Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the lights, I love the way people become friendlier and more helpful. I love giving gifts. It is a great time of year. When I was younger (in my twenties) I backpacked around Europe and the Middle East. I was lucky and got to spend Christmas in Bethlehem. I was traveling with a pretty blonde lady at the time. Because she was pretty and blonde she was invited to mass at the Church of the Nativity on Christmas Eve by some priests. If I would have been by myself I would not have been invited in. It was quite the experience to sing Christmas carols in the real manger. It was like a scene out of the movies to see all the priests and brothers in hooded robes moving in rythum and singing & chanting in Latin. It will be something I will remember the rest of my life. May you and your family have a safe, wonderful Christmas. Russ Ravary
Christmas Trivia The prophet and religious activist (in his time) thought to have been born between 6 BC and 30 AD, by the name of Jesus Christ from the Greek christos, "the anointed one". He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. He started out as a carpenter, but became a missionary following his baptism by a cousin, John. After proclaiming himself the Messiah, Jesus was betrayed by a disciple and crucified. The first Christmas was celebrated on December 25, AD 336 in Rome. Franklin Pierce was the first president to decorate an official White House Christmas tree
The first decorated Christmas was in Riga, Latvia in 1510.
The first American Christmas carol was written in 1649 by a minister named John de Brebeur and is called "Jesus is Born".
The biggest selling Christmas single of all time is Bing Crosby's White Christmas.
Mexicans call the poinsettia "Flower of the Holy Night" - the Holy Night is the Mexican way of saying "Christmas Eve".
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 for the donkey that carried the gifts. In exchange he would leave them a small gift such as small cakes, fruits and other gifts. Stockings were substituted for the shoes in Britain, most of Europe and in North America.
According to legend: Tinsel on the Christmas Tree is attributed to a woman whose husband died. She was left to bring up a large family of children herself. She was left to do everything working so hard and she was determined to make a happy time for them at Christmas. She prepared a Christmas Tree to surprise them on Christmas Day. Unfortunately spiders visited the tree, and crawled from branch to branch, making webs all over it. The Christ Child saw the tree and knew she would be devastated to find this on Christmas morning. He changed the spiders' webs to shining silver. Between 1887-1933 a fishing schooner called the "Christmas Ship" would tie up at the Clark Street bridge and sell spruce trees from Michigan to Chicagoans The custom of the Christmas tree was introduced in the United States during the War of Independence by Hessian troops. An early account tells of a Christmas tree set up by American soldiers at Fort Dearborn, Illinois, the site of Chicago, in 1804. Most other early accounts in the United States were among the German settlers in eastern Pennsylvania.
Helicopters sometimes help to lift harvested Christmas trees from farms The Christmas tree was first decorated with lights in the 16th century. It is believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, was the first to add lighted candles to the tree. He was so taken with the Christmas night sky that he wished to bring "the lights of the stars" into the home of his family. From this, decorating the tree with ornaments, messages and notes, and small gifts emerged in later centuries leading to our customs today. Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday, and the tradition began in 1836. It can take as many as 15 years to grow a tree of average retail sale height (6 - 7 feet) or as little as 4 years, but the average growing time is 7 years. 100,000 people are employed in the Christmas tree industry. An estimated 175,000 Real Christmas Trees are sold via e-commerce or catalogue and shipped mail-order. Artificial trees will last for six years in your home, but for centuries in a landfill. A wreath with holly, red berries and other decorations began from at least the 17th century. Holly, with its sharply pointed leaves, symbolised the thorns in Christ's crown-of-thorns. Red berries symbolised the drops of Christ's blood. A wreath at Christmas signified a home that celebrated to birth of Christ. The Celts believed that the sun stood still for 12 days during the winter solstice. Our twelve days of Christmas may have started with this belief. In order for the power of light to conquer the darkness, the Druids would bless a log, the yule log, and keep it burning for 12 days. If the log went out, great misfortune might be brought about. Keeping a small piece to light the yule log next winter would ensure that good luck was carried on from year to year.
Originally, decorations were home-made paper flowers, or apples, biscuits, and sweets. The earliest decorations to be bought came from Nuremburg in Germany, a city famous for the manufacture of toys. Lauscha in Germany is famous for its glass ornaments. In 1880, America discovered Lauscha and F.W. Woolworth went there and bought a few glass Christmas tree ornaments. Within a day he had sold out so next year he bought more and within a week they, too, had sold. The year after that be bought 200,000 Lauscha ornaments. During the First World War supplies of ornaments from Lauscha ceased, so American manufacturers began to make their own ornaments, developing new techniques that allowed them to turn out as many ornaments in a minute as could be made in a whole day at Lauscha.
Mexicans call the poinsettia "Flower of the Holy Night" - the Holy Night is the Mexican way of saying "Christmas Eve". Eighty-five percent (85%) of artificial trees sold in the U.S. are manufactured in China. "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" is our earliest carol, from the twelfth century. It was not until the nineteenth century that many of the older carols were rediscovered and set to music. Our more modern Christmas tree seems to have started in Germany. In the sixteenth century, city merchants carried a fir tree decorated with paper flowers through the streets on Christmas Eve. A great feast was held in the market square followed by dancing around the tree, and finally the tree was ceremonially burned. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, "Christbaumen" appeared in different forms - sometimes only the tops of fir branches were used, often hung upside down over doorways. Some people took fir branches, fixed them to wooden pyramids and decorated them with paper roses, nuts and apples. The earliest record of a Christmas tree in England dates from 1800 with a tree belonging to Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. The member of the royal family who really made the Christmas tree popular in England was the Prince Consort, Albert of Saxe-Coburn, the German husband of Queen Victoria. In 1848 The Illustrated London News printed a full page illustration of their tree and the fashion quickly spread
The earliest mention of a Christmas tree in America is from a diary dated 20 December 1820 of Matthew Zahn, from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Many of those who settled in Pennsylvania in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were Protestants from Germany. A goose was customary Christmas fare until Henry VIII took it upon himself to tuck into a turkey. Mince pies were once shaped like mangers and are thought to date back to the sweetmeats formerly presented to the Vatican on Christmas Eve. Real Christmas trees are involved in less than one-tenth of one percent of residential fires and only when ignited by some external ignition sources 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 are also 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 boy kissed a girl, he plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it to her. When the berries were gone, so were the kisses. The largest functional Christmas cracker was 45.72 metres long and 3.04 metres in diameter. It was made by Australian international rugby player Ray Price in Markson Sparks of New South Wales, Australia and was pulled in the car park of the Westfield Shopping Town in Chatswood, Sydney, Australia on 9 November 1991. Roast turkey did not appear consistently on royal Christmas Day menus until 1851 when it replaced roast swan. The medieval dish of Boar's head remained popular with Royals for much longer. On Christmas morning since medieval times, church bells have been rung to announce to the world the coming of the saviour. It was customary from the 18th century to wear clothes and carry a small bell to signify the birth of Christ. The ringing of the bells was to signify the importance of the His Birth.
Santa's Reindeers are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner,Blitzen, and of course Rudolph. The actual gift givers are different in various countries:
Scandinavia: a variety of Christmas gnomes. One is called Julenisse Holland: St Nicholas. Spain and South America: The Three Kings Italy: La Befana (a kindly old witch) England: Father Christmas Russia: In some parts - Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure) Other parts it is Grandfather Frost. France: Pere Noel (Father Christmas) Germany: Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus) She is a beautiful fair haired girl with a shining crown of candles.
In 1647, the English parliament passed a law made Christmas illegal. The Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral, banned the Christmas festivities. The ban was lifted only when Cromwell lost power in 1660. St. Nicholas was bishop of the Turkish town of Myra in the early 4th century. The Dutch first made him into a Christmas gift-giver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his name eventually became the familiar Santa Claus. 6 December is St Nicholas's Day - the first of the gift giving days, especially in Holland and Belgium. Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones since 1991. Chances of a white Christmas in New York: 1 in 4 California, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina are the top Christmas tree producing states. In Switzerland during the Reformation, al instrumental and choral music was banned from churches. In Germany, disapproval of carols resulted in some being converted into hymns. In 1907, Oklahoma became the last USA state to declare Christmas a legal holiday. Visitors to Bethlehem rarely exceed a few thousand at Christmas. In 1995, there were rowdy celebrations of the first Christmas in a Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem. The Christmas Eve service televised on 25 December is celebrated not in the Church of the Nativity, which stands over the place where Jesus was said to have been born, but in the nearby Franciscan Church of St. Catherine.
The sacred spot where Christ is said to have been born is inside a Church in Bethlehem. The first church the Dutch built in New York City was named in St Nicholas' honour -St Nicholas Church. Louis Prang, a Bavarian-born lithographer who came to the USA from Germany in the 19th century, popularized the sending of printed Christmas cards. He invented a way of reproducing color oil paintings, the "chromolithograph technique", and created a card with the message "Merry Christmas" as a way of showing it off. Christmas Eve in Japan is a good day to eat fried chicken and strawberry shortcake Christmas trees take an average of 7-10 years to mature. In 1937, the first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria.
Saint Boniface is said to have substituted a fir tree for the pagan oak in the eighth century as a symbol of faith. Martin Luther fostered the Christmas tree cult by using a candlelit tree as a symbol of Christ's heavenly home, while trees decorated with candles, fruit and paper flowers were introduced into Britain soon after Queen Victoria's marriage. Electric Christmas lights were first used in 1854. The first commercial Christmas card, produced in 1846, featured a drawing of family members happily toasting each other with glasses of wine - a shockingly decadent portrait that was immediately condemned by temperance advocates. In New South Wales, Australia, the average daily mailbag of six to seven million items of mail can triple over Christmas. The heaviest day ever was on 23 December 1997, when a record 23 million items were delivered in this state in Australia. 98 percent of all Christmas trees are grown on farms. Most fake (artificial) trees (85%) in the U.S. are imported from China. Almost 10 Million fake trees were sold worldwide in 2003. An acre of Christmas trees provides for the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people. More than 2,000 trees are usually planted per acre. On an average 1,000-1,500 of these trees will survive. In the North, maybe, 750 trees will remain. Almost all trees require shearing to attain the Christmas tree shape.
In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of fried fish, lettuce and spinach. The "Urn of Fate" is part of the Christmas celebrations in many Italian households. The Urn of Fate is brought out on Christmas Eve. It holds a wrapped present for everyone. The mother tries her luck first, then the others in turn. If you get a present with your name on it, you keep it; otherwise, you put it back and try again. For every real Christmas tree harvested, 2 to 3 seedlings are planted in its place.
In 1939, Robert May, who worked in the advertising department of the Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago, wrote a poem about one of Santa's deer with a bright red nose. He suggested the name Rollo for the deer, but it was rejected. He next thought of Reginald, but that, too, was turned down. Finally he came up with Rudolph. That year every child who visited the store's Santa received a booklet of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." More than 2.4 million copies were given away free. Then in 1949 Johnny Marks, a friend of Robert May, set the poem to music. Gene Autry agreed to sing it, and the record zoomed to the top of the hit parade. At midnight on Christmas Eve 1914 firing from the German trenches suddenly stopped. A German brass band began playing Christmas carols. Early, Christmas morning, the German soldiers came out of their trenches, approaching the allied lines, calling "Merry Christmas". At first the allied soldiers thought it was a trick, but they soon climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the German soldiers. The truce lasted a few days, and the men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings, sang carols and songs. They even played a game of Soccer. In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi sometimes play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. In order to get rid of them, salt or an old shoe is burnt. The pungent burning stench drives off, or at least helps discourage, the Kallikantzaroi. Other techniques include hanging a pig´s jawbone by the door and keeping a large fire so they can´t sneak down the chimney. Epiphany, 6th January, is the traditional end of the Christmas holiday and is the date on which we take down the tree and decorations. To do so earlier is thought to bring bad luck for the rest of the year. From the middle ages until the mid-nineteenth century, Twelfth Night was more popular than Christmas day, and even today some countries celebrate Epiphany as the most important day of the Christmas season
Real Christmas trees are an all-American product, grown in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. In 2002, 21% of United States households had a real tree, 48% had an artificial tree and 32% had no tree. The word carol is derived from the old French word caroller which derives from the Latin choraula. This itself was derived from the Greek choraules. The best selling trees are Scotch pine, Douglas fir, Noble fir, Fraser fir, Virginia pine, Balsam fir and white pine. Sixteenth century folklore credited Martin Luther as being the first to decorate an indoor tree. After a walk through a forest of evergreens with shining stars overhead, Luther tried to describe the experience to his amily and showed them by bringing a tree into their home and decorating it with candles. Some historians state that the first evidence of a lighted tree appeared more than a century after Martin Luther's death in 1546. 82% of Christmas trees purchased were pre-cut and 18% were cut your own.
Three years after Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb in 1879, Edward H. Johnson, who worked for Edison's company, had Christmas tree bulbs especially made for him. He proudly displayed his electric tree lights at his home on Fifth Avenue, New York City. They caused a sensation although some years were to pass before mass-manufactured Christmas tree lights were widely available. In 1843, the first Christmas card was printed in England for Sir Henry Cole. He was busy man who wanted to save time in his own Christmas letters, but was also interested in encouraging the expansion of the postal system. 1000 copies of the card were sold at one shilling each. It was not until the 1860s that the production of cards accelerated, with cheaper printing methods. Then in 1870, the Post Office introduced a half penny stamp for sending cards. President Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn in 1923. In many households, part of the fun of eating Christmas pudding is finding a trinket that predicts your fortune for the coming year. For instance, finding a coin means you will become wealthy. A ring means you will get married; while a button predicts bachelorhood. The idea of hiding something in the pudding comes from the tradition in the Middle Ages of hiding a bean in a cake that was served on Twelfth Night. Whoever found the bean became "king" for the rest of the night. 28 million Christmas trees were sold in 2001 Due to the time zones, Santa has 31 hours to deliver gifts? This means that he would have to visit 832 homes each second!
If you're wondering why men may have not flocked to kiss you under the mistletoe, the answer may be that it was said that it will only work if the person you are kissing is a virgin. On the sixth day of the new moon, a Druid priest used to cut mistletoe from an oak tree with a sacred sickle. A passing virgin was called upon to catch the falling plant, which was not allowed to touch the ground. In Austria & Germany during the seventeenth and eighteenth enturies, the tops of evergreens were cut and hung upside down in a living room corner. They were decorated with apples, nuts and strips of red paper. In 1900, large stores started to erect big illuminated Christmas trees A Christmas tree decoration was banned by the government. Tinsel contained lead at one time, now it´s made of plastic.
In 1963, the National Christmas Tree was not lighted until December 22nd because of a national 30-day period of mourning following the assassination of President Kennedy. Other types of trees such as cherry and hawthorns were used as Christmas trees in the past. The use of a Christmas wreath as a decoration on your front door, mantel or bay window symbolizes a sign of welcome and long life to all who enter. Most artificial trees are manufactured in Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong. The top six Christmas tree producing states Oregon, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Washington & Wisconsin 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.
Births on 25 December:
W C Field (1946) Alice Cooper (1945) Princess Alexandra (1936) Paul Borget (1935) Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889) (1642)Sir Isaac Newton - An English mathematician and physicist. Famous for his discoveries in gravitation, planetary motion, optics and the development of calculus. (1899)Humphrey Bogart - An American film actor who often played tough crooks or detectives. Best known films include The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942) and The African Queen (1952). Deaths on 25 December:
Conrad Hilton (1979) Humphrey Bogart (1957) Dorothy Wordsworth (1855) Sir Isaac Newton (1727)
In America in 1822, the postmaster of Washington, DC, complained that he had to add 16 mailmen at Christmas to deal with cards alone. He wanted the number of cards a person could send limited by law. "I don't know what we'll do if this keeps on," he wrote The Canadian province of Nova Scotia leads the world in exporting lobster, wild blueberries, and Christmas trees. Today poinsettias are the most popular Christmas plant and are the number one flowering potted plant in the United States. In the Middle Ages, Boar's head used to be a traditional Christmas dish. This custom started when a bear attacked a university student and he saved himself by ramming a book of Aristotle's writings down its throat. The bear choked to death and then he cut off its head and brought it back to his college. Every year since 1947 the people in Oslo have given a Christmas tree to the city of Westminster. The gift is an expression of goodwill and gratitude for Britain's help to Norway in the 1939-1945 war. Since 1971, the Province of Nova Scotia has presented the Boston Christmas Tree tree to the people of Boston in gratitude for the relief supplies received from the citizens of Boston after a ship exploded in 1917 following a collision in the Halifax, Nova Scotia Harbor. Part of the city was leveled killing and injuring thousands
Oregon is the leading producer of Christmas trees - 8.6 million in 1998 and in 2001, 8.3 million trees were harvested in Oregon. Tom Smith who owned a sweet shop in London was the originator of the Christmas cracker. In the 1840s Tom found that people like sugar almonds, but while he was in France he discovered a variety of sweets wrapped up in a twist of paper. These bonbons were popular, so Tom decided to copy them. When Tom noticed that young men were buying them to give to their sweethearts he began to place "love mottoes" on small slips of paper inside the sweet wrapping. In 1846 Tom's thoughts turned towards Christmas - instead of sweets he thought he would place toys and novelties inside the twisted wrapping. He experimented with this and the idea of producing a wrapping that could be pulled apart - just like the cracker as we know it today. In North America, there are more than 15,000 Christmas tree growers In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or 22 and is called winter solstice. The idea of decorating an evergreen tree as part of winter solstice celebrations is an old one that comes from many lands and cultures. Plants that remained green in the winter reminded primitive peoples that spring was bound to return and that once again the land would be lush and abundant.
Facts about The Rockefeller tree
America has celebrated Christmas around New York City's Rockefeller Center Tree since 1931, when Rockefeller Center was still a muddy construction site. It was a Christmas darkened by the Great Depression, and workmen proudly placed their tree in the dirt that meant jobs. That first tree celebrated the indomitable human spirit as much as Christmas, and the workmen received their precious Christmas Eve paychecks around its sprightly green branches. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree tradition had more formal beginnings in 1933, when a tree was adorned with 700 lights and placed in front of the 8-month-old RCA Building. Typically a Norway Spruce. Once at the Rockefeller Center, the tree is supported by four guide wires attached at its midpoint, and by a steel spike at its base. Scaffolding is put up around the tree to assist workers in putting up 30,000 lights attached to 5 miles of wiring. The star that has topped the tree since 2004 is 9.5 feet in diameter and weighs 550 pounds.
Desired dimensions are a minimum of 65 feet tall and 35 feet wide. They are dense and have "character." Trees 75 to 90 feet tall are preferred.
After months of careful preparation and weeks of trussing the tree for travel, the actual cutting takes less than two minutes. Most people watching have to look carefully to see when it actually happens because the tree is suspended from the tip of a giant crane that bears the tree's full weight when the cut is complete.
Once the tree is cut and moved carefully off its stump, the head gardener for Rockefeller Center counts the rings to get a more accurate measure of its age.
The tree travels on a custom-made, telescoping trailer, which can stretch to 100 feet and can accommodate a tree up to 125 feet tall. It takes 15-20 people and a 280-ton, all-terrain hydraulic crane to handle the tree. The same crane is used to erect and remove the tree from its place of honor at Rockefeller Center.
The tree is usually older than 50 years. The tree is transported from its home to New York City and then travels in the middle of the night with a police escort on a carefully planned route so traffic is disrupted as little as possible. After Christmas, the tree is recycled for a variety of uses, including mulch, while the largest part of the tree is used for jumping by the United States Equestrian Team.
In 1939 the tree was untrimmed except for a lighted star on its top and was illuminated by floodlights each evening after dusk. That year marked the Christmas caroling debut of the Rockefeller Center Choristers, composed of men and women who worked at the center.
World War II brought several changes to Christmas celebrations at the center. The 1941 tree lighting ceremony called for hundreds of lights on the giant tree as well as candles placed in every window of the 70 story RCA Building. Because of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the candles were never lighted because they couldn't be extinguished quickly enough in the event of a blackout. The tree's lights were controlled by a single switch, so it was allowed to remain illuminated each night. In accordance with wartime restrictions on electricity, none of the subsequent trees were lighted until 1945, when lights on the tree were once again illuminated.
In 1945, the tree was decorated and lighted in a fashion never before employed on an outdoor tree. More than 700 fluorescent globes were illuminated with "black" light (ultraviolet rays). The effect was so spectacular it was repeated by popular demand the following year. In 1949, the tree was sprayed with a silvery paint. By day, carnival-colored globes provided a festive effect; at night, more than 7,500 sparkling multicolored bulbs gave the tree its shimmering glow.
In 1950, garlands of red and white plastic globes provided an effect of strung cranberries and popcorn.
In 1952, the tree was decorated with translucent globes illuminated from within, sparkling firefly lights and more than 3,000 feet of golden garland made of aluminum foil.
In 1953, 6,000 shimmering aluminum icicles, each 18-inches long, spangled the tree along with thousands of sparkling firefly lights and batteries of giant red floodlights.
In 1965, red, green, gold and blue illuminated Christmas bells molded from plastic were complemented by 4,000 clear lights.
In 1973, thousands of multicolored reflective discs illuminated by a reduced number of miniature bulbs were used in keeping with energy conservation efforts that were underway nationwide. Today, more than 25,000 multicolored 7.5 watt bulbs are strung on more than five miles of electrical wire to decorate the tree. Each branch is individually wrapped to achieve the full lighting effect, and there are no other ornaments on the tree except for the star on top.
Towns named on Christmas or related traditions in United States are Santa Claus in Arizona & Indiana, Noel in Missouri and Christmas in Arizona & Florida. The oldest record of a decorated Christmas tree came from a 1605 diary found in Strasburg, France (Germany in 1605). The tree was decorated with paper roses, apples and candies. The first record of Christmas trees in America was for children in the German Moravian Church's settlement in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Christmas 1747. Actual trees were not decorated, but wooden pyramids covered with evergreen branches were decorated with candles. Other places whose names are associated with the holiday season include North Pole, Alaska (population 1,645 in 2003); Santa Claus, Ind. (2,164); Santa Claus, Ga. (238); Noel, Mo. (1,452); and - if you know about reindeer - the village of Rudolph, Wis. (415). In 1979, the National Christmas Tree was not lighted except for the top ornament? This was done in honor of the American hostages in Iran. Michigan ranks fourth (4 million trees in 1998) among all states in the production of real Christmas trees, but grows a larger variety (13) of Christmas trees than any other state. I have had friends in Arizona that have told me that they have seen trees Marked "from Michigan"
Christmas tree lights were first mass produced in 1890 $521 million The amount of money the nation´s Christmas tree farmers received from tree sales in 2003. $312 million The value of U.S. imports of Christmas tree ornaments from China between January and July 2004. China was the leading country of origin for such items. Similarly, China was the leading foreign source of artificial Christmas trees shipped to the United States ($40 million worth) during the same period. $30.6 billion The dollar amount of retail sales by the U.S. toy industry in 2002. Of this, $10.3 billion came from sales of video games. It is believed a hefty percentage of these sales were holiday gifts. $31.1 billion Retail sales by the nation´s department stores (including leased departments) in December 2003. This represented a 48 percent jump from the previous month (when retail sales, many Christmas-related, registered $21.0 billion). No other month-to-month increase in department store sales last year was as large. Other U.S. retailers with sizable jumps in sales between November and December 2003 were clothing stores (45 percent); jewelry stores (169 percent); book stores (95 percent); sporting goods stores (66 percent); and radio, TV and other electronics stores (59 percent). $14.4 billion The value of electronic shopping and mail-order sales in December 2003, easily the greatest amount for any month that year. More than 330,000 real Christmas trees are sold via e-commerce or catalogs.
Teddy Roosevelt banned the Christmas tree from the White House for environmental reasons. As Christmas trees became popular in the US, some individuals began a campaign opposing the use of evergreens for this purpose, declaring that if the cutting of Christmas trees continued, our forests would soon be depleted. President Theodore Roosevelt - known for his campaign for the conservation of natural resources - banned the use of such trees for White House festivities. Shortly afterward he discovered that two of his sons had smuggled a tree into the mansion and set it up in their room. The boys appealed to their father's good friend, Gifford Pinchot, "America's first professional forester." Pinchot convinced the president that if young evergreens were properly cut, it was helpful rather than harmful..
An old wives' tale says that bread baked on Christmas Eve will never go mouldy.
The first Christmas stamp was released in Canada in 1898
Since 1966, the National Christmas Tree Association has given a Christmas tree to the President and first family.
Every year since 1947, the people of Oslo, Norway have given a Christmas tree to the city of Westminster, England. The gift is an expression of good will and gratitude for Britain's help to Norway during World War II.
In 1984, the National Christmas was lit on December 13th with temperatures in the 70's, making it one of the warmest tree lightings in history.
It´s considered bad luck to take down holiday decorations before "Little Women's Christmas" (sometimes simply called "Little Christmas") on January 8th.
Christmas Jokes A creative youngster drew a nativity scene in Sunday school. In addition to the normal contingent of characters, there were three very tiny men wearing crowns. He explained that they were . . . wee three kings from the Orient. More Christmas jokes, kid's Christmas jokes, Christmas jokes
Australia: Christmas is in midsummer and lunch is often a barbecue of prawns, steak and chicken with ice cream or sorbet for desert, maybe cooked at the beach.
Czech Republic: Traditionally the meal is eaten on Christmas Eve and consists of fish soup, salads, eggs and carp. The number of people at the table must be even or the one without a partner is supposed to be dead by next Christmas. Tricky if you dine alone!
Finland: Traditional Christmas dinner will be a casserole of macaroni, rutabaga, carrot and potato, with ham or turkey. A mixed platter of meat and fish is also popular. After the meal it is traditional to have a sauna and then to visit the graves of relatives.
Germany: Roast Goose is the favoured Christmas meal, accompanied by potatos, cabbage, carrots, parsnip and pickles. The meal is usually eaten on Christmas Eve. Rural southern Germany feast on game like wild boar and venison.
Greenland: The Christmas feast may include Little Auks, (these are seabirds that are a bit like Penguins), wrapped in sealskin and buried for months until decomposed. Yum Yum!
Italy: Christmas lunch can run to seven course including antipasto, a small portion of pasta, roast meat, two salads, two sweet puddings followed by cheese, fruit, brandy and chocolates. Phew!
Jamaica: The traditional Christmas dinner is rice, gungo peas, chicken, ox tail and curried goat.
Latvia: Christmas Dinner is cooked brown peas with bacon sauce, small pies, cabbage and sausage.
Norway: The Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve and for coastal regions is traditionally cod, haddock and lutefisk. Inland pork chops, Christmas meatloaf and special sausages are eaten. Farmers leave a bowl of nisse (gruel) in barns on Christmas Eve for the magic Gnome who protects their farms.
Portugal: A special Christmas meal is salted dry cod-fish with boiled potatoes eaten at midnight on Christmas Eve.
Russia: Christmas food includes cakes, pies and meat dumplings. The mythical Babouschka is enjoying a resurgence following the ban under Communism. She brings gifts to Russian children rather than Santa Claus.
South Africa: Christmas is during the hot summer season but the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings is eaten at Christmas.
Sweden: A Smorgasbord Christmas meal eaten on Christmas Eve includes varieties of shellfish, pork, cooked and raw herring fish, caviar, cheeses and brown beans.
Ukraine: Huge meat broths are eaten on Christmas Eve after which children await "Father Frost" to bring presents.
United Kingdom: Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies are top grub. The largest Christmas Pudding weighed 7,231 pounds (3.28 tonnes) and was made at Aughton, Lancashire on 11 July 1992. The largest Mince Pie weighed 2,260 pounds (1.02 tonnes) and measured 6.1m X 1.5m. It was baked in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire on 15 October 1932. Sadly the Pie was destroyed in a German air raid when the pilot of a Stuka dive-bomber mistook it for a train. (Actually, that last bit is untrue - but it could have happened...)
USA: Christmas lunch is often in small town and rural America goose, turkey, a variety of vegetables, squash, and pumpkin pie are traditionally eaten . The USA has such a range of immigrant cultures that just about every type of food is eaten someplace at Christmas
Who is Santa? In America, the familiar image of Santa Claus was made by three men: Dr. Clement Moore, Thomas Nast and Haddon Sundblom. On 23 December 1822, Dr. Clement Moore, a university professor, wrote a poem for his children. He called it "A Visit from St. Nicholas." The poem was never meant for publication, for he feared he would be ridiculed for writing children's verse. A friend, however, sent a copy to a newspaper and very soon the poem became famous across the United States. The cartoonist, Thomas Nast, began to illustrate the poem for Harper's Weekly magazine in 1863. At first, he drew him as a mischievous little elf, but gradually he became taller and fatter and his beard grew bushier. Santa Claus as we know him today, with white beard, red tunic, hat and trousers trimmed with white fur, was created by an American commercial artist, Haddon Sundblom for a 1931 Coca-Cola advertisement.
Actually of Santa Claus incorporates many traditions: Christian and Pagan, Old Catholic, Scandinavian, Dutch, German and English. Santa brings us all together! Kids all over the world know who Santa is... And although he may be a little commercial, who can help, but love the jolly old elf? It's the Idea of giving that reminds us; we are all on this planet together, for the long run. So lets be kind to one another.
St. Nicholas
Countless legends exist about this Patron Saint of Giving known as St. Nicholas. According to these legends, St. Nicholas was born in the city of Patara, and traveled to Palestine and Egypt when he was young. He was later imprisoned during persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian, but was fortunately released by the more humanitarian Emperor Constantine. He attended the first council of Nicaea in 325.
St Nicholas reportedly died about 350 AD. Today, this mythical character is still alive and well and is known all over the world as: Nicholas of Myra, Santa Claus or "Santa" in America. His fame spread rapidly during the Middle Ages and thousands of churches are dedicated to him. He has been the patron saint of Russia, Moscow, Greece, children, sailors, prisoners, bakers, pawnbrokers, shopkeepers and wolves.
His gift-giving role in Christmas rites probably follows from his fame as the friend of children. The story also tells that he used to give anonymous donations of gold coins to persons in need. His cult spread in Europe and Christmas presents were distributed on December 6th when the celebration of St. Nicholas took place. In many countries this day is still the day of Christmas gift-giving, although there is a mounting pressure everywhere to conform to the custom of 24th/25th December. The relics of St.Nicholas are in the basilica of St. Nicola, in Bari, Italy (they were stolen from Myra in 1087 AD). For this reason he is sometimes known as St. Nicholas of Bari.
Grandfather Frost
The Russian Grandfather Frost has strong Pagan relations. He is always accompanied by his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow girl), a merry girl who helps Grandfather Frost provide a New Year party for children as well as bringing them gifts. He wears a long fur coat covered by bright beautiful cloth (blue or red) trimmed in fur. According to new tradition, Grandfather Frost and Snegurochka live in the town Veliky Ustug from which they begin their New Year journey by troika of white horses. Today Grandfather Frost is connected to New Year celebrations, but before 1917 he was much more related to Christmas. Grandfather Frost and Snegurochka visit children asking them to sing or read a poem, sometimes asking if they were good, and of course giving presents.
Santa in the Spanish world Customs of the Christmas Season in Spanish speaking countries have many similarities, and many variations. All of Latin America and Spain are predominantly Catholic. For many of these countries Baby Jesus, el Ni??esus, brings gifts for children.
In Costa Rica, Colombia, and parts of Mexico, the gift bearer is el Ni??esus, "the infant Jesus." In Puerto Rico, children receive gifts from the Three Kings on January 6th, also called the celebration of Epiphany, the 3 Kings' Day. Each child puts grass under their bed for the camels. In the morning the grass is replaced with gifts. Also, Puerto Rico, being part of the United States, does its major gift giving on December 25, with the Christmas Tree and Santa Claus - in this sense, Puerto Rico is totally Americanized.
In Spain children leave their shoes under the Christmas tree the night of January 5th and presents from the Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos: Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar) appear the next morning. Santa Claus is called Papa Noel and some children receive presents both days on December 24th (from Papa Noel) and on January 6th (from the Three Kings).
Epiphany remains a part of the holiday season in Puerto Rico and is a day off from school. Giving gifts then is more for traditional values than the actual gift-giving celebration. However, the celebration of Epiphany is not just in Puerto Rico. Some nations say it is the 3 Kings who bring the toys, while others credit Baby Jesus, since it was He who received and wants to share.
In China, he is called Shengdan Laoren.
In England, his name is Father Christmas , where he has a longer coat and a longer beard.
In France, he's known as Pere Noel.
In Germany, children get presents from Christindl, the Christ Child.
In Brazil and Peru, he's called Papa Noel.
In Italy Babbo Natale, which means Father Christmas, is Santa. Children put a pair of their shoes by the door on the day before Epiphany and the following morning they find them filled with small gifts and candy. Italy, like Spain, Portugal and most of the Latin American nations ( or countries speaking Romance languages ), is mostly Catholic. December 25 is a day of more religious observance, remembering the birth of Christ. The Epiphany, called Little Christmas, is the day for gift giving. However, Babbo Natale does come on Christmas Eve in some parts of Italy.
In Spain children leave their shoes under the Christmas tree the night of January 5th and presents from the Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos: Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar) appear the next morning. Santa Claus is called Papa Noel and some children receive presents both days on December 24th (from Papa Noel) and on January 6th (from the Three Kings).
In Morocco he is known as Black Peter
In Japan, Santa Clause is called Santa Clause or just "Santa". Children often call him "Santa no ojisan," which means "Uncle Santa." (This information comes to you via the courtesy of Mr. Kazuo Miyasako of Dokkyo University. Many thanks go to the readers of Lone Star Internet)
In Sweden Jultomten visits the evening before Christmas day, pulling a big bag of julklappar (Christmas presents) in the deep snow.
P?orsk ( in Norwegian ) "Julenissen" arrives on the evening of the 24th.
In the Netherlands, he is called Kerstman.
In Finland, he is called Joulupukki.
Sinter Klaas in Dutch. He rides a white horse, leaving gifts in wooden shoes
He is also called Kris Kringle - which comes from the German term "the Christ Child" (Christ Kind).
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