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