Did you know?: 20 Christmas Facts

20 Interesting Christmas Facts 

1. In 1836, Alabama became the first state in the USA to declare Christmas a legal holiday. In 1907, Oklahoma became the last USA state to declare Christmas a legal holiday.

2. Candy canes began as straight white sticks of sugar candy used to decorate the Christmas trees. A choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral decided to have the ends bent to depict a shepherd's crook and he would pass them out to the children to keep them quiet during the services. It wasn't until about the 20th century that candy canes acquired their red stripes.

3. Some priests in Australia advise you to say "Happy Christmas", not "Merry Christmas", because Merry has connotations of getting drunk - which brings its own problems. One should say "Happy" instead.

4. The actual gift givers are different in various countries:

England: Father Christmas 

France: Pere Noel (Father Christmas)

Germany: Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus), she is a beautiful fair-haired girl with a shining crown of candles.

Holland: St Nicholas.

Russia: In some parts - Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure), other parts it is Grandfather Frost.

Scandinavia: A variety of Christmas gnomes. One is called Julenisse.

Spain and South America: The Three Kings

Italy: La Befana (a kindly old witch)

5. 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.

6. In America, the weeks leading up to Christmas are the biggest shopping weeks of the year. Many retailers make up to 70% of their annual revenue in the month preceding Christmas.

7. Although many believe that the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, it is not. It is the fifth to tenth busiest day. The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year.

8. An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. A spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.

9. Early Christmas trees were decorated with fruits, flowers and candles, which were heavy on the tree branches. In the 1800's German glass blowers began producing glass balls to replace the heavy decorations and called then bulbs.

10. Gingerbread has been a holiday tradition for thousands of years. It was originally eaten during Winter Solstice Festivals, but the tradition of the house made of Gingerbread originated in Germany.

11. The world’s biggest Christmas tree (76 m high) was put up in America in 1950.

12. In India, they decorate banana trees at Christmas time.

13. Real Christmas trees are an all-American product, grown in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

14. Most artificial trees are manufactured in Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong.

15. More diamonds are purchased at Christmas-time (31 percent) than during any other holiday or occasion during the year.

16. It is estimated that 400,000 people become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers.

17. During the Christmas buying season, Visa cards alone are used an average of 5,340 times every minute in the United States.

18. An average household in America will mail out 28 Christmas cards each year and receive 28 cards in return.

19. A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.

20. In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small figurine of a goat. It is usually made of straw. Scandinavian Christmas festivities feature a variety of straw decorations in the form of stars, angels, hearts and other shapes, as well as the Julbukk. 

Source: Coolest Holiday Party

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