A few days ago, the subject was eggnog and how it became a Christmas tradition. A lot of other things we do, see and hear around Christmas have interesting backgrounds….
Reading the AARP magazine the other day, there was a quiz about Christmas and one of the questions was what is the most recorded Christmas song in history. I thought it was White Christmas, but I was wrong — “Silent Night” earns that title.
Some other interesting tidbits I discovered include….
The tradition of putting a Christmas tree in your house goes all the way back to the ancient Egyptians and Romans, who decorated using evergreens during the winter solstice to signify that spring would return.
The Santa Claus that we instantly recognize didn’t look like he does today until 1931. In that year, the Coca-Cola company decided to use Santa’s image for advertising, and hired an illustrator named Haddon Sundblom to illustrate the jolly old elf for magazine ads. That’s the image we recognize today.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first appeared in 1939 when the Montgomery Ward department store asked one of its copywriters to create a Christmas story for kids that the store could distribute as a promotion.
The Christmas wreath first originated as a symbol of Christ. The holly represents the crown of thorns Jesus wore at his crucifixion and the red berries stand for the blood He shed. Another reason to remember the reason for the season.
Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving is usually thought of as the busiest shopping day of the year, but actually the Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the busiest.
The first Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center looked more like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree than the one we’ve seen in recent years. Construction workers first placed a small, undecorated tree while working there in 1931. Two years later, another tree appeared — this time decorated with lights. It just kept getting bigger every year.
Claire used to put lots and lots of tinsel on our Christmas trees, and she did it one strand at a time! Tinsel was invented in 1610 in Germany and was originally spun from real silver. The U.S. government banned tinsel because it used to contain poisonous lead — that was when Claire stopped putting tinsel on our tree.
Contrary to popular belief, “Xmas” is not some sinister plot to take Christ our of Christmas. “Christianity” was spelled “Xianity” as far back ast 1100. X, or Chi, is the Greek first letter of “Christ” and served as a symbolic stand-in at the time. In 1551, the holiday was commonly called “Xtemmas,” which was later shortened to “Xmas.”
If all this doesn’t put you in a holiday mood, I don’t know what will.
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