Waubonsee Community College

All around the year, holidays and celebrations in American life, Jack Santino

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-222) and index

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

illustrations

index present

non fiction

All around the year

bibliography

28028667

Jack Santino

"Whether decorating Easter trees, observing the New Year's Eve ritual of the Hungry Hog Society, or celebrating Wagner's birthday by incinerating a model of Valhalla on an outdoor barbecue to the closing strains of "Gotterdammerung," Americans combine the traditional and the offbeat as they create new holidays and celebrate old ones." "In All Around the Year, Jack Santino guides the reader through a variety of holidays, festivals, and life-cycle rituals and celebrations. Drawing from history, anthropology, popular culture, and folklore, Santino shows the intricate relationships between holidays and the roles of celebrations and rituals in people's lives. He combines scholarship, field research, and personal reminiscence in this highly readable account of a subject that constitutes a major dimension of our social lives. Nearly fifty illustrations depict holiday symbols and decorations both traditional and contemporary, from greeting cards to wreath-bedecked cars to restaurant menus."--Jacket

holidays and celebrations in American life

Holidays in America: ritual, festival, and celebration -- Homemade holidays: making symbols, making meaning -- Winter into Spring: celebrating rebirth and renewal -- Toward Midsummer: celebrating the season of the sun -- Autumn into Winter: celebrating death and life