Holidays, observances, and conflicts at Christmas time:
Part 4 of 4
Festivus, an annual secular family celebration
in December, is "for the Rest of Us!"
History and rituals of Festivus:
The Roman comic poet Plautus from the 3rd century BCE originally used the term Festivus to refer to "wild celebrations attended
by average citizens cutting lose on religious holidays." 2
Festivus is now a recently invented secular day of celebration for the entire
family and friends. It is held annually
on DEC-23 -- about half-way between the Winter Solstice and Christmas. It was apparently created in 1966-FEB by Daniel O'Keefe,
of Chappaqua, NY. (b ~1928). O'Keefe, a former writer for Reader's Digest,
says that the idea just popped into his head. It happened before any of this
children were born, and was originally a celebration of the first date that he
had with his wife Deborah. He developed it during the 1970s while he conducted researched
for his book "Stolen Lightning." 6 The New York Times described it as
"a work of sociology that explores the ways people used cults, astrology and
the paranormal as a defense against social pressures." He recalled:
the background was Durkenheim's 'Elementary Forms of Religious Life' saying that
religion is the unconscious projection of the group. And then the American
philosopher Josiah Royce [concluded that] religion is the worship of the beloved
wonders "Have we accidentally invented a cult?"
According to his son,
Daniel, who was a writer on the TV comedy "Seinfeld," the 1966
||A wrestling match among the children in the family.
||An audio recording of grievances. This is where each person present
complains to friends and family about all the ways in which they have
disappointed him/her during the previous year.
||A clock in a bag. The significance of this item has been lost to history.
||A yearly theme. Daniel recalls that one was "Is there a light at the
end of the tunnel?" Another was "Too easily made glad?"
The proper greeting for the day is "Happy Festivus."
Seinfeld's version of Festivus:
The third reincarnation of Festivus occurred in episode #158 of Seinfeld that was
broadcast on 1997-DEC-18 called "The Strike." On the show, Frank Costanza
-- played by Jerry Stiller -- said that he saw the need for a new holiday when he was in a department store
near Christmas time. He engaged in a tug of war with another shopper over the last remaining doll which he wanted to
purchase for one of his young children. Neither customer got the doll; it was
destroyed during the battle. Costanza explained: "I realized there had
to be a better way." So, he developed Festivus, a celebration for the
rest of us.
Frank's son, the ever cheap George Costanza, dreamed up a scam to save money.
Rather than give his co-workers Christmas gifts, he gave them all phony cards
indicating he had made a donation in their name to a fictitious charity: The
Human Fund. George's boss decided to give a $20,000 donation to the
charity and gives George a check. The scam is revealed when the accounting
department finds that there is no such charity. George explains:
" I gave out the fake card, because, um, I don't really celebrate
Christmas. I, um, I celebrate Festivus. ... And, uh, I was afraid that I
would be persecuted for my beliefs. They drove my family out of Bayside,
According to TV Acres:
"Calling his bluff, George's boss
came home with George to see Festivus in action. The get-together was a fiasco
and ended with George being pummeled by his father who wrestled him to the floor
as George screamed ..." 3
The show's writers changed the wrestling competition in the traditional Festivus so that the head of the
family selected a family member or friend to wrestle. According to Wikipedia: "
"A participant is allowed to decline to attempt to pin the head of
the family only if they have something better to do instead."
also added a Christmas tree-substitute made of a plain aluminum pole without decoration.
Costanza found "tinsel distracting." Apparently, the simple, unadorned
pole was in reaction to ornate Christmas trees with layers of expensive
As a side-plot, Kramer asked for Festivus off as a vacation day from the
bagel shop where he worked. They refused to grant his request. So he went on
The evolution of Festivus:
Years after the Seinfeld episode, Festivus began taking on a life of its own:
late 2000 Ben & Jerry's created a temporary special Festivus ice cream flavor.
In 2004, the New York Times reported that:
"...from Tampa Bay, FL, to
Washington, from Austin, TX., to Oxford, OH, many real people are holding
Jennifer Galdes of Chicago IL, a publicist working in the
restaurant industry and a veteran of three Festivus parties, said:
'More and more people are familiar with what Festivus is, and it's
growing. This year many more people, when they got the
invite, responded with, 'Will there be an airing of the grievances and feats of
||Fubbershmore sells Festivus T-shirts in over twenty colors and in seven
||A FestiForum is online. 10
||In 2006, TBS scheduled a mini-Seinfeld
marathon during the week before Christmas which included the Festivus episode.
||For Festivus 2006, the Boston Globe commented:
"Festivus celebrants can now go online and purchase specialty items
like wine (Grape Ranch Festivus Red, made in Oklahoma), greeting cards,
and aluminum poles ... From holiday songs ("Gather 'Round the Pole," "Oh
Festivus") to Festivus recipes (Ham With Junior Mint and Snapple Glaze,
reprinted in Salkin's book), the trappings and trimmings associated with
bona fide holidays have become readily available in a kitschy sort of
About the Festivus pole:
Festivus is in a constant state of flux. The original Festivus was a bare-bones affair. Not even tinsel was allowed.
Recent celebrants have added some new rituals and specifications to the
celebration. One relates to how the pole is mounted. The pole was shown on
the Seinfeld program, but its mounting was not.
||Krista Soroka, 33, of Tampa Bay, FL, supported her five-foot pole in a
sand-filled green plastic pot.
||Mike Osiecki, 27, of Atlanta, GA, suspended his pole from the ceiling of
his porch with fishing line. He commented: "people can stare at it or dance
around it if they want to."
||Aaron Roberts, 28, of Oxford, Ohio, used a post from a recycled set of metal shelves supported by a cardboard box
||Jennifer Galdes mounted her six-and-a-half foot pole in a Christmas tree
||Scott McLemee of Washington DC simplified the festival even more by not
pole at all at his party.
Although the plain pole was created as a reaction to elaborately decorated
Christmas trees, an enterprising company in Milwaukee, WI, manufactures ready to
assemble Festivus poles in a six foot model and a 32" table top model. 11
Why is Festivus catching on?
By 2004-DEC, Google reported an amazing 126,000 hits on the Internet for the
word "Festivus." This grew to 1.46 million by 2006-DEC.
Nobody really knows why it has become so popular. Some speculations are:
||Professor Anthony Aveni of Colgate University, author of "The Book of
the Year: A Brief History of our Seasonal Holidays" 7 suggests that Festivus
is infused with so much potential meaning that it may become a permanent part
of the American holiday firmament. He notes that Halloween was once an obscure
festival observed by few, that Kwanzaa was invented by an academic in
the 1960s, and Hanukkah has evolved in recent years to include the exchange of
gifts. He said: "Even Christmas comes out of a Pagan holiday that happened
around the [winter] solstice."
||Festivus may be gaining acceptance by the one out of four
Americans who does not identify with either Christianity Judaism, or Wicca. To
them, Christmas, Hanukkah and Yule do not have a great deal of religious
significance. Not being of African-American descent, Kwanzaa also lacks impact in
their lives. But Festivus might appeal to those who are either not affiliated with any
religion, or who are members of a faith group which does not have a
celebration in late December.
||Others may find Festivus attracted because it is such a simple family
celebration, free of the commercialization of Christmas.
"... that Festivus is the perfect secular theme for an all-inclusive December
gathering (even better than Chrismukkah, popularized by the television show 'The O.C.')."
||The Boston Globe suggests that:
"Behind its popularity, devotees say, are its absence of presents,
accent on idiocy, and refreshing lack of familial psychodrama. Festivus
may have its own quirky rituals, they note, but none involving theology,
batteries, reindeer, political correctness, or parental guilt." 12
||Perhaps it appeals to people because it is so funny and nonsensical.