As I've said before, Christmas had basically degenerated into a riot by the time of Henry VIII in England. People would go door-to-door, demanding things like figgy pudding and wassail bowl. Wassail bowl usually making them drunker and drunker, with each new house. As I heard on the History Channel once, if they didn't get food or drink, they'd either curse the house or vandalize it in some way. Even the Christmas carols of the time reflected this. Some of them were very violent. And these were just carols, mind you. One of the more tamer carols of the time, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" threatens violence more and more, as the carolers aren't getting their food or drink. The carol probably dates back to the at least the 16th or 17th centuries in England. The song begins "We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!..." then continues "So bring us some figgy pudding, So bring us some figgy pudding, So bring us some figgy pudding, and a cup of good cheer!" and finally, more threatening "We won't go until we've got some, We won't go until we've got some, We won't go until we've got some, so bring some out here!" The outright ban of Christmas came in England June 1647. Some people today think that Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas. But actually it was by act of Parliament. Christmas was reinstated with the Restoration of 1660 under Charles II. The modern Christmas came to us, as the English-speaking countries (and probably the world thru US influence in movies, etc.) during the reign of Queen Victoria, 1837-1901. Many traditions were introduced at that time, including Christmas cards and the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree came from Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert. The Christmas tree is a German tradition, and Albert was from Germany.
