Why do we exchange gifts at Christmas? 🎄
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A journey through history, symbols, and a pinch of magic**
There are gestures that we repeat every year without even thinking about it.
Choose a gift, wrap it carefully, add a handwritten note…
And then the most beautiful moment: seeing the other's eyes light up.
But where does this ancient tradition come from ?
Why do we exchange gifts at Christmas, and what does this gesture really mean?
Prepare for a journey through history, legends, and rituals reminiscent of distant winters...
🎁 1. The "strenne": the beginning of everything (Ancient Rome)
Long before the Christian Christmas, Rome celebrated Saturnalia (December 17–23), a festival of light, freedom, and good fortune.
During these days, small gifts called strenne were exchanged:
laurel branches, fruit, sweets, simple objects that brought good luck.
It was a way of saying, “I wish you abundance and a kind new year.”
👉 This is where the oldest root of our exchanging gifts comes from.
✨ 2. The gifts of the Three Wise Men: gold, frankincense and myrrh
With the arrival of Christianity, tradition takes on a new meaning.
The scene of the Three Wise Men offering their gifts to Jesus becomes the symbol of the perfect gift :
a gesture of gratitude, devotion, love.
Gold for royalty, frankincense for spirituality, myrrh for healing.
Three gifts that still today evoke the profound meaning of “giving”.
🎅 3. Saint Nicholas: the true ancestor of Santa Claus
In the Middle Ages, the figure of Saint Nicholas , a generous bishop and protector of children, spread throughout Europe.
He was known to secretly leave food and small gifts for poorer families.
From here comes:
- in Holland Sinterklaas ,
- in America Santa Claus ,
- and finally our beloved Santa Claus .
An evolution spanning centuries, but always with the same heart:
bring joy to those you love.
🕯️ 4. The 19th century: the birth of the tree, the hearth, and "home" Christmas
It was in the Victorian era that Christmas became what we know:
an intimate, family celebration, made of soft lights, hot tea, fragrant sweets and gifts exchanged between relatives .
The gift is no longer just a religious symbol:
it becomes attention, care, a small promise of affection .
A note, a homemade jam, a shared dessert…
Simple gestures that still warm the heart today.
🎬 5. The Twentieth Century and the Modern Magic of Christmas
The twentieth century does the rest:
films, stories, illustrations, advertisements (yes, even the famous Coca-Cola!),
that transform Christmas into a blend of tradition, emotion, and fantasy.
This is where the idea of the gift as we experience it today was born:
🎁 a moment of joy
🎄 a way to say "I'm thinking of you"
✨ a ritual that unites adults and children
💛 Why, after all, do we exchange gifts?
Because it is a gesture that speaks all the languages of the world.
Because it has roots in centuries of history and at the same time remains current.
Because there is nothing more beautiful than thinking of someone while choosing something for them .
And perhaps, today as yesterday, the most beautiful gifts remain those that remind us of home:
a handmade preserve, a fragrant dessert, a traditional product…
simple objects that speak of care and authenticity.
A gesture that combines symbol, history, spirituality and – always – a little magic .