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I'm sure that most people are aware of this, but just on the vague chance that anybody isn't, it's interesting to note that the "traditional" British Christmas was basically "invented" and promoted by Charles Dickens in the early 1840s. Christmas had been falling "out of fashion" for decades before that and, by that time, was a normal working day for many. Newspapers were printed, all the shops were open (you'll see this if you read "A Christmas Carol"); it was a normal day, with religious services for the reducing minority for those who were of a mind to treat it as a "special" day. It was "A Christmas Carol" which basically became the "definition" of what traditional British Christmas celebrations became.
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