Giving presents for Christmas is a relatively new idea. Before that, gifts were given at New Year's and Christmas was spent in church at mass giving thanks for the coming of The Christ - or at Christ Mass. I study Elizabethan England and there are many stories about Elizabeth I making presents for her family for New Years (mostly translations of religious text handwritten).

Christmas is a religious holiday celebrating the birth of The Christ. Nothing more or less. Humans have made it into this mass marketing giant. And for that we will pay.