The Modern Christmas in America: A Cultural History of Gift Giving 9780814794869

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THE MODERN CHRISTMAS IN AMERICA

The American Social Experience Series GENERAL EDITOR: JAMES KIRBY MARTIN EDITORS: PAULA S. FASS, STEVEN H. MINTZ, CARL PRINCE, JAMES W. REED & PETER N. STEARNS

1. The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns JOSEPH T. GLATTHAAR

2. Childbearing in American Society: 165o-185o CATHERINE M. SCHOLTEN

3· The Origins of Behaviorism: American Psychology, 1870-1920 JOHN M. O'DONNELL

4· New York City Cartmen, 1667-1850 GRAHAM RUSSELL HODGES

5· From Equal Suffrage to Equal Rights: Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party, 1910-1928 CHRISTINE A. LUNARDINI

6. Mr. Jefferson's Army: Political and Social Reform of the Military Establishment, 1801-1809 THEODORE}. CRACKEL

7· ''A Peculiar People": Slave Religion and Community-Culture Among the Gullahs MARGARET WASHINGTON CREEL

8. "A Mixed Multitude": The Struggle for Toleration in Colonial Pennsylvania SALLY SCHWARTZ

9· Women, Work, and Fertility, 1900-1986 SUSAN HOUSEHOLDER VAN HORN

10. Liberty, Virtue, and Progress: Northerners and Their War for the Union EARLJ. HESS

11. Lewis M. Terman: Pioneer in Psychological Testing HENRY L. MINTON

12. Schools as Sorters: Lewis M. Terman, Applied Psychology, and the Intelligence Testing Movement, 1890-1930 PAUL DAVIS CHAPMAN

13. Free Love: Marriage and Middle-Class Radicalism in America, 1825-186o JOHN C. SPURLOCK

14. jealousy: The Evolution of an Emotion in American History PETER N. STEARNS

15. The Nurturing Neighborhood: The Brownsville Boys Club and jewish Community in Urban America, 1940-1990 GERALD SORIN

16. War in America to 1775: Before Yankee Doodle JOHN MORGAN DEDERER

17. An American Vision: Far Western Landscape and National Culture, 1820-1920 ANNE FARRAR HYDE

18. Frederick Law Olmstead: The Passion of a Public Artist MELVIN KALFUS

19. Medical Malpractice in Nineteenth-Century America: Origins and Legacy KENNETH ALLEN DE VILLE

20. Dancing in Chains: The Youth of William Dean Howells RODNEY D. OLSEN

21. Breaking the Bonds: Marital Discord in Pennsylvania, 17J0-18JO MERRIL D. SMITH

22. In the Web of Class: Delinquents and Reformers in Boston, t8lOS-19JOS ERIC C. SCHNEIDER

23. Army of Manifest Destiny: The American Soldier in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 JAMES M. MCCAFFREY

24. The Dutch-American Farm DAVID STEVEN COHEN

25. Independent Intellectuals in the United States, 1910-1945 STEVEN BIEL

26. The Modern Christmas in America: A Cultural History of Gift Giving WILLIAM B. WAITS

THE MODERN CHRISTM AS IN AMERICA JJ @ultural Wistory of (lift (Jiving

WILLIAJ\1 B. WAITS

n NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK AND LONDON

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London Copyright© 1993, 1994 by New York University All rights reserved

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Waits, William Burnell. The modern Christmas in America : a cultural history of gift giving I William B. Waits. p. cm.--(The American social experience series ; 26) Revision of thesis (doctorai}-Rutgers University, 1978. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN o-8147-9251-o (cloth: acid-free paper) ISBN o-8147-9284-7 (pbk. :acid-free paper) Christmas-United States-History. 2. Gifts-United StatesHistory. 3· United States-Social life and customs. I. Title. II. Series

New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. Manufactured in the United States of America 10

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To Nancy Ellen Waits, Wonderful Wife, and to the memory of Warren I. Susman, Extraordinary Teacher