Caroling

I have often wondered why you see Christmas carolers in movies and in books, but rarely in our day to day lives during the holidays. I found an article from Time magazine that explains a brief history of common caroling songs and when and why it became less popular. Most caroling songs were based on medieval songs, and caroling actually did not have anything to do with Christmas. The medieval carols did not relate to Christmas, but new, modern songs generally related to the holiday. The tradition of caroling came from wishing your neighbor’s good fortune. It came from the English word wassail, and a popular song that carolers sang was “Here We Come a-Wassailing” which evolved into “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Eventually church caroling mixed with Christian folk songs, and was common during May Day festivals. Caroling as a Christmas tradition did not become popular until the 19th century, when Christmas was becoming commercialized. Caroling continued to be popular until the 1960s. Carolers and the people that they would sing to were usually similar culturally, so when the US was becoming more diverse in the 60s, people gradually stopped caroling outside of people’s homes, and did so in public instead.