Posted on 12/21/2005 11:36:24 AM PST by Cagey
ALTERNATIVE CELEBRATIONS: Pole for the holidays
Celebrating the holidays with a diverse group of friends can get tricky. That's where Festivus, the "holiday for the rest of us," comes in.
Invented in 1966 by a Reader's Digest editor but made popular through a 1997 "Seinfeld" episode, the fictional celebration has been brought to life by fervent supporters across the country - including Clarkston native Blake Coe.
According to the "Seinfeld" episode, Festivus is celebrated on Dec. 23 and is marked by a tinsel-free aluminum pole, feats of strength - like wrestling - and the airing of grievances, during which followers tell loved ones how they have disappointed them during the year.
Though Coe, 24, also celebrates Christmas, he said Festivus is a welcome break from the holidays.
"With all of the things that now make the Christmas season about political correctness, over-commercialization and greed, it is refreshing that Festivus separates itself from that," said Coe, who has been celebrating the fictional holiday for five years.
Coe recently moved to Chicago, but he'll be home in Clarkston for Festivus. On Saturday, Coe's parents, Sally and Ken, put up the pole. Grandma was there, too.
Coe said he bought the aluminum pole - a centerpiece of Festivus celebrations - a few years ago at Home Depot for $5. However, merchants are now selling them online for almost $40. "I wish we had thought of that at the time," Blake Coe said, laughing.
The term "Festivus" yields more than 20,000 Web sites in monthly Google searches, said Allen Salkin, who tracked the figures for his new book, "Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us," which was released in October by Warner Books.
"Nobody else is writing about it, but it is out there - a very deep and widespread subculture," Salkin said. "I think it has to do with a need for tolerance and a holiday where you don't exclude anybody."
Coe and his friends observe the feats of strength by holding annual billiards and video game tournaments. As for the airing of grievances - "we pretty much go around and talk about each other's less finer moments," said Pat Heber, a Clarkston resident who recently graduated from Michigan State University.
Typically, the feats of strength, or aggression-absorbing activities, are held immediately after the airing of grievances, but there are no hard and fast rules, Salkin said.
That flexibility makes it easy for everyone to celebrate Festivus, he added.
But not everyone will. Elizabeth Zill of Frankenmuth, who is featured in Salkin's book, said one Festivus celebration was enough for her family. A few years ago, Zill strung lights around a metal coat rack and presented it to her teenage daughter as an alternative to the Christmas tree the family never bought.
"Oh, my daughter was ticked at me," Zill said, laughing. "George didn't find it too amusing either," she added, referring to "Seinfeld" character George Costanza (Jason Alexander), who was less than thrilled about his father's idea. "I have a George."
Jerry or Kramer? I guess it depends on how your hair was combed that day? LOL!
I've been told I look like Kermit.
Cinco de Mayo
I saw a few episodes and the rest is history.
I'm not a huge fan of the last season though.
Saturnalia
In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a month, slaves would become masters. Peasants were in command of the city. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could join in the fun.
Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra's birthday was the most sacred day of the year.
In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday.
Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.
By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today's Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the "lord of misrule" and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined "debt" to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.
I think the point of the satire is to mock the recent trend toward everyone making up their own holiday.
Now that's a kinda childish dodge. Are you a Christian or not? Diest? Atheist? Buddist? Self lover?
I mean, i know you are a liberal, but what the heck else are you?
{ding, ding} "Another computer sale, Mr. Costanza"
"Good job, Lloyd"
Jerry: Damn it, they gave me cream! I asked for nonfat milk!
Patty: I think they have 1% over there.
Jerry: 1%?! They can kiss 1% of my ass!
And, I thought it was a holiday reserved for Saturn owners.
Saw my copy of the Weekly Worker, did you?
God gave most of us a sense of humor, evidently you were too busy showing off how devout you were.
Lighten the hell up.
Some of us don't really care for the Christmas season, and this is a good fun thing that makes the holidays a bit more bearable.
I'm disapointed in you, and I am certain that I could pin you in a wrestling match.
It's like "So when are you having kids?"
I like CindyDawg's answer... "Haven't got around to it... ;~D
I've decided that the annual Christmas war should be part of the traditional celebration of the season, it's been going on for so long now. I sort of base it on the Airing of the Grievances. I think I will call it "The Sparring With The Infidels." Just something to look forward to, in order to keep Advent lively.
Funny, I always pictured the Festivus Pole as looking something like a coatrack. I don't know if Seinfeld or Larry David thought of incorporating Festivus in to the show, or if it was something Jerry Stiller came up with on his own, but My God, he made it funny.
They should co-opt it....like seinfeld took Festivus.
Some others as well. You know, baby killers, child rapists, rapists. Most of them non believers.
But even the devil is a believer so who knows on that score.
> I mean, i know you are a liberal...
Since your "knowledge" is so clearly backwards, there's no point in my attempting to educate you.
The Irish Cultural center where I live is having a big celtic/druid solstice celebration tonite. I wish I could go, but other plans. Great stuff, music, dancing, Irish food and of course, lots of libations.
You just nailed it. Sadly, some will never see that and that costs them a lost laugh.
> You know, baby killers, child rapists, rapists. Most of them non believers.
Once again... you got that backwards. Atheists and agnostics are under-represented among violent criminals.
You are so right on!
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