Our recent E-mails from readers included the following facts about Christmas:
The common abbreviation “Xmas” for Christmas is derived from the Greek alphabet. X is the letter Chi, which is the first letter of Christ’s name in the Greek alphabet.
The Puritans in America tried to make Thanksgiving Day the most important annual festival instead of Christmas.
St. Francis of Assisi introduced Christmas Carols to formal church services.
December 26 traditionally was known as St. Stephen’s Day but is commonly known as Boxing Day in parts of Europe and Australia. This expression came about because money was collected in alms-boxes placed in churches during the festive season. This money was then distributed to the poor and needy after Christmas.
The first printed reference to Christmas trees appeared in Germany in 1531.
Alabama became the first state in the USA to declare Christmas a legal holiday in 1836.
President Franklin Pierce decorated the first White House Christmas tree in 1856.
In 1907, Oklahoma became the last state to declare Christmas a legal holiday.
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The actual gift givers (like our Santa) are different in various countries:
Spain and South America: the Three Kings.
England: Father Christmas.
France: Pere Noel (Father Christmas).
Russia: In some parts—Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure). Other parts have Grandfather Frost.
Germany: Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus). She is a fair-haired girl with a shining crown of candles.
Scandinavia: a variety of Christmas gnomes. One is called Julenisse.
Holland: St. Nicholas.
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Mexicans call the poinsettia “Flower of the Holy Night”—the Holy Night is the Mexican way of saying “Christmas Eve.”
The biggest selling Christmas single recording of all time is Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.
Many Christmas customs are carryovers from pre-Christian celebrations. Hanging gifts on trees is supposed to stem from tree worship of the Druids, and the belief that the tree was the giver of all good things. The Druids also are partly responsible for the use of mistletoe at Christmastime. They regarded the mistletoe as sacred, made certain that it never touched the ground, and dedicated it to the Goddess of Love, which explains the kissing that goes on under it. Originally, when a boykissed a girl, he plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it to her. When the berries were gone, so were the kisses.
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In Christmas tree decorations, angels usually are portrayed as wimpy blondes in girl’s blouses and sandals. In the Bible, however, angels are muscular bullies who frequently goad humans into fistfights. Life is not all harps and heavenly choirs for angels; there is a strict and orderly structure. The only angels mentioned by name in the Bible are the Archangels, the eighth-ranking order of angels.
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The first Christmas card, produced in 1846, featured a drawing of family members happily toasting each other with glasses of wine.
The reindeer probably came from stories of the Norse God Woden who rode through the sky with reindeer and42 ghostly huntsmen. Clement Moore’s famous poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (Twas the Night Before Christmas) sealed the image of Santa Claus, his reindeer and the magical flying sleigh loaded with sacks of presents. Santa’s reindeer are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.
Hanging the Christmas stocking on the hearth on Christmas Eve in the hope that it will be filled with presents the next morning is a custom that goes back about 400 years. It derived from the custom in Holland of children placing wooden shoes next to the hearth the night before the arrival of St. Nicholas.
The children would fill their shoes with straw and food for St. Nicholas’s donkey that carried the gifts. In exchange, he would leave them a small gift such as cakes, fruits, and nuts.
Stockings were substituted for shoes in Britain, most of Europe and North America.
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A wreath with holly, red berries and other decorations began from at least the 17th century. Holly, with its sharply pointed leaves, symbolized the thorns in Christ’s crown-of-thorns. Red berries symbolized the drops of Christ’s blood. A wreath at Christmas signified a home that celebrated the birth of Christ.
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According to tradition, giving a lump of coal in the stockings of naughty children comes from Italy.
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Top o’ the morning!