Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
86 | DECEMBER 15 • 2022
Gift-Giving at Chanukah
A
question was raised at a recent
meeting of the JN editorial
staff: When did Chanukah
become a gift-giving holiday? No one
knew the answer. We all agreed that
we really like receiving gifts; there was
no debate on this issue whatsoever
(although there was a spirited discussion
over the types of small gifts we would
like. You know, did we
prefer diamonds or gold
jewelry, Ferraris or Jaguars,
etc.?)
Personally, I like gifts, so
I thought the question was
worthy of research. When
did Jewish Americans
begin giving gifts for
Chanukah? I dove into the
William Davidson Digital Archive of
Jewish Detroit History, as well as var-
ious histories, to see if I could find an
answer.
Here is the definitive answer to the
question — no one knows. There is not
a precise date that can be cited. The
best historical analysis has determined
that sometime in the late-19th century,
gift-giving, usually reserved for Purim,
began to shift to gifts for Chanukah.
There was a precursor. The practice
of giving gelt — the Yiddish word for
money — for Chanukah was an old cus-
tom in Europe. Today, this has usually
morphed into giving chocolate coins
to children, but some families still pre-
fer to give money to their children for
Chanukah (and then maybe take the
kids to the toy store).
In her recent book, Hanukkah in
America: A History, Dianne Ashton
from Rowan University notes that the
trend of gift-giving greatly increased in
the 1950s. There was a massive post-war
increase in the variety and number of
Christmas gifts, all promoted through
Christmas catalogs, newspapers, radio
and television advertisements. The gift
idea onslaught has yet to abate.
This is the distinct American angle to
Chanukah gift-giving. Jewish Americans
are indeed very “American,” and
although their traditions in gift-giving
are distinct from Christmas traditions,
they have generally followed the same
historical pattern as that for America
at-large. As the United States begin to
prosper in the late-19th century and
continued to do so throughout the 20th
and 21st centuries, there was a truly
amazing spike in consumerism. Since
the end of World War II, more and more
Americans have had the disposable
income to buy gifts for the holidays.
I could not find articles devoted to the
history of gift-giving for Chanukah in
the Davidson Archive. However, the term
“Gift Giving” raised over 1,000 pages.
Many of these citations referred to
our advertisers who have always had gift
ideas every year. Indeed, the ads are a
good record of popular gifts for specific
eras. Some pages cited held JN Holiday
Gift Guides. The JN is always willing
to help you find gifts, especially, JN gift
subscriptions (wink, wink, hint, hint).
There have been ideological or assim-
ilation issues associated with gift giv-
ing. An editorial in the May 4, 1917,
Jewish Chronicle, for example, declared
that gift giving “has become a disease
that afflicts all classes of society.” The
example the editor liked was the Jewish
school graduating class that year who,
instead of wanting gifts for their bar/bat
mitzvahs, asked that gift money be sent
to the Jewish War Relief Fund.
As generations of Americans
increased their well-being, gift-giving
for Chanukah has also become a way of
strengthening Jewish family values. Gifts
or not — Happy Chanukah!
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation
archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.
org.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair