Christmas curios

Here are a few seasonal facts, figure and a few details you may now know about Christmas traditions and their origins.

THE NAME ITSELF

The word Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass,” derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse (11th century). The letter “X” in Greek is the first letter of Christ, and “Xmas” has been used as an abbreviation for Christmas since the 16th century.

THE DATE

Pope Julius I, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ in AD350 – however there is no record of the exact date of the birth of Christ, even in the Bible.

Christmas has its roots in pagan festivals such as Saturnalia (December 17-December 23), the Kalends (January 1 -5,), and Deus Sol Invictus or Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun (December 25). The Christian church heartily disapproved of such celebrations and co-opted the pagans by declaring December 25 as Christ’s day of birth.

Early theologians put Jesus' birthday all over the calendar, from November 1 by an Alexandrian bishop to March 28 by the anonymous ‘De Pascha Computus’ document found in North Africa.

Its pagan origin led the early American Puritans of Massachusetts to enact a law in 1659 that made it illegal to celebrate Christmas as they didn't believe it to be the true date of their savior's birth. The law carried a punishment of five shillings.

SANTA

Although Coca-Cola’s portrait of Santa has shaped the way we describe him to children, it was not its origin.

He’s more of an ‘evolutionary figure’ whose look has been shaped by writers, artists and even historians. Images of the familiar bearded fat man in a red suit appeared in magazines, posters and ads long before Coke's illustration.

Santa Claus is supposedly based on a real person, St. Nikolas of Myra (also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker, Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna, and Nikolaos of Bari), who lived during the fourth century. Born in Patara (Turkey), he is the world’s most popular non-Biblical saint, and artists have portrayed him more often than any other saint except Mary. He is the patron saint of banking, pawnbroking, pirating, butchery, sailing, thievery, orphans, royalty, and New York City.

Early illustrations of St. Nicholas depict him as stern, commanding, and holding a birch rod. He was more a symbol of discipline and punishment than the jolly, overweight elf children know today.

MISTLETOE AND OTHER SEASONAL PLANTS

The poisonous fruit-bearing plant has long been a symbol of virility and fertility, but the Druids actually believed mistletoe worked as a physical aphrodisiac. The spirited use of the plant gathered during the winter solstice eventually led to the kissing tradition.

But the plant itself is far less romantic. Mistletoe (Viscum album) comes from the Anglo-Saxon word misteltan, which means “little dung twig” because the plant spreads though bird droppings.

Again the Druids considered mistletoe sacred because it remains green and bears fruit during the winter when all other plants appear to die.

Because of their pagan associations, both the holly (associated the masculine sex) and the ivy (feminine) and other green boughs in home decoration were banned by the sixthcentury Christian Council of Braga.

The poinsettia is native to Mexico and was cultivated by the Aztecs, who called the plant Cuetlaxochitl (“flower which wilts”). For the Aztecs, the plant’s brilliant red color symbolized purity, and they often used it medicinally to reduce fever. The poinsettia is not poisonous, but holly berries are.

THE TREE

Evergreen fir trees have been used to celebrate winter festivals (pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. Pagans used branches of it to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come.

The Romans used fir trees to decorate their temples and Christians use it as a sign of everlasting life with God.

Evergreens (from the Old English word aefie meaning “always” and gowan meaning “to grow”) have been symbols of eternal life and rebirth since ancient times. The pagan use and worship of evergreen boughs and trees has evolved into the Christianized Christmas tree.

The cities of Tallinn in Estonia and Riga in Latvia quarrel over the first documented use of a tree at Christmas and New Year celebrations. Both cities claim that they had the first trees; Tallinn in 1441 and Riga in 1510. Both trees were put up by the 'Brotherhood of Blackheads' which was an association of local unmarried merchants, ship owners, and foreigners in Livonia (what is now Estonia and Latvia).

In the town square of Riga, the capital of Latvia, there is a plaque which is engraved with ‘The first New Year's tree in Riga in 1510’, in eight languages

The first person to bring a Christmas tree into a house and decorate it was reportedly the Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546). According to legend, he was so moved by the beauty of the stars shining between the branches of a fir tree, he brought home an evergreen tree and decorated it with candles to share the image with his children.

The first printed reference to a Christmas tree was in 1531 in Germany.

The earliest known Christmas tree decorations were apples. At Christmastime, medieval actors would use apples to decorate paradise trees (usually fir trees) during “Paradise Plays,” which were plays depicting Adam and Eve’s creation and fall.

In Germany, the first Christmas trees were decorated with edible things, such as gingerbread and gold-covered apples. Then glass makers made special small ornaments similar to some of the decorations used today

The first Christmas trees arrived in Britain sometime in the 1830s. They became very popular in 1841, when Prince Albert (Queen Victoria's German husband) had a Christmas tree set up in Windsor Castle.

In 1848, drawing of "The Queen's Christmas tree at Windsor Castle" was published in the Illustrated London News. The drawing was republished in Godey's Lady's Book, Philadelphia in December 1850.

The publication of the drawing helped Christmas Trees become popular in the UK and USA.

In Victorian times, the tree would have been decorated with candles to represent stars. In many parts of Europe, candles are still used to decorate Christmas trees.

Some of the oldest fake trees date back to 1886 in London and were made out of green raffia, the twine that is more commonly used to make grass hula skirts. Other varieties were made in the latter part of the 19th century in Germany and used tabletop feathers from geese that were dyed pinegreen. Then the Addis Brush Company used their toilet brush weaving machinery to create pine-like branches for their fake Christmas trees. They were less flammable, held heavier decorations and could make your toilet bowl sparkling clean.

CANDY CANES

Candy canes first appeared around 1670 when a cathedral choirmaster would hand out the all-white confections to children to keep them occupied during Christmas mass. While no one knows exactly who gave candy canes their stripes, one (unproven) theory has it that the ‘J’ shape was once meant to stand for Jesus and the three stripes represent the Holy Trinity.

SANTA’S RHEINDEER

Nearly all Santa’s reindeer have male-sounding names, such as Blitzen, Comet, and Cupid. However, male reindeers shed their antlers around Christmas, so the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are likely not male, but female or castrated.

Norwegian scientists (obviously with a lot of time on their hands) have hypothesized that Rudolph’s red nose is probably the result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system.

Rudolph came to life as part of a commercial promotion. His first appearance was in a story written in 1939 by ad copywriter Robert L. May that was published in a Montgomery Ward department store promotional booklet given out to children visiting Santa.

Rudolph became an even bigger success when May set the story to music with the help of his songwriter brother-inlaw Johnny Marks. A famous rendition recorded by Gene Autry became one of the bestselling Christmas songs of all time, selling more than two million copies.