So today is Christmas – December 25th; but there are still a handful of people in the United States that don’t celebrate Christmas Day until January 6th.  Known as “Old Christmas”, it is a tradition brought to the Appalachian region by the Scots-Irish in the early 18th century. 

“Old Christmas” is a relic of the Julian Calendar, developed 2,000 years ago. In the late 1500s, Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar to match the solar cycle more closely. To do so, the Julian Calendar had to be reduced from 376 to 365 days, eliminating 11 full days. Some countries, though, resisted the change and kept the old Julian Calendar. It took nearly 200 years for England and Scotland to come around. Both countries adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1752.

About this time, many of these English and Scots were emigrating to the Americas and settling in Appalachia. Some didn’t know about the change or refused to adopt the new Gregorian Calendar and kept the extra 11 days in their calendars. This meant that for them, Christmas fell on January 6 rather than December 25.

In the mid-20th century, there were still families in the mountainous areas of Appalachia that held to the old Christmas Day.  In fact, some people may have heard about not taking Christmas decorations down until January 6th – which is also the celebration of the Epiphany on the Christian liturgical calendar.  Epiphany is the day set aside to remember the wise men who visited Christ bearing gifts.  It’s thought that many of the early settlers of Appalachia who celebrated “Old Christmas” kept the date alive with the warning about not taking holiday decorations down until January 6th.

Today, most orders of the Amish and some Mennonites continue to celebrate “Old Christmas” in January.  Also, some Orthodox Churches around the world still use the Julian Calendar and celebrate Christmas in January as well.