Banning of Christmas 1659

Massachusetts Bay Colony banned the activities surrounding the Christmas holiday in 1659, just six months after Susan Fairbanks died in July 1659. She was the second daughter of Jonathan and Grace Fairbanks, the original family in Massachusetts Bay Colony. It’s well known that grief is magnified by having recently lost a loved one because of traditions, memories, and social gatherings which highlight the loved one lost. But what if Christmas was banned altogether shortly after such a loss.

The Anglican Church broke away from the Catholic Church during King Henry III’s reign, but the Anglican Church retained many of the traditions and rites of the Catholic Church, including the recognition of Christmas.

The Puritan movement began under Queen Elizabeth I and surged again under King James I. King James I reigned twenty-two years during the early family’s life in England. The Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican Church of traditional Catholic activities that were not supported by the Bible.

There is no support in the Bible for a date or celebration of the birth of Christ. Thus, the Puritans rejected that association with the Catholic Church. The banning of the Christmas celebration by the Puritans in the Anglican Church was a long time coming. In England it was banned in 1647. Some other factors precipitated the ban.

Some English traditions and superstitions surrounding the Christmas season were not all religious based as many of ours are not today. There were special foods like “figgy” pudding and wassail, traditions of a Yule log and Yule candle. The 17th century homes were decked with greenery, but they would not burn it after the holiday. The Christmas Pudding pictured is authentic from the English family who live in the 1500s house believed to be owned by the Fairbanks family in the 1600s.

Caroling or wassailing was an activity 1600s folk participated in during the winter season around the Catholic Christmas holiday. Lesser fortunate folks caroled at the door of wealthy homes asking for handouts of money, food or wassail in exchange for their entertainment. This activity got out of hand prior to the ban.

Wassail, meaning good health, was a non-religious tradition of the season. Wassailing was drinking a strong beverage made of beer, ale, or cider mulled with spices and fruits to bring forth or celebrate a good harvest. Wassail was not always readily available to the poorer. Carols were songs accompanied by a round dance. In the song that includes “Here We Go a Wassailing...” It relates to groups going caroling or entertaining for a handout of some sort. https://www.classical-music.com/articles/here-we-come-a-wassailing-lyrics.

A different version of the same song explains another reason why Christmas was banned. “Give us some figgy pudding…We won’t go until we get some…” Some wassailers, here meaning carolers, in the 1600s became belligerent and demanded the spiced ale, rich foods, or money. If the wassailers didn’t get what they asked for, they threatened a trick, mischief or violence.

Wassailing became entangled with mumming, another seasonal tradition. Groups of people would dress in costume or cross-dress to perform skits. Remember, all of Shakespeare’s actors were men, some of whom portrayed women. The costumes hid the mummers’ and/or wassailers’ identity. This became a problem as the mummers pushed into the homes unrecognized and created mischief if their demands were not met.

Excessive feasting, drinking, gambling with cards and die were also problems associated with the seasonal celebrations. The English Parliament, mostly Puritan in 1647, enacted a ban on the Christmas celebrations altogether.

Since Massachusetts Bay Colony was almost completely Puritan after banishing other religious believers, perhaps there was no need to ban Christmas as early as 1647. However, by 1659, the recognition of Christmas and those seasonal activities were banned in the Colony. All shops and schools had to be open during that season. Any public display of the holiday activity was banned and fined five shillings. However, private traditions in the homes seemed to be overlooked by the law.

The ban of Christmas was not repealed until 1681. New England was slower than most parts of the country to start recognizing it again. It didn’t become a public Holiday in America until 1856. A good reference is Stephen Nissenbaum’s The Battle of Christmas.

A Glimpse into “Made to Last Forever”

The Fairbanks family in England followed the Anglican Church. John Fairbank, Jonathan the immigrant’s father, was a Church Warden of the St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Sowerby, England, in 1601. Winter holiday traditions and superstitions were probably a part of the Fairbanks family life. This means they might have decorated their house with greenery, made figgy pudding and wassail, had a yule log and yule candle. No doubt their sense of loss for Susan, their daughter, was even stronger during the banned holiday in 1659. Susan also left behind her five siblings, husband Ralph Daye and their five children. See how the Fairbanks might have responded to the ban of Christmas in “Made to Last Forever.”

There is one more scene in the book about when Jonas came home earlier, in 1651, from Hammersmith Ironworks (now Saugus Ironworks NPS) and the family had already started their Christmas traditions.

Find out more about the English traditions at Christmas time at https://www.fairbankshistory.com/colonial-history/christmas-was-banned-in-new-england-1659-what-would-the-fairbanks-family-do