Christmas Fun Facts

Christmas Traditions and Origins

Following on from my recent Fun Festive Facts post, here are some more Christmas Fun Facts gems for you.

Did you know?…..is very much the theme of this post. All of those many traditions that we have taken for granted for so many years. But how and where did they originate? And do they still hold true? Do you still follow them? You may well recognise some of the following Christmas fun facts below. Maybe there are some you don’t.

So, when you are sampling your first snifter on Christmas Eve, or chomping on a mince pie on Christmas Day itself, you can dazzle the company you are in with these factoids.

Christmas Fun Facts

Christmas Fun Facts-Did You Know

Where better place to start than what the word Christmas itself actually means? Where does the term “Christmas” come from and what does it mean? The word Christmas is in actual fact a contraction of the phrase – “Christ’s Mass.”

It is fairly clear that the word originates from the word Christ, because after all the whole idea of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. That may seem strange to many.

“Isn’t Christmas all about pressies and eating and drinking too much” many revellers may contend. Yes, it is a big part of modern day Christmas for so many, but actually the word is a shortened form of “Christ’s mass”, or “Cristes Maesse” as it was first recorded in 1038.

Did you know that the word “Christ” – or Crīst as it was originally known – comes from the Greek word Khrīstos, which in itself is a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah, which in turn means “anointed”.

But what about “Xmas” though? Again, we must attribute that to our Greek cousins. As previously mentioned, the word Khrīstos (the origin of the word Christ) appears as “Χριστός” when written in Greek. The abbreviation Xmas is based on the first letter – chi, which appears as X – followed by “mas”; a shortened version of Mass. There you go….Simples!!!

There is an alternative theory however. And that is the use of Xmas is based on an attempt by some to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by removing the word Christ.

Christmas Stockings

Hands up all those that think the tradition behind Christmas stockings is for the fellas to squeeze into a pair for the annual Christmas fancy dress works party? No, wrong answer. And don’t even try to conjure up an image!!

As it happens, Christmas stockings, well hanging stockings out, comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas’s donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return.

Who still leaves a stocking out on Christmas Eve? OK, how many of you yelled, “me….me…me….”

One Of Your Five A Day

All fruit is good for you as we all know. But why tangerines? The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor. Typical French, all fruit and nuts!!

Mince Pies Could Be Bad For You!!!

Not in a health sense. And not necessarily from a good fortune point of view either. Apparently, according to tradition, you should eat one mince pie on each of the 12 days of Christmas to bring good luck. I wonder what would eating two a day do to your luck?

No, mince pies are bad for you from a legal perspective.

Really?

“How come,” I can hear you all ask in dismay!!

Well it’s because it is technically illegal (although this has also been disputed in some quarters, but what the heck, it’s only a bit of Chrimbo trivia fun) to eat mince pies on Christmas Day in England. In the 17th century, good old Oliver Cromwell (Bah…Humbug!!) banned Christmas pudding, mince pies and anything to do with gluttony. This particular law as it happens has never been rescinded.

So, if you hear a knock on your door in mid, mince pie scoff mode on Christmas Day, you will be well advised to swallow the evidence as quickly as you can. Just in case it is the local bobby looking for an easy festive collar!!

Christmas Fun Facts – If You’re Not A Fan Of Turkey

Christmas in Japan is not widely recognised as a religious holiday with less than 1% of the Japanese population identifying as Christian. When KFC launched their “Kentucky for Christmas” marketing campaign in 1974, it was an instant hit in Japan and now KFC is a popular choice for Christmas dinners in Japan.

So if you’re over in Japan and not keen on Turkey, then a Colonel Sanders special might interest you.

Christmas Cards

Did you know, or as Michael Caine once said (even though Michael Caine didn’t actually say it, even though it was attributed to him), “not many people know that”, the first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by civil servant Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843. The cards featured a family drinking wine. Incredibly, one of these cards sold for £8,469 in 2014!!! Wowzer!!! I wonder what he wrote in that one for it to be worth that much?

All together now…..

“When the red, red robin goes bobbing along………?” I would imagine many a Chester FC fan would know how to finish off their version of that little ditty. Sorry guys, not the time or place!!

Did you know that robins on cards started as a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.

It’s A Cracker!!!

I’ll wager not many know this.

The Christmas Cracker was actually invented by a London sweet shop owner called Tom Smith. Back in 1847, after spotting French bonbons wrapped in paper with a twist at each end, Tom sold similar sweets with a “love motto” inside.

In addition to that, he then went even further when he included a little trinket and a “bang”. His “Bangs of Expectation” included small gifts such as jewelery and miniature dolls. By the year 1900, he was selling an impressive 13 million crackers a year. I wonder if this was when Christmas took on it’s first commercial look about it?

Anyone looking to pull a cracker this Christmas? I’ll bet there’s plenty of you that are hoping to.

Well, there’s a few Christmas Fun Facts for you to mull (no pun intended!!) over. As I say, you can impress your friends and family with these snippets next time you are texting them or Zooming them.

Maybe best to limit your knowledge to just one of these factoids. I have a feeling if you corner your family and friends and try to bombard them with all snippets at once, you may find that you will be persona non grata before you know it!!

Watch this space. More Christmas Fun Facts again soon.

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Christmas Almost Upon Us

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