Old Christmas Day
January 6 or 7
In addition to being the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6 is known as Old Christmas Day. When England and Scotland switched over from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, 11 days were dropped to make up for the calendar discrepancy that had accumulated with the use of the Julian calendar. In all subsequent years, Christmas arrived 11 days early. Many people, especially in rural areas, had trouble accepting the loss of these 11 days, and continued to recognize the holidays of the Julian calendar as Old Christmas, Old Candlemas, Old Midsummer Day, etc. Russians and Ukrainians celebrate this holiday on January 7.
See also Christmas (Russian Orthodox)
SOURCES:
EncyChristmas-2003, p. 579
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 26
Yes.
I've started calling it Hillbilly Christmas.
My mother used to keep the tree up until January 6 because of "Old Christmas."
She couldn't explain more.
Here's a little info about it:
https://southernorthodox.org/the-appalachian-tradition-of-old-christmas/
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Old+Christmas+Day
Old Christmas Day January 6 or 7 In addition to being the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6 is known as Old Christmas Day. When England and Scotland switched over from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, 11 days were dropped to make up for the calendar discrepancy that had accumulated with the use of the Julian calendar. In all subsequent years, Christmas arrived 11 days early. Many people, especially in rural areas, had trouble accepting the loss of these 11 days, and continued to recognize the holidays of the Julian calendar as Old Christmas, Old Candlemas, Old Midsummer Day, etc. Russians and Ukrainians celebrate this holiday on January 7. See also Christmas (Russian Orthodox) SOURCES: EncyChristmas-2003, p. 579 FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 26