Christmas Traditions

Here are ten Christmas traditions and their origins.

1.  Germans made the first artificial trees with dyed goose feathers in the 19th Century.

courtesy pinterest

2.  Americans send more than 3 billion Christmas cards each year.  The first Christmas cards, made in London, England, were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole and illustrated by John Callcott Horsley in 1843.

Sir Henry Cole's design circa 1848 courtesy www.vam.ac.uk.

3.  The twelve days of Christmas gifts add up to 364.  "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was first written as a chant in 1780.  Frederic Austin added music to the words in 1909, including the prolonged verse, "five golden rings".

upload.wikimedia.org

4.  Most of the reindeer have male sounding names ex. Donner, Blitzen and yet males loose their reins by Christmas.  A name like "Clarisse" from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is more appropriate.

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5.  "True love" from The Twelve Days of Christmas is the Catholic code for God.  A partridge in a pear tree refers to Jesus Christ.  And two turtledoves refers to the Old & New Testament.

www.catholictradition.org

6.  The Christmas colours are green (life or rebirth), red (Christ's blood) and gold (light).

7.  Some people used to believe that the spirits were active during the twelve days of Christmas.  These spirits evolved into Santa's elves.

midlothian-isd.net

8.  Mistletoe is from "misteltan" which means little dung twig.  The plant spreads through bird droppings.

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9.  Legend has it that Christmas stockings evolved from three poor sisters who would not afford a wedding dowry.  They hung their stockings on the fireplace and on Christmas Eve the wealthy bishop Saint Nicholas crept down the chimney and filled them with gold coins.

www.stnicholascroation.com

10.  The Protestant Reformer Martin Luther was so moved by the stars shining between the evergreen trees in winter that he cut down one, brought it home and decorated with candles for his children at Christmas in the 16th Century.

F.A. Chapman's "The Christmas Tree" 1866 courtesy www.americanantiquarian.org.

Source:  facts.randomhistory.com

I Need a Silent Night

Here are ten of my favourite Christmas songs.



1.  Amy Grant
"I Need a Silent Night"

2.  Faith Hill
"A Baby Changes Everything"

3.  Carrie Underwood
"Do You Hear What I Hear?"

4.  Tom Jones
"Mary's Boy Child"

5.  Celine Dion
"O Holy Night"

6.  Scott McCreery
"Mary Did You Know?"

7.  Matthew West
"Give This Christmas Away"

8.  Vince Guaraldi
"A Charlie Brown Christmas"

9.  Andrea Bocelli & Celine Dion
"The Prayer"

10.  John Lennon
"Happy Christmas (War is Over)"

Christmas Creches

1.  www.superstock.com

2.  iebayimg.com

3.  zcache.com

4.  ebayimg.com

5.  okiraa.com

Christmas Trees from Around the World

1.  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil courtesy www.telegraph.co.uk.

2.  Christmas tree in Milan, Italy courtesy luxist.com.

3.  Britain's largest artificial tree in Ellesmere Port courtesy dailymail.co.uk.

4.  White House tree in Washington, D.C. courtesy www.telegraph.co.uk.

5.  Bethlehem Christmas tree courtesy www.telegraph.co.uk.

6.  Moscow's Kremlin Christmas tree courtesy adventuresofrustywaters.com.

7.  Rockefeller Centre, New York City courtesy static2.parade.com.

8.  Warsaw, Poland courtesy en.itar-tass.com.

9.  Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany courtesy en.itar-tass.com.

10.  Image courtesy storage.canoe.ca.

Vintage Christmas Ads

1.  Coca Cola 1890's ad courtesy clickamericana.com.

2.  1910's Victrola ad courtesy staticflickr.com.

3.  1920's typewriter ad courtesy www.buzzfeed.com.

4.  1930's Kodak camera ad courtesy blogspot.com.

5.  1940's Hoover ad courtesy wordpress.com.

6.  1950's Christmas lights ad courtesy blogspot.com.

7.  1960's Coty ad courtesy tumblr.com.

8.  1970's 7Up ad courtesy blogspot.com.

9.  1980's BMX ad courtesy staticflicr.com.

10.  Barbie ad courtesy vintageadbrowser.com.

Every Who Down in Whoville

"Every Who Down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot.  But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville did not...He stood there on Christmas hating the Who's.  Staring down from his cave, with a sour grinchy frown at the warm lighted windows below in their town." (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss)

www.theiphonemom.com

Rumor has it that Theodor Geisel was turned down not once but three times at the University of Virginia, a school founded by Thomas Jefferson.  Dr. Seuss vowed one day to look down on that university.

In 1937, Theodor Geisel struck gold when he signed a contract with Vangard Press for his first book And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street (see post "From Mulberry St. to Madison Ave" at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2012/04/april-29.html ).  He went on to fame and fortune with Horton Hatches the Egg, If I Ran the Circus and other picture books.

Before writing How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Theodor Geisel, now Dr. Seuss, bought a stately home in the mountains overlooking Virginia (just as Thomas Jefferson purchased Monticello).  Just as Dr. Seuss lived on a mountain overlooking Virginia, the Grinch lived on Mount Crumpit overlooking Whoville.  The University of Virginia mascot was called a Wahoo or a Hoo for short.  Some say that Dr. Seuss' inspiration for the Who's was the Hoo's.

Regardless of the book's inspiration, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which first appeared on the shelves in 1957, became an instant hit.  It wasn't long before Americans were familiar with phrases like "a heart two sizes too small" and "little Cindy Lou Hoo" and "carve the roast beast" and "the last can of who hash".  According to some websites, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is the fifth most popular book Dr. Seuss ever wrote.

The Who stands on Mount Crumpit looking down on the Who's courtesy http://www.playbuzz.com/vanjaorman10/how-well-do-you-know-the-grinch-who-stole-christmas.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

"No Santa Claus?  Thank God!  he lives and he lives forever.  A thousand years from now, nay, ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood."

Virginia O'Hanlon photo courtesy inthepastlane.com.

Virginia O'Hanlon was born on July 20, 1889 in New York City.  At eight years old, she asked her father one day if there really was a Santa Claus.  He replied that she should write a letter to the New York Sun.  "If you see it in the Sun, it is so," he explained.  On September 21, 1897, Virginia did just that.  She received a response written by editor Francis Church who had been a war correspondent during the American Civil War.  His answer reassured Virginia that despite the fact that they lived in an age of skepticism, there was indeed a Santa Claus.  The letter became the most reprinted editorial in any English newspaper.

                                 

Letter courtesy upload,wikimedia.org.

Virginia grew up and attended Hunter College from which she received a B.A. in 1910 as well as Columbia College from whcih she received an M.A. in 1912.  She became a teacher the same year and later a junior principal.  Miss O'Hanlon retired in 1959.

Virginia married in the 1910's, but her husband deserted her just before the birth of their daughter Laura.  In 1969, a photograph was snapped of the adult Virginia finally meeting Santa Claus.  Two years later she passed away in a New York nursing home.  

Note:  For more information, read the picture book Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus by Francis Church.

Editor Francis Church courtesy upload.wikimedia.org.