WAIT A MINUTE! WHY DO WE OFFER CHRISTMAS GIFTS?

Christmas Eve is approaching, everything goes on with it!

• family time,
• Xmas tree,
• Turkey,
• The sweet desserts
• Gifts…

If offering nice packages at family gatherings (or with friends) is now firmly rooted in morals, it has not always been the case!  So where does this tradition come from? Why do we usually spoil the people we love on December 24th and 25th? The G4 team gives you the secrets of this story!

 

FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE ARISTOCRATIC FAMILIES

It was at the end of the 19th century that the “Christmas gift” was anchored as a habit, and became a tradition. Encouraged also by the works of Haussmann and his arrival of big department stores, and he became also popular among aristocratic and bourgeois families. Offering a  Christmas gift to children became also a practical and gifts for adults was rather as a New Year gifts on New Year’s Eve. This practice dates back to ancient times, when the Romans celebrated the winter solstice and the arrival of a new year. The goal is to wish each other a prosperous, happy and healthy year in the care of the goddess of health Strenia.

 

WHAT SAYS CHRISTMAS HISTORY?

 

Who is hiding behind Santa Claus who offers gifts?
To keep their children patient, parents tell stories about the characters who come to bring offerings, with variations depending on the country. The gifts arrive as early as December 6th, St. Nicholas Day, in the North and East of Europe. The genesis of the character of Santa Claus is the result of a long process making him a distant descendant of St. Nicholas. He distributes gifts to those who are wise, while the rascals receive the visit of the Father Whipper.

With the arrival of Protestantism in the sixteenth century, the cult of saints was abandoned in Northern Europe for the benefit of the baby Jesus, except in Holland where the Saint-Nicolas is perpetuated. That’s why the Dutch settlers migrating to America introduce the Sinterklaas celebration. The Americans adopt it and rename it Santa Claus.

It is the American pastor, Clement Clarke Moore, who imagines in 1823 the character of Santa Claus in a children’s story. He imagines it with a belly belly, a hat and a sleigh pulled by reindeer and a hood distributing gifts. Popularised and colorised in red around the world by the soda brand Coca Cola, the character of Santa Claus imposed itself in the Christmas folklore in the early twentieth century.

 

 

COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

Very quickly, this festival partices acquires a commercial dimension, which only accentuates its success. The growth of the bourgeoisy also marked that of the department stores. When it comes to time to open the Christmas seasons the windows are shining, the gifts are multiplying, are increasingly expensive and, above all, is adorned with multicolored paper packaging to cause surprise and the excitement. The Christmas gift then settles as a popular habits. Many treatises of rules, the art and the manner of offering, appear elsewhere in the shelves of bookstores.

Knowing how to celebrate Christmas, becomes a tradition and a well – being to find loved ones and to gather around a peaceful moment and to open the offered gifts.

 

G4 GIFT TIPS

Now , you know everything about Christmas gifts, its time to discover the G4 tips to choose the best present for your beloved !

Our collections

• Angel / Archangel: This new collection is again one of the most unusual and almost unapproachable. We like to propose the impossible. Geoffroy Lequatre and the entire G4 team did an extraordinary job creating the world’s most advanced Autumn / Winter collection. A masterpiece according to many of our client.

 

• Denim: Jeans have a timeless aesthetic in the world of fashion, so let’s reinvent them as cycling wear but with G4’s special touch. Guys will be tempted by our fluorescent yellow version while the girls will love the neon pink to light up their rides!

• Supreme: Challenge your cycling skills throughout any weather conditions! Between see and mountain, the SUPREME jacket is the ultimate weapon against winter or rainy weather!

• Do you spend the Christmas holidays under the sun? You need the proper outfit with our Mediterranean collection: From the French Riviera to Corsica to the Canary Islands and the Costa Brava, from Italy to Sicily, from Croatia to the Greek Islands and from Morocco to the Middle East, we invite you to discover with us the essence of a collection developed on a feeling of authenticity and a tribute to the Mediterranean civilization.

Other collections here!

THE ACCESSORIES

G4 never leaves anything to chance and the accessories are an integral part of a stylish and complete cycling outfit!

• Discover our Merino socks for the winter, which will keep your feet warm in all circumstances!
• Our winter hats and headbands, very pleasant to wear under the helmet
• Our underwear which are breathable and comfortable, they regulate the temperature of the body during your practice ! The MUST HAVE
• Our thermal shoe covers that will keep your feet dry during your rainy training

And many other accessories here!