Skip to main content

Christmas Firsts #15 : Christmas in July



"Christmas in July"  has been recorded as isolated events in the 1930’s in USA , but  with the release of the comedy, Christmas in  July in 1940, the concept began to become popular. 
I understand a lot more why Christmas in July as a concept is popular  in Australia in the southern hemisphere rather than in the northern hemisphere. To capture some of the magic of ‘white” Christmas, mid-winter seems the perfect time to enjoy many of the traditional Christmas festivities.

 Christmas in July has become tradition down under. The story of the FIRST July Christmas in Australia is about some Irish visitors to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. They saw a snowfall in July, 1977. That's not out of the ordinary for mountains in the Southern Hemisphere, but the tourists were reminded of Christmas out of season. They requested a traditional Christmas dinner from their hotel, which they enjoyed so much they returned the following July. The celebration of Christmas in July was repeated in the Blue Mountain region, NSW,  as a tourist draw card, but locals loved it, too. The practice has of course spread to the rest of Australia but the “Yulefest in the Blue Mountains “ in July is renowned or recreating a traditional Christmas of the northern hemisphere.
The magical winter time (June, July and August) is Yulefest in the Blue Mountains where many venues offer traditional Xmas style celebrations. While cold winds blow and the occasional snow falls, experience warm 'Mountains' hospitality, log fires, Xmas fare, singalongs and perhaps even Santa. The Blue Mountains is truly a 'Winter Wonderland'.

Christmas in July is not a holiday, and it would appear that the celebrations are generated by businesses mainly in the hospitality sector to  boost and create a new market for their services. The real Christmas is still celebrated on 25 December no matter what! 
I found it interesting that when we have had exchange students from European countries, they found the whole idea of Christmas in July bewildering and even quite unacceptable!  I must admit with a birthday at the same time, I quite like to celebrate it with a hot Christmas dinner! And if the goodwill and peace of Christmas can occur at other times of the year, can that be so bad? 



http://mentalfloss.com/article/29484/christmas-australia
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Too Precious to Waste

 Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons  More than a year ago, a decision was made.  The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2]  A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that
Post a Comment
Read more

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str
3 comments
Read more

May I Present Mrs Chalumeau...

Finally Mrs Chalumeau takes a bow …She is a Pearly Queen … 695 buttons on the doll and 10 on the journal.(I think – could be more). I would like to thank Paula from Antiques and Collectables here in Hamilton, Newcastle and Raku Buttons ETSY seller for supplying me with about 500 of the vintage mother of pearl buttons, and the rest I had in my stash. I think they look great on my pearly queen, but I am truly tired of sewing on buttons. It made me think however, how many buttons must be on the elaborate clothes of the real pearly Kings and Queens! I drew my inspiration from the lovely lady pictured here, and the following description from Wikipedia. ... A Pearly King ( feminine form Pearly Queen) is a person dressed in a traditional Cockney costume covered in mother-of-pearl buttons. These costumes were treasured heirlooms, hand made and sometimes representing much of a family's wealth. .... This doll is all cloth – a little different from most of my other dolls which generally h
5 comments
Read more