Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Bizarre Christmas customs
A bucket of the colonel’s Kentucky Fried does it in Japan, writes KOWTHAR SOLOMONS
It could well be argued that the people of Catalonia may have taken things a bit too far with the pooping log.
A hollowed out log is filled with sweets and nuts, and decorated with a face. On Christmas morning, the log is thrown into a fire or beaten with sticks – until it “poops” out its gifts. Although the tradition has evolved somewhat, losing the fire so that more elaborate gifts can be placed inside, it is still regarded as one of the most bizarre Christmas traditions in the world.
Our friends from Catalonia have also given us the Caganer. As part of the nativity, this unfortunate character was caught in the toilet when baby Jesus was born, and immortalised as a children’s figurine with his pants down.
India is not the best place to find the traditional Christmas tree, so they use mango and banana trees instead.
About 2.3 percent of India’s population are Christians – which equates to about 25 million people – who decorate the streets and also their homes with banana and mango trees and leaves.
Santa Claus is known as Christmas Baba in Hindi, Baba Christmas in Urdu, Christmas Thaathaa’ (Christmas old man) in Tamil, Christmas Thatha (Christmas old man) in Telugu, Natal Bua (Christmas old man) in Marathi, and in the Kerla Were state he is known as “Christmas Papa”.
Germans use a glass-blown green pickle as the last decoration on their Christmas trees, and these pickles are often passed down from generation to generation.
The pickle is placed somewhere on the tree, and the first child to find it will get a special gift and good luck for the rest of the year. The tradition of glass ornaments carried over to the US, when FW Woolworth began importing them in the 1880s.