It is true that the early Christians did not celebrate Christmas, since the central message of the religion is their belief in a resurrected god. Easter was the high holy day for Christians, and extant records of early Christian writers bemoan their fellow believers participating in Io Saturnalia, or festival of Calends.
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It's interesting how perceptions change over time. Easter should be treated as the more significant Christian event.
Perception differs not only across generations, but also across localities. It was fortuitous (or perhaps divinely predetermined?) that Christ was crucified in the month of Nissan, modern March-April time frame. The Western civilized world (Hellenes) considered April 1 to be the beginning of a new year, as Selucids imposed this arbitrary date across their vast realm at the height of their power; Rome considered March 15 to be the beginning of a new year. Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, thus, coincided/correlated well with the civilized perception of new beginnings, renewal, etc. Incidentally, supposed date of C.Julius Caesar's assassination, March 15, may be a literary license of the poets to indicate his famous Julian "luck" running out.
As modern day convention of a "new" year pushed back to winter solstice, it may be inevitable that the message of renewal and resurrection also shifts towards Christmas over Easter. The regional and generational conventions are secondary to the underlying message and truth of Christ, despite the religious purists' clamors for "preserving" traditions. It some perspective, the secularization of Christmas into modern day material-worship festival returns the prominence of Easter as religious high holy day for Christians, since the Pillsbury bunny was not as an effective propagandist as the Coca Cola Santa.