The first big difference regards one of the central characters of the festivities - the man himself, Santa Claus! Don't worry, the name "Santa" is familiar on both sides of the pond, but traditionally, the British call the chubby, white-bearded gentleman by another name : Father Christmas. Not a sobriquet used by too many Americans, some of you will be familiar with the term as a result of the Greg Lake (of ELP fame) Yuletide classic, I Believe in Father Christmas".
Although not as popular as it once was, caroling is still a staple of the season. Basically, groups of carol singers (often in period or seasonal costume) walk the streets in the evenings leading up to Christmas, and - well - sing carols! Like Trick or Treaters, the groups go from house to house, with representatives knocking on doors. The idea is that the carolers serenade the occupants with harmonious versions of various Christmas carols, Totally enchanted by the experience, the occupants then part with small monetary gifts, which are frequently donated to a worthy cause or charity, or - in the case of child carolers - are reward for the performers themselves.
Sadly, that aspect of caroling has all but disappeared, except for the church and charity ensembles frequently found assembled in village squares, and often supported by the much beloved Salvation Army bands. No, what we have now are groups of two or three snotty-nosed uncouth youths, sauntering up the front path, and pounding relentlessly on the door until you answer it just for a bit of piece and quiet! Yup, just like mini Jehovah's Witnesses, only considerably more unpleasant, and certainly not as nattily-dressed...
Waiting for you to open the door, the brats then greet you with a dischordant yell of, "WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS...", and a mess of grubby open palms thrust toward your face until you placate the little louts by paying them to get off your property.
You know, I would LOVE to just stand there and wait for the end of the opening line, be faced with silence and blank stares, and then enquire, "Well? What about the rest of the carol?" Of course, informing them that We Wish You A Merry Christmas is not even a carol, but a song, would probably provide sufficient incentive for a brick through the window! So much for "good tidings"...
Staying with the theme, many of the same carols are shared by Britons and Americans, but not necessarily the same tunes, though. The two that immediately come to mind are, Away in a Manger and, O Little Town Of Bethlehem. Popular both here and there, they are usually sung to different tunes in the different nations.
Then, we have Angels From The Realms of Glory. In the UK it is invariably sung to the French tune "Iris", but in the US, Henry Smart's "Regent Square" is more common. However, "Iris" is familiar in the US, due to the remarkably similar offering, Angels We Have Heard On High.
The final difference is the fact that, while Christmas is a one-day affair in the US, the mean ol' Americans are put to shame by the splendid 48-hour celebration enjoyed by the British! However, the 26th of December is NOT known as "Boxer's Day", as I have heard claimed by so many of my American friends; the correct term is "BoxING Day". Traditionally, it's the day when tradespeople and servants would receive their seasonal bonus - or "Christmas Box". Boxing Day is a true holiday, and understandably, if Christmas Day happens to fall on a Wednesday, then nobody is expected to go to work on the 27th either...
Onto the way the island folks do it, then...
As in the US, the British Christmas centres on family. Because of the two-day nature of the beast, it gives us more time, and more opportunity to make it a bigger "do". What my family did was very typical of the British family...
If both sets of in-laws are living, it is common practice to spend one day with one side of the family, and the second day with the other. I lost my maternal grandfather back in 1972, and with my mum's side of the family out of the area, that really didn't apply to us (we did spend the occasional Christmas holiday at my aunt and uncle's, though, so it's not like it never happened at all).
On Christmas Day, the three of us (me, and my parents) were joined by my mum's mum, my dad's parents, and often my uncle (on my dad's side, and his family). Everyone came to our house for a Christmas Dinner, and the MAIN present-giving (just the big stuff).
On Boxing Day, we would all gather at my paternal grandparents' abode. We had ANOTHER full Christmas Dinner (yum...), and then spend hours distributing all the small gifts (another three or four from each of us, to each of us).
Like I said, that is perfectly normal over there. Now, we'll sign off by looking at some specifics.
Christmas Din-Dins
Several meats (usually turkey, beef, and ham/pork), boiled spuds, roast spuds, roast parsnips (Heaven on earth...), peas, carrots, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, maybe cauliflower, Yorkshire pud, sage and onion stuffing, Bisto gravy, English mustard, horseradish, and possibly apple sauce.
For dessert, there was the decidedly delicious duo of Christmas pud and mince pies, with cream and custard. Plus the obligatory Christmas cake (my dad's dad's job), and Dundee cake (you can Google it, peeps).
Oh, and every meal came complete with Christmas Crackers, little foil-wrapped explosive devices that contain cheap trinkets, and paper hats.
Christmas Day Fun (again, Google may prove invaluable)
Christmas morning shows live from hospitals, the Queen's Speech at 3pm, nap time, and then classic telly like Morecambe and Wise, Val Doonican, and Christmas Top of the Pops.
Boxing Day Fun
Morning at the Boxing Day sales (getting small pressies for later that day!), footy in the afternoon (we have full football programmes on Boxing Day and New Year's Day), and finishing a fun-filled day with a good old sing-song, accompanied by a wide variety of home-made musical - and not so musical - instruments, like a rhythm pole, tea-chest double bass, paper bags (played like a guitar), spoons, comb and paper etc.
Tipples
To each their own, but standards like snowball (advocaat and lemonade, and a favourite of grannies everywhere), Stone's ginger wine, whisky mac, Babycham, rum and black, Harvey's Bristol Cream, bitter shandy, Sandeman's, and Woodpecker.
Babycham II- Label by Josh Graciano is licensed under CC BY 2.0
What Kids Got In Their Stockings
An apple and an orange, felt-tip pens, glow globs, choccy smoker's outfit / tool kit, Matchbox cars, Sindy dolls (for her), Action Man (for him), plasticine, skates (never could stand up on 'em), Etch-a-Sketch, Play-Doh, kaleidoscopes, Airfix models, those ballpoint pens that would write in four colours, origami paper, Stylophone, book tokens, record tokens, a collection of annuals (Beano, Dandy, Lion, Tiger, Hotspur, Music Star, Charles Buchan footy annuals), and lots of fabulous memories.
To quote Noddy and Jim :
MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY!!!
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