Selling Santa

How Miracle on 34 th Street Stole (And Rebranded) Christmas

Bibliographic Data

ID3852367
AuthorsVaughn Joy (Department of History, University College London, London, UK, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume20
Issue3-4
Pages308-323
Publication date2023-10-02
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueComparative American Studies An International Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1477-5700 • E-ISSN: 1741-2676
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14775700.2023.2267337
OpenAlexW4387534135
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited9

American Christmas traditions developed throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as an amalgamation of various communities’ customs, media representations of the holiday, and civic celebrations within the public sphere. One cultural touchstone throughout this period was within department stores where store Santas helped to streamline the identity of the national secular holiday. Miracle on 34th Street, in portraying an updated version of the Santa Claus figure within Macy’s department store on film, rebranded the Christmas figure and his connections to commercialism through manipulation of his mythology. By emphasising the secular faith placed in Santa, Miracle on 34th Street contributed to a lasting connection between the American Christmas and an emerging commercialist religion

Art · Art history · Commercialism · Faith · Literature · Media studies · Miracle · Mythology · Period (music · Political science · Sociology · Theology · Culinary Culture and Tourism · History · Law · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Philosophy · Religious Tourism and Spaces

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