my opinion, Christmas is a time for family and eating as much food as you possibly can. (J. Finch)
2) Pointless waste of wages. (A. Day)
3) I love it, it’s Christmas, everyone should! (A. Gornall)
4) I think it’s brilliant for kids, it’s mostly aimed at them and they enjoy it the most; it’s also expensive. (B. Mckean)
5) I don’t hate it, but I don’t like it, it’s far too commercial, so much paper and packaging is wasted, and does more damage to the world than it’s worth, lots of heat and light energy wasted off lights, Christmas cards get binned, and kids do not appreciate what is about and people in general not being grateful for what you get its more expecting things than hoping you get something. That is my rant of why I don’t like Christmas. Oh and I don’t really like Christmas dinner J. (C. Jackson)
6) I love it because of my son, but hate it because I’m single hun. (C. Baker)
7) I love it like my mums a bit insane when it comes to Christmas, she’s the one that gets excited so the whole Christmassy family thing has always been something I’ve enjoyed. (D. Austwick)
8) To be honest, I love it, mainly meeting family! (D. Hodge)
9) As a rule I love it, but I think that is because I am a big kid at heart. I love the food, excitement, shopping, and especially sitting in the room with the christmas tree lights and fire on...all cosy ! I also love all the magic it brings for kids, Santa is a really big thing to those believers!! (J. Byrne)
10) It’s good, you get to see family that you dont get to see often and its just a good time of year! (G. Fisher)
11) I hate it. Too expensive. (K. Lee)
12) Christmas is well good, it’s good family time, if people make the effort, and it’s nice to see people’s faces on Christmas morning! (M. Bradley)
13) Christmas never feels the same as you get older. (R. Allman)
14) I enjoy it but it’s overrated, and too commercialised. (L. Rusiecki)
15) I do enjoy it, it’s great spending time with family but it is rather expensive.
16) The traffic is absolutely ridiculous in the lead up to Christmas, once I got stuck in a multi story for 2 and a half hours.
17) I dislike Christmas because people forget the meaning of it, but I like my family Christmas for that meaning. (R. Dance)
18) I love it, most people try to be happy, and it’s also a sad time, as a lot of people feel lonely. (T. Byrne)
19) Christmas is great for drinking, having a good time and spending time with family. (G. Stagg)
20) It’s quite expensive, and for families. (S. Wheatley)
21) It’s for the children. (D. Black)
22) I have chilled all Christmas! (R. Thompson)
23) I had a good one, and spent the New Year with my sister. (B. Mart)
24) I cracked my rib from coughing! (L. Thompson)
25) Ermm, well as a child Christmas is probably the best day of the year but as you grow up, I feel the build up is more exciting than the actual day. It’s pretty much the same thing every year but i do very much enjoy Christmas TV! (L. Clayton)
26) I like it because the whole family gets together, there’s lots of nice food and drink, I get presents, it’s especially nice when there is snow, like this year, I don’t really care that it’s over commercialised. (N. Morgan)
27) I have always loved Christmas but now I live away from home the build up is even more exciting! However, I am reminded of loved ones who are no longer with us. (G. Byrne)
28) I like Christmas. I don’t believe in Santa anymore but its fun because I can play with my toys.
29) Christmas is where I can play with my new toys all day and not have to go to bed early for school.
30) For my present Santa brought me a truck and a helicopter comes out of it, it’s really good.
31) I got my first computer for Christmas which is great and I also got a printer.
32) I liked it at Christmas because I could go sledging, as it doesn’t always snow at Christmas.
33) I used to love christmas when i was a kid. Now its just a pain in the backside... expensive, everyone expects presents ... have to spend forced time with the family so usually ends up being rubbish. Although, i do enjoy all the festive gatherings with old friends! ALSO the advertising starts far too fricking early. It should start late November/December, not September! I hate going into shops and them being filled with Christmas junk, it seems to be a money making scam these days. (J. Lee)
34) I don’t particularly like Christmas. Having divorced parent’s means I have to spend equal amounts of time with both, to avoid offending one of them. Therefore, I spend Christmas day driving around and sticking to a schedule. Hardly festive…
Also, the religious aspect of it is conspicuous. I dislike people who feel ‘above you because they went to Church on Christmas Eve/Day, despite not going the rest of the year.
Working in retail also means that Christmas starts around November so by the time Christmas day rolls around, you’ve had enough. You get sick of the sight of any decorations and resent Christmas altogether. (H. Walker)
35) Christmas is the best ever :)
It's one of my favorite times of year, time to chill out, spend time with family, eat wonderful food,open lovely presents and watch shite on tv!!
Its the way Christmas should be :) (C.Dibble)
36) I used to get up early in the morning, wake everyone up and open all my presents straight away and i still do, but im not as excited any more about it and I appreciate my presents more. (R. Doyle)
37) I love Christmas! I reckon I have put on about a stone in weight since, though. But other than that it's a good time to see family and friends from home. (R. Stoughton)
38) Christmas 2009 = More turkey than beyond belief... there was more this year than ever before. But because that has stuck in my head, probably is because christmas isnt about presents, its the simple things that you remember :) (R. Hughes)
39) Christmas is about family, friends and a good bottle of wine. (L. Barlow)
40) Christmas was more magical when I was younger because I believed in santa, now i see christmas as more of a family get together with loads of food! (C. Elliot)
41) The magic of Christmas vanishes when you get older and santa stops bringing you as many presents, but its nice to spend time with your family. (M. Khan)
42) It’s all about the Christmas dinner! (P. Brandreth)
43) I hate Christmas. 2 reasons: 1) I have worked in the hospitality industry the last decade, and I can honestly say there is nothing hospitable about the people who go out at Christmas, in short Christmas doth make wankers out of people. 2) Why should I have to buy presents for people to 'celebrate' an event that the vast majority of the population either a) don’t believe in or b) actually don’t know anything about, this is especially true when I am poor, makes it even more annoying. That said, it is a good excuse to get the family together, eat far too much and if you have small children in said family, it is a joy to watch their unjaded little faces light up on Christmas morning, shame that with age brings such cynicism. (M. Goose)
44) Christmas is a lot better when your a child, everything is more exciting and you dont have the hassle of doing the buying part as your parents do it for you. I love the atmosphere of christmas and the songs but its all got out of hand commercially, its now more about how much you spend. (J. Wilkinson)
45) Christmas rocks, but with such a long build up it needs to be like at least 3 days long.
No matter what it looks like the christmas tree always starts looking shit the day after christmas. (W. Duffy)
46) I don't like Christmas at all, it's a poor excuse to spend money on things people don't actually want. You're forced into buying something for someone you probably don't like but because they got you something you have buy them something back or you look cheap. Also, I don't get christmas cards, £3 for a bit of card that people mostly throw away. (S. Oxtoby)
47) When it comes to christmas I always really look forward to the holiday but find it hard to actually be excited for christmas itself- i didn't feel christmassy at all and I always leave work until the last minute now matter what I plan on doing before the holiday starts. (N. Hargrave)
48) Yeah I like christmas, I get to see people and family and I think everyone one needs the time off to just chillax, its great for the economy and its nice to get and give prezzies. I think that as atheism grows we can cast off the old religiony bits entirely and just keep it as nice festive fun time, it makes way too much money for the corporates to give it up. (M. Price)
49) Christmas is exciting and fun you get to see relatives and get excited about opening presents. I also love the build up of Christmas shopping and wrapping up the gifts for people, and visiting friends and family to say Merry Christmas, and it’s beautiful with all the lights, the novelty of it all with nicer things available in the shops. (W. Ip)
50) Christmas is good because I like to see my family but not my Mum, it’s a nice atmosphere. (L. Way)
51) I find it tiring accommodating for family, but it’s a great atmosphere when they are here. (M. Ip)
52) It is far too expensive. (L. Shepherdson)
53) I loved my Christmas, I was like a big kid, spent it with lots of family and ate way too much! (Y. Kazemi)
54) It is a festive and family time. (C. Ng)
55) I liked Christmas because I got an Xbox. (T. Jackson)
56) It’s joyful and for families to get together. (M. Ip)
57) Christmas is great, its lovely to see the kids faces in the morning when they open their presents. (M. Stewart)
58) I love singing Christmas carols around the village and volunteering at the soup kitchen. (B. Dova)
59) Christmas sucked. (B. Johnson)
60) I like being in the school nativity, and my Grandma and Grandad come to watch. (P. Dough)
61) My Mum always takes me to see Santa at the garden centre. (L. White)
62) I like waiting for Santa to come down my chimney. (M. Hunt)
63) Christmas is good because we get to watch Christmas films on TV. (B. Alan)
64) I like it because my wife dresses up as Mrs Claus!
65) It gets more expensive every year!
66) It’s better when it snows as I get more time off work.
67) We go abroad for Christmas every year; it’s much warmer and nice to see the family!
68) I get fed up writing Christmas cards; they get thrown away any how.
69) It can be very overwhelming, especially doing the shopping.
70) Cooking the Christmas dinner is always the most stressful part.
71) It’s very tiring, looking after the children, cooking the dinner and entertaining the guests.
72) There is always far too much food left over, we see turkey for weeks! Don’t even mention the chocolates.
73) I look forward to getting drunk at the work’s Christmas do.
74) It’s very costly, but I suppose it’s worth it in the end.
75) It has been the first Christmas for 4 years without a partner, so it was different and a little lonely.
76) This is the first Christmas in years I have enjoyed being single, it’s great!
77) I have been quite poorly these past few months and have felt weak, so it has been nice to be up and about.
78) It’s hard being a single mum with 2 boys, trying to afford everything, but it is worth it to see their faces on Christmas morning.
79) I am on benefits at the minute so I am quite skint.
80) Christmas is to do with celebrating something to do with God, but who nowadays believes in God?
81) Christmas is Jesus’s birthday, I think, but it is not the exact date.
82) I go everywhere at Christmas with mistletoe attached to my glasses!
83) It’s just the excitement, brings me back to my childhood.
84) I like seeing friends, and taking it easy and being comfortable.
85) I like to eat, drink and be merry.
86) I get to drink lots without being in trouble from the wife.
87) I used to love it when I was a kid, but I have been busy these past few years.
88) My mum is a rubbish cook, the meat is normally overcooked, the carrots have turned into a mash and she puts horseradish in the mash.
89) There’s always an argument at Christmas, and sometimes the turkey ends up on the wall.
90) I sometimes feel like I’m being pulled in all directions.
91) I love it. I spend lots of money on my husband and he cooks a fantastic dinner.
92) People get more stupid with their money at Christmas, they buy for the sake of buying.
93) I don’t get why people buy their pets Christmas cards and presents.
94) I stick to a set budget at Christmas so I don’t go stupid, so I can’t complain.
95) It’s Santa’s birthday.
96) Getting presents is not the be all and end all of it!
97) It doesn’t matter how much the gift costs, it’s the thought that counts.
98) I have got a magic key that Santa uses to get in my house because I don’t have a chimney.
99) Christmas is great. Simples.
100) I’m skint so it will not be as good this year, as long as I am with my family it should not matter.
There was a mixed response in the list of opinions, there are 3 clear categories they fit into; positive, negative and both. 22 fit into the negative category, the main themes that appear in these opinions are money, stress and commercialism. There are 22 that mentioned both positive and negative points in their opinion they too can be categorised, themes that occur for this group are, money, family, friends and age leaving, 56 positive answers. The topics of the positive comments were family, friends, age, food, drink, shopping, presents and events.
FACTS:
1) Christmas is traditionally the 25th December.
2) It is a Christian holiday.
3) Christmas Eve is the 24th December.
4) Boxing Day is the 26th December.
5) Boxing Day is not an official holiday in the USA.
6) In Russia, they celebrate on the 7th January.
7) Santa’s original outfit was green.
8) Holly is a traditional Christmas decoration.
9) The first Christmas card was produced in London in 1843.
10) The Royal Mail issues a special design of stamps at Christmas.
11) In the western cultures, almost all retail and businesses are closed on Christmas Day.
12) Some Christians attend Midnight Mass on the 24th December.
13) Christmastide is a Christian season, and is the period from 25th December until the 5th January, also known as the 12 days of Christmas. (These dates do vary.)
14) The association of fir trees and Christianity come from about 1,000 years ago when St. Boniface cut down an oak tree as it was being worshipped by Pagans, in its place grew a fir tree, this was then thought of as a sign of Christianity.
15) It is thought that Santa Claus originates from the 4th Century as the Bishop of Myra, Saint Nicholas who was a very generous man especially to children. There were claims that he could perform miracles.
16) Holly is another symbol of Christianity, it was placed over doors to drive evil away, it is also thought that the sharp leaves represent the crown of thorns and the berries represents Christ's blood.
17) The poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", is also known as "A Visit From Saint Nicholas".
18) Turkey is a relatively new tradition, until the 50's it was seen as a luxury, but then freezers and fridges becoming easier to get hold of.
19) For every real Christmas tree cut down, 2-3 seedlings will be planted.
20) In the Netherlands, children leave out shoes in hope that Saint Nicholas will fill them with sweets.
21) The Queen's speech was aired on television for the first time in 1957, on the 25th December.
22) La Befana is the Santa equivalent in Italy, and is a kind old witch.
23) The original name of Jingle Bells is 'One Horse Open Sleigh'.
24) A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens was first published in 1843.
25) The four ghosts that visited Scrooge in A Christmas Carol were, Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come and Jacob Marley.
26) William Strickland introduced the first turkey to England.
27) Christmas comes from the Old English phrase, Christ's Mass.
28) The first artificial trees were made from goose feathers.
29) Santa's reindeer are called: Dasher, Prancer, Donner, Vixen, Blitzen, Rudolph, Comet, Cupid and Dancer.
29) In 2008, 28.2 million Christmas trees were purchased.
30) Do They Know It's Christmas Time, by Band Aid was the Christmas no. 1 in 1989.
31) There was a lot of controversy over the 2009 Christmas no.1, in the end Rage Against The Machine's stole the place in the charts with Killing In the Name.
32) The first British Christmas stamps were designed by children in 1966.
33) Dido, the singer was born on Christmas Day in 1971.
34) Annie Lennox was also born on Christmas Day in 1954.
35) The Christmas tree in Trafalagar Square is usually donated by Norway every year.
36) The Spice Girls had 3 Christmas number one's in a row.
37) Jehovah's witnesses are not allowed to celebrate Christmas (or birthdays or Easter!).
38) According to a Newsround poll, 44% of 7-11 year olds see Christmas as a celebration of the birth of Jesus.
39) From the same poll, although 79% said they were happy, 1 in 6 said they felt nervous, left-out and sad at Christmas.
40) A study reported from The Guardian in 2008 showed the 8th January is them ost busiest time for divorce lawyers.
41) Mental health charity, Mind, did a poll, 116 people took part, and over 50% felt that they had spent a lot more than they could afford on Christmas.
42) The survey also showed 25% were feeling depressed.
43) The most up to date figures available from the Church of England are from 2006 and have showed an increase in Church attendance of Christmas.
44) A survey carried out for Theos in Novemeber 2007 showed only 12% of 1000 people knew the Christmas story correctly.
45) Between the 15th and 19th century it was common for the Thames to freeze over in the winter and people would go down to the river for "Frost Fairs" as a form of entertainment.
46) The last frost fair was 1814 and lasted for four days.
47) Comedian actor, Charlie Chaplin, died on Christmas day in 1977.
48) Since the 1980's, in Canada and the United States, there have been occasions where people refer to Christmas trees as "Holiday trees" mainly for religious reasons, which has caused a lot of controversy.
49) The number of people using loan sharks at Christmas has risen by 22% in the past 3 years.
50) In Ukraine, they believe if there is a spider's web in the house on Christmas morning, it is said to bring good luck.
51) Poinsettias are traditional plants of Christmas, from Mexico which they call "Buena Noche" which means Christmas Eve.
52) Nadolig Llawen is Merry Christmas in Welsh.
53) Away In A Manger was first published in 1885.
54) Advent is the period leading up to Christmas, meaning "the coming" (of Christ) in Latin.
55) The Nutcracker is the most fmaous Christmas ballet.
56) If a person were to receive every gift from the Twelve Days of Christmas, they would receive 364.
57) In 1856, president Franklin Pierce was the first to decorate a Christmas Tree in the White House.
58) In medieval times, "Hot Cockles" was a popular game played at Christmas.
59) Red and white candy canes started off as straight white sticks of candy, it wasn't until later on that they were bent around the top like a shepherd's hook.
60) Christmas trees can be eaten and are a good source of Vitamin C.
61) Famous card company, Hallmark, brought their first Christmas cards out in 1915.
62) It is believed that eating a mince pie on everyday of the 12 days of Christmas is meant to bring 12 years of good luck.
63) Eating mince pies dates back to around the 16th century.
64) In Guatemala, adults do not give and receive their gifts until New Years Day.
65) In Britain, when making the Christmas pudding, it is believed that if you stir the ingredients in a clockwise direction only and make a wish, it will come true.
66) According to the British Turkey website, 10 million turkeys were consumed in Christmas 2008.
67) In the same year, approximately 250 million pints of beer and 35 million bottles of wine were drunk at Christmas.
68) "Stille Nacht" or Silent Night was written in 1818 in Austria.
69) In the Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" the partridge in a pear tree is seen to some to represent Christ.
70) Singing carols at Christmas is a very old tradition, 1521, is when the first collection was published.
71) In World War One, on the first Christmas of this period, fighting stopped for a day.
72) In the US, there is approximately over 21,000 people who grow Christmas trees.
73) Saint Nicholas was shown as wearing bishop's closed unlike today's Santa.
74) The American Santa is said to live in the North Pole.
75) Father Christmas is said to live in Finland.
76) According to the legend, Santa makes a list throughout the year of which children have been good or bad.
77) In the US, it is tradition for a Santa to visit department stores.
78) Goose used to be a popular meat to eat at Christmas time.
79) Assuming he travels east to west, Santa has 31 hours to make his visits around the world.
80) Merry Christmas is sometimes changed to Happy Christmas, as Merry is associated with alcohol.
81) Alabama was the first state to make Christmas an official, legal holiday.
82) Clark Moore, a poet, named Santa's reindeer.
83) Some myths say if a woman stands beneath some mistletoe but does not receive a kiss, she will not get married the following year.
84) Jingle Bells was originally created for Thanksgiving.
85) Christmas is the world's biggest commercial and religious celebration.
86) Since the 80's, Raymond Briggs's 'The Snowman' has been played every year at Christmas.
87) The Snowman was voted 4th place in UK Gold's Greatest TV Moments.
88) It is often thought Aled Jones sang the Walking In The Air on the film, this is incorrect and it was sung by Peter Auty.
89) Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave was released on the 24th December, 1995.
90) Other countries receive televised Royal Messages at Christmas from their Kings/Queens.
91) 2008 was the first time the Queen's speech was delivered in HD.
92) King George VI last Royal Message was 1951.
93) Greetings cards are much less traditional nowadays, and the selection of cards seems to increase each year.
94) People in Belgium eat Cougnou, a bread, which is said to be in the shape of the baby Jesus.
95) People with not a lot of money in Brazil will eat chicken and rice, with beer or coke at Christmas.
96) According to statistics the suicide rate goes up in January.
97) For it to be a white Christmas in the UK, one snowflake must fall on the weather centre within 24hours of 25th December.
98) There is an old wives tale which says that if bread is baked on Christmas Eve, it will never go mouldy.
99) Christmas Pudding was originally a thick soup.
100) Frumenty is an old Celtic dish where Christmas pudding originates from.
Some of the statistics I found were from this site, which had some truthful, yet quite sad information on showing a lot of Britain is scared of Christmas, which is a feeling shared by children too. http://www.eauk.org/resources/info/statistics/christmas-quotes-surveys-and-statistics.cfm
OBJECTS:
These objects were collected over the Christmas period, some from previous Christmasses, i.e. decorations, and some were new, some were given to me, some I collected myself. I tried to collect all very different items to create variation, but found it very hard to collect 100, and so some objects may seem quite general.
1) Tinsel
2) Bauble
3) Tree decoration (present)
4) Santa hat
5) Christmas mug
6) Cracker toy
7) Christmas Cracker given to me by my Mum
8) Tape measure - common Christmas cracker gift
9) Joke from Christmas Cracker
10) Answers from LCA Christmas Quiz
11) Answer sheet from Christmas Family Fortunes game
12) Christmas penguin
13) Wine cork
14) Beer bottle
15) Wine bottle
16) Pringles tube
17) Roses chocolate
18) Miniature Heroes chocolate
19) Ferrero Rocher
20) Minature Heroes tin
21) Quality Street wrapper
22) Selection box packaging
23) Christmas packaging from a gift
24) Christmas Thorntons packaging
25) Beer mat
26) Christmas serviette
27) Handmade Christmas card
28) Charity Christmas card
29) "Daughter" Christmas card
30) Glittery Christmas card
31) Envelope- from Christmas card through the post
32) Envelope with silver hand writing from my Auntie
33) Sparkly hair accessory bought for a Christmas performance
34) Father Ted Christmas special DVD
35) Paul Smith perfume given to me by my late Step-brother
36) Money envelope from my Dad
37) Gift card from my Dad
38) Party popper
39) Christmas magazine
40) Christmas catalogue
41) Christmas shop sign
42) Shop sale sign
43) WHSmith gift card
44) Christmas box
45) Place card
46) Badge
PHOTOS OF OBJECTS:
1) Christmas Tree - Leeds
2) Christmas Tree - Home
3) Bauble on tree
4) Lights on mantlepiece
5) Rudolph teddy
6) Snowman ornament
7) Snowman
8) Snow in the country fields - Dragonby
9) Snow on the road/trees
10) Close up of snow on conifer leaves
11) Footprints in the snow
12) Snow falling at night
13) Sleeping Grandad
14) Grandma and Grandad opening presents
15) Presents
16) New Years eve party
17) January Sale - H Samuel
18) Christmas lights - Scunthorpe
19) Clear winter sunset at Scunthorpe Crematorium on Christmas Day
20) Wine glasses
21) Dinner table on Christmas Day
22) Table decorations
23) Christnas ornament
24) Duck Hamley's teddy - gift from a close friend
25) Icicles
26)
Images, facts and objects to be updated...
After I had presented this collection of research to a small peer group and then a larger crit group, I had been given, and come up with my self some ideas of where to take this next. For example:
- 100 Decorations - suggested by Amber
-100 Events/Festivals - suggested by Rob
- 100 Christmas No. 1s
- 100 Christmas Films
- 100 Christmas Facts
I then decided it might be ideal to take the 100 decorations or festivals forward, Amber had suggested maybe collecting 100 Baubles or 100 Christmas Crackers, at the time this sounded okay, after a weekend of unsuccessful visual information gathering, I decided Christmas is not a topic that is going to be easy to work with now, and taking from the idea of Christmas Crackers and the gifts and jokes included in them, I could look at jokes.
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