American Culture and Christmas Songs

Lankford, Jr., Ronald D.  Sleigh Rides, Jingle Bells, and Silent Nights: A Cultural History of  
       American Christmas Songs.  Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, October 2013.

Ronald Lankford, Jr., does not provide a standard history of Christmas songs.  He does not discuss in detail who wrote a particular song.  That type of history can be found in books such as Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas by Ace Collins.  Lankford instead studies how Christmas songs fit into and reflect American culture especially in relation to movies and television shows.

After an introductory essay on the American Christmas song tradition, Lankford examines Christmas songs in relation to nostalgia for earlier times, Santa Claus and gift giving, Christmas as carnival time, the poor and hard times in relation to American celebratory practices, and Christmas satire songs.   Lankford finishes the book with a return to nostalgia beginning in the 1980's.

If you are interested in the culture of Christmas, Lankford will not disappoint.  He provides plenty of evidence to back his claims, using movie stills and reference material to illustrate the book.  He provides a serious, yet entertaining look at a  timely topic.