Washington Irving: How the 'Father of Halloween' also invented American Christmas celebrations

Fox Nation's 'Washington Irving: The Father of Halloween and Christmas' explores the iconic author's contributions to the celebrations of both holidays in America today.

"One of the curious elements in studying the life and legacy of Washington Irving is that he's not really known for his outstanding contribution to the celebration of American Christmas," said Andrew Burstein of the LSU History Department. "…he is almost exclusively thought of as the progenitor of Halloween."Most Americans don't realize, the special explores, that the Christmas we know and love was actually invented by Irving."…The version of Christmas that they think of, was first popularized by Washington Irving," said Elizabeth Bradley, VP of Programs and Engagement in Historic Hudson Valley. "And, in fact, that he wrote about a classic English Christmas decades and decades before Charles Dickens ever did."Dickens, an English author widely regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era, penned literary classics like "A Christmas Carol." The epic story of Ebenezer Scrooge cemented Charles Dickens as a storyteller and, for many, made his name synonymous with Christmas.But his predecessor, Irving, described English Christmas customs much earlier in his The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, published two decades before the release of "A Christmas Carol" - descriptions that moved Dickens to the point of writing Irving a letter expressing his gratitude, with Dickens later recycling Irving's descriptions in a scene from "Christmas Past" as an ode to his American inspiration. 

And though many might consider Santa Claus to be the true Father of Christmas, Washington Irving's "Old Christmas" had promoted the tradition of jolly ol' Saint Nicholas — perhaps the most ubiquitous Christmas custom we uphold today.To learn more about the long-standing contributions of the literary icon, subscribe to Fox Nation today to stream the ‘Washington Irving: The Father of Halloween and Christmas.’Good things come in virtual packages. From now until January 3, everyone can get 35% off any of Fox Nation's yearly plans when they use the promo code CELEBRATE at checkout. programs are viewable on-demand and from your mobile device app, but only for Fox Nation subscribers.  to start a free trial and watch the extensive library from your favorite Fox News personalities.