By Nancy Smith Thomas
Published: University of North Carolina Press, 2007.
167 pp. Hardcover in original binding and dust jacket. Not Ex-Lib. SIGNED by the author on title page.
Many of the Christmas traditions that we know today did not appear in the United States until well into the nineteenth century. This inviting book explores the Christmas celebrations of the Moravian Church in the South, whose members were marking the holiday as early as the 1780s in ways recognizable to modern Americans. The Moravians' emphasis on a family-centered Christmas grew greatly through the nineteenth century and served as a model for social change in secular America.
The Moravian Church was one of the earliest Protestant religious groups in the United States. In 1752 the church bought 100,000 acres in Piedmont North Carolina, calling the tract "Wachovia" because the land reminded them of the Wachau valley of Austria. Christmas customs practiced by the Moravians reflect their Germanic roots, Nancy Smith Thomas explains.
This abundantly illustrated volume explores the many facets of traditional Moravian Christmas celebrations, including decorations (such as the idiosyncratic "Putz"), food and beverages, gifts, services, and music. Thomas discusses how these traditions evolved over time, within and outside the Moravian communities, as well as how certain non-Moravian Christmas traditions were incorporated into the Moravian customs.
I've done my best to describe the book, but if you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to send me an e-mail.