"With the exception of the Sunday worship day, Baptist tradition before the late 19th century largely rejected or ignored 'special days.'"

The late Victorian Age in the United States encouraged a re-examination of holidays in an era of a growing tendency toward leisure and celebratory events. The celebration of special days comported well with such contemporary activities as the growth of professional sports and a number of new civic celebrations and festivals. It was only natural for Southern Baptists to look to festivals with strong historic Christian connections such as Christmas and Easter.

The article is an interesting, evenhanded look at how attitudes have changed among Southern Baptists. Presumably, similar shifts occurred among other Baptists and “baptistic” groups.

Edit: given the fact that Spurgeon preached several http://sharperiron.org/article/christs-resurrection-and-our-newness-of-…] easter sermons , I’m guessing there was never a resistance to special days among Baptists in England… or that they “got over it” much earlier than in the US.