23rd December 1652 Resolved by Parliament. : ‘That no Observation shall be had of the five-and-twentieth day of December, commonly called Christmas-Day.’
This was one of several bans on Christmas that Parliament introduced. (Parliament not Cromwell). It banned Christmas Services and ordered that shops be kept open, but it was, at least, inside people’s homes, largely unenforceable.
The logic for banning it was that Christmas is not mentioned in the Bible and was thus a Catholic superstition.
Christmas struggled through the Commonwealth, and then came back with a bang in 1660 on the Restoration of Charles II. However, it did shorten the period of Christmas festivities and make it more low-key, really all the way till the 19th Century when Dickens and Washington Irving revived the traditions of Christmas.
For my post on Cromwell’s lucky Day click here
First Published in 2023, revised 2025
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How long did it last?
I guess the answer is that it probably never worked. They, the Puritans, passed several Christmas control bills and so the fact that they kept needed to pass the same thing, suggests it did not stick. But the other answer is 1660 when King Charles II was restored to the throne and the Maypole was raised aloft again after a 100 year pause.