The Origins of Festivus
Festivus was made popular by the Seinfeld episode "The Strike", written by Seinfeld writer Dan O'Keefe. However, Dan based the Seinfeld story on a "Festivus" holiday that his own father invented back in the 1960s/1970s.
The Origin of the Traditional Costanza Festivus
The origins of the Festivus celebration can be dated back to one man's refusal to conform to the increased commercialism and consumerism which has saturated the December holiday season. Frank Costanza, during a routine outing to secure a Christmas gift for his son George, realized that there should be a new holiday:
Frank Costanza: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way.
Cosmo Kramer: What happened to the doll?
Frank Costanza: It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born … a Festivus for the rest of us!
Cosmo Kramer: That must've been some kind of doll.
Frank Costanza: She was.
The Seinfeld episode, "The Strike", included many other Festivus oddities that were invented by Frank Costanza. The Festivus Pole, for example is a favorite today, but if you read below you will see that the Festivus pole was only part of the Seinfeld version of the holiday, and not an invention of the original Festivus.
The Origins of the "Real Festivus"
The Festivus idea originally came to Seinfeld writer Dan O'Keefe from a tradition started by his father Daniel O'Keefe. The original Festivus had all the markings of a crazy fun holiday. There were taped recordings and even a "clock in a bag".
Then tradition of Festivus dated back to a time when Dan O'Keefe (Senior) had discovered the Festivus holiday in a book, published in 1966, that outlined obscure holidays. The book described many of the features later included in the Seinfeld episode. He was also inspired inspired by the Samuel Beckett play Krapp's Last Tape, whose protagonist tapes himself speaking at different times in his life.
The original Airing of Grievances was spoken into a tape recorder, and the O'Keefe family even retains some of the tapes.
The following is taken from a newspaper interview done by Dan O'Keefe and his father:
"It was entirely more peculiar than on the show," the younger Mr. O'Keefe said from the set of the sitcom "Listen Up," where he is now a writer. There was never a pole, but there were airings of grievances into a tape recorder and wrestling matches between Daniel and his two brothers, among other rites.
"There was a clock in a bag," said Mr. O'Keefe, 36, adding that he does not know what it symbolized.
"Most of the Festivi had a theme," he said. "One was, `Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?' Another was, `Too easily made glad?' "
His father, a former editor at Reader's Digest, said the first Festivus took place in February 1966, before any of his children were born, as a celebration of the anniversary of his first date with his wife, Deborah. The word "Festivus" just popped into his head, he said from his home in Chappaqua, N.Y.
The holiday evolved during the 1970's, when the elder Mr. O'Keefe began doing research for his book "Stolen Lightning" (Vintage 1983), a work of sociology that explores the ways people use cults, astrology and the paranormal as a defense against social pressures.
New York Times - 19 December 2004