Quotes from Stephen Nissenbaum

As purchasers, how often do we end by using money as a substitute for what we fear is insufficient thoughtfulness and sensitivity?—by deciding, at the end of a lengthy shopping excursion, to buy expensive presents for our loved ones simply because we cannot think of that one simple gift that would be modest in price but perfectly intimate in effect.

Santa mediated magically between parent and child--between the buyer and the recipient of the gifts. His presence was what took the gift out of the realm of commerce--in the eyes of parents, perhaps, as well as children. To phrase this in a more contemporary fashion, we might say that Santa 'mystified' consumption. He also mystified production and distribution.

It was actually illegal to celebrate Christmas in Massachusetts between 1659

It was those children who became the temporary centers of attention and deference at Christmas, and the joy and gratitude on their faces and in their voices as they opened their presents was a vivid re-creation of the exchange of gifts for goodwill that had long constituted the emotional heart of the Christmas