I've said it before and I'll say it again: at least one popular "Christmas Carol" ~ to wit, "Deck the Halls" ~ makes absolutely no mention of Jesus Christ or of Christmas in any form at all, mentioning only "Yuletide," which would certainly seem to signify the Winter Solstice.

Do we know how old this song might be? Could it possibly date back to pre-Christian times? Do we require some impossible level of "proof" before we can regard this familar carol as a "Song for the Winter Solstice"?

Also:

January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany on the Christian liturgical calendar, a commemoration of the visit of the Magi (or Three Kings or Three Wise Men) to the newborn Baby Jesus. It is often called "Little Christmas," and in some Christian cultures, has served as the primary day for gift-giving, in preference to December 25, the Feast of the Nativity, which is reserevd in these communities for a more sober and strictly religious observation.

Might someone's contention that January 6th is an "alternate date" for Christmas be based on a misunderstanding of this well-established Christian feast day and its role as part of the Christmas season?

PS: I once had an employer, a real Ebeneezer Scrooge type, who bragged about his old French founders-of-New-Orleans family and their adherence to the best of the old customs. He always made it a point to tell us that his family exchanged gifts, not on Christmas Day (which they observed with great religious solemnity, supposedly) but on "Li'l Christmas," January 6. The long-time employees, in turn, loved to counter that his only real motivation was to buy all the toys and stuff cheap, at the after-Christmas sales.