all talk and no action
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Dreaming of a fight Christmas
Aah, the season of goodwill. Carol singers trash an elderly couple's garden while on the other side of the world, drunken Santas go on the rampage, robbing stores and assaulting security guards.
Of course, in the old days things were very different. This is what Christmas in America looked like in the 1800s:
A rowdy drunken street carnival, a raucous combination of Halloween, New Year's Eve, and Mardi Gras. The poor would demand entrance into the homes of the rich and aggressively beg for food, drink, and money. Sometimes things would escalate and there would be break-ins, vandalism, sexual assault, and plenty of drinking. In 1828, a particularly violent Christmas riot in New York led the city to institute its first professional police force.
Of course, in the old days things were very different. This is what Christmas in America looked like in the 1800s:
A rowdy drunken street carnival, a raucous combination of Halloween, New Year's Eve, and Mardi Gras. The poor would demand entrance into the homes of the rich and aggressively beg for food, drink, and money. Sometimes things would escalate and there would be break-ins, vandalism, sexual assault, and plenty of drinking. In 1828, a particularly violent Christmas riot in New York led the city to institute its first professional police force.
posted by paul, 10:03 AM
