Christmas Traditions From Around the World Adopted by Americans
American Christmas is one of the most syncretic cultural phenomena in the Western world — a holiday that arrived as a modest English and Dutch colonial observance and was progressively enriched by every wave of immigration that followed. From the German Christmas tree to the Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes, the traditions that feel most quintessentially American often originated thousands of miles away. Here is a tour of the global Christmas customs that Americans have made their own.
The Christmas Tree: Germany's Gift to the World
The decorated evergreen tree is so central to American Christmas that it is almost impossible to imagine the holiday without it. Yet the tradition was essentially unknown in America until German immigrants brought it in the early nineteenth century. Martin Luther is sometimes credited with originating the practice of bringing an evergreen indoors and decorating it with candles, though its true origins predate Christianity in Germanic midwinter festivals. German settlers in Pennsylvania were decorating trees by the 1820s, and the tradition spread rapidly after publications depicting Britain's royal family — with their German heritage — gathered around a decorated tree in the 1840s. By the Civil War era, the Christmas tree was firmly established as an American institution.
Christmas Markets: The German Tradition Growing Stronger
Weihnachtsmarkte — the traditional Christmas markets of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — have become an increasingly prominent feature of American city life over the past two decades. Cities including Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, and New York have developed substantial Christmas market events modeled on their European counterparts, featuring handcrafted goods, seasonal foods, hot mulled wine, and elaborately decorated stalls. The appeal crosses cultural backgrounds, and these markets have become significant holiday destinations that blend the commercial and the communal in ways that feel authentically festive.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes: Italian-American Christmas Eve
La Vigilia di Natale — the Feast of the Seven Fishes — is a southern Italian Catholic tradition observed on Christmas Eve that has become deeply embedded in Italian-American culture across the United States. The tradition involves serving multiple seafood dishes on Christmas Eve, rooted in the Roman Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on certain feast days. Through the Italian-American diaspora, particularly in the Northeast, this tradition has spread beyond Italian families and become a broader point of American culinary identity around the holidays. The number seven is traditional though not fixed — some families serve five, others nine or even thirteen dishes.
St. Nicholas Day: Dutch and German Heritage
The feast day of St. Nicholas on December 6th — observed especially by Dutch and German communities — was one of the original gift-giving occasions that eventually merged into and shaped modern American Christmas. Dutch settlers brought Sinterklaas to New Amsterdam, and the name transformed over centuries into Santa Claus. The Dutch tradition of leaving shoes out to be filled with gifts and sweets influenced the American tradition of hanging stockings by the chimney. While December 6th itself is rarely observed as a major holiday in modern America, the figure and mythology of St. Nicholas is the direct ancestor of the American Santa Claus persona.
Luminarias and Las Posadas: Mexican-American Christmas
In the American Southwest, Mexican Christmas traditions have profoundly shaped regional holiday culture. Las Posadas — a nine-day religious celebration running from December 16th to 24th, reenacting Mary and Joseph's search for shelter in Bethlehem — is observed in many communities across New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California. Paper bag luminarias lining walkways and rooflines on Christmas Eve are a cherished tradition with deep roots in indigenous and Spanish colonial culture, creating a visual display that is unlike anything in European Christmas tradition and represents one of America's most distinctive regional holiday customs.
Boxing Day and Extended Holiday: British Tradition
While Boxing Day — the British holiday on December 26th traditionally involving giving gifts to service workers and the less fortunate — is not formally observed in the United States, the broader cultural shift toward an extended holiday period from Christmas through New Year's reflects British influence on American holiday culture. The concept that Christmas Day is the culmination of a longer celebratory season, rather than a single isolated day, is a characteristically British approach that shaped American traditions through the colonial period and early republic, giving rise to the "Twelve Days of Christmas" framing still recognized in American popular culture today.
Explore more about holiday history and traditions in our history of American Christmas, or see how people celebrate with our Christmas light displays guide.