page_title: Christmas in the post-war United States
section_title: Literature
hierarchical_section_title: Christmas in the post-war United States / Literature
caption_attribution_description: Ted Geisel, American writer and cartoonist, at work on a drawing of the grinch for "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
context_page_description: Christmas in the United States during the post-war years reflected a period of peace, productivity, and prosperity. Americans staged sumptuous Christmases and enjoyed a variety of holiday foods unknown to previous generations. Several films, foods, toys, and television programs of the era have become American Christmas traditions.
  Once reliant upon Germany for its ornaments, toys, and even its Christmas customs, America became self-sufficient in the post-War years with Christmas ornaments and toys being manufactured in the United States that were considerably less expensive than their German counterparts. American Christmas customs and traditions such as visits to department store Santas and letter writing to Santa at the North Pole remained intact during America's post-War years, but the era generated contributions that have endured to become traditions.
  NORAD's tracking of Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve, for example, was initiated in 1955 and has become an annual tradition. The stop motion animated film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer remains an annual telecast on American television—more than fifty years after its debut, and Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
context_section_description: In 1957, Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was published by Random House. The tale's rhyming verse accompanies illustrations by the author, and follows a disagreeable character called the Grinch and his attempts to thwart the arrival of Christmas by stealing the gifts, trims, and other trappings of the holiday from the happy Whos of Whoville. In spite of his attempts, Christmas arrives all the same.
  The Grinch realizes then that Christmas is something more than its trappings. The book criticizes the commercialization of Christmas and satirizes those who exploit the holiday. The tale was adapted into a 1966 short animated film for television with a screenplay by Seuss and narration by Boris Karloff. Later adaptations include a Broadway musical and a feature film in 2000 starring Jim Carrey.
  At 100 years of age in 1960, Grandma Moses illustrated Clement Clark Moore's Christmas poem, A Visit from Saint Nicholas as The Night Before Christmas for Random House. The book was published after her death in 1961.
caption: Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss), American writer and cartoonist, at work on a drawing of the Grinch for How the Grinch Stole Christmas
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