In ancient societies, it was thought that gifts were the forerunner of bartering.  With inheritance, land and possessions were passed on as gifts.  On a religious level, gifts were offered to God as a means of giving thanks.  With kings and dignitaries, gifts have being offered to gain favor, give thanks, renew friendships or express gratitude.

In ancient Rome, gifts were exchanged during the New Years celebrations. At first these gifts were simple, such as a few twigs from a sacred grove and food. Many gifts were in the form of vegetables in honor of the fertility goddess Strenia. Romans exchanged gifts at winter solstice as expressions of affection and brotherhood, giving coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness, and lamps to light one's journey through life.

In our predominantly Christian culture, the giving of gifts is said to symbolize the gifts the Wise Men brought to the baby Jesus.  Patterned on the gifts of the Magi - gold, frankincense, and myrrh brought to honor the birth of the Christ Child - gift-giving was a symbolic reminder of the great gift of God's Son.  Early church leaders tried to outlaw the custom of gift giving, but the people cherished it too much to let it go. 

As Christianity spread into different cultures and through time, various customs and traditions developed around giving gifts at Christmas. In Germany, the Christ Child was said to bring small presents on Christmas Eve. Among the Dutch, it was St. Nicholas who brought gifts to children on December 6, the eve of his feast. The practice of gift-giving at Christmas was firmly established in the 19th century when the traditions of the Christ Child ("Christkindl") and St. Nicholas ("Sinterklass") became anglicized into one - Santa Claus.

But the custom of giving gifts at the turn of the year goes back much further and is common in cultures worldwide.

It was customary to exchange gifts on New Year's Day long before exchanging gifts at Christmas became tradition. On New Year's Day, Persians exchanged gifts of eggs - symbols of fertility - while Egyptians gave flasks to each other. Romans exchanged objects bearing the imprint of Janus, the god of two faces for whom the month of January is named. The Celtic-Teutonic Druids made gifts of their holy plant, mistletoe. Ancient peoples also celebrated birthdays and weddings with gifts. The Greek poet Aeschylus wrote about the custom of giving presents to children on their birthdays as early as the sixth century BCE.

Early Ages Gift Giving

Our modern bringer of gifts, Santa Claus, evolved from St. Nicholas, an actual person, who, in the first part of the fourth century, was the bishop of Myra, a city near the coast of what is now Turkey.

When Nicholas was a young man, both of his parents died, and left him a large inheritance.  He vowed to dedicate his riches to works of charity.

As a bishop, Nicholas did not want to give money directly, but rather quietly and secretly without recognition.  His legend of charity comes from the fact that when a certain man had three daughters, but no dowry money, Bishop Nicholas heard about this and secretly dropped a bag of gold into the house through an open window.  At another time, when the window was closed, he dropped another bag of gold down the chimney and it landed in a stocking that was drying by the fire.  Finally, the father of the daughters saw that it was Bishop Nicholas doing the "good works", and even though Nicholas asked him to keep it quiet, the father told others of Nicholas' generosity, and the legend grew throughout the land.

Middle Ages Gift Giving

It was Victorian England, that brought a renewed warmth and spirit to Christmas after it had experienced a long period of decline.  The Victorians made the idea of family part of the celebration. Friendliness and charity filled many hearts during their Christmas season, so giving gifts was natural. The ultimate reason for giving a gift was as an expression of kindness, a sentiment that went nicely with the historical tradition of the holiday.

The American Christmas was greatly influenced by the Victorians, gift giving, tradition and all. America expanded on the concept with the addition of Santa Claus: the association with gifts was a natural one. Soon Santa or one of his earlier models became responsible for the presents left in an ever-increasing number of stockings.

Modern Gift Giving

Gift giving became big business in the United States along with the general trend toward a consumer economy. By 1920, advertisements for holiday gifts began to appear a full month before Christmas with persuasive copy urging shoppers to choose gifts that will please.

Today, while gifts are given for a variety of holidays and special occasions, the largest of these gift giving occasions is and will probably remain to be the Christmas holiday. After all, as far as Christians are concerned, this holiday was the time that the people of the world received the greatest "gift" of love-Jesus Christ.