Christmas Facts!

Here are some very interesting facts about Christmas, and Christmasy things!

Holly
The sharply pointed leaves were to symbolize the thorns in Christ's crown and the red berries drops of his blood. Holly became a nativity tradition.

Presents
The tradition of gifts seems to have started with the gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus. The exchanging of gifts between people started in about the 1800's.

Reindeer
The reindeer probably came from stories of the Norse God Woden who rode through the sky with reindeer and 42 ghostly huntsmen. Clement Moore's famous poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (T'was the Night Before Christmas) sealed the image of Santa Claus, his reindeer and the magical flying sleigh loaded with sacks of presents.

Santa Claus
The original Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, was born in Turkey in the 4th century. He was very pious from an early age, devoting his life to Christianity. He became widely known for his generosity for the poor. At the time, the Romans held him in contempt. He was imprisoned and tortured. When Constantine became emperor of Rome, he allowed Nicholas to go free. Constantine became a Christian and convened the Council of Nicaea in 325. Nicholas was delegate to the council. He is especially noted for his love of children and for his generosity. He is the patron saint of sailors. He is also of course, the patron saint of children. The Dutch kept the legend of St. Nicholas alive. In the 16th century Holland, Dutch children would place their wooden shoes by the hearth in hopes that they would be filled with a treat. The Dutch spelled St. Nicholas as Sint Nikolaas, which became corrupted to Sinterklaas, and finally, in Anglican, to Santa Claus. The image of Santa was originally a man in a long brown robe and furs carrying a cross and wine flask with a holly crown on his head. In 1885, a Boston printer, Louis Prang, first devised the red-suited Santa and this theme was later developed by the Coca Cola advertising artist Haddon Sundblom in the 1930'sThis produced the modern image of a jolly character in a red suit trimmed with white fur.

Stockings hanging on your mantel...
According to tradition, Saint Nicholas left his very first gifts of gold coins in the stockings of three poor girls who needed the money for their wedding dowries. The girls had hung their stockings by the fire to dry. The tradition has modified itself, from gag gifts , to small inexpensive but useful gifts.

The Candy Cane
In the late 1800's, a candy maker in Indiana wanted to express the meaning of Christmas through a symbol made of candy. He invented the idea of bending one of his white candy sticks into the shape of a Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols of Christ's love and sacrifice through the Candy Cane. First, he used a plain white peppermint stick. The color white symbolizes the purity and sinless nature of Jesus. Next, he added three small stripes to symbolize the pain inflicted upon Jesus before His death on the cross. There are three of them to represent the Holy Trinity. He added a bold stripe to represent the blood Jesus shed for mankind. When looked at with the crook on top, it looks like a shepherd's staff because Jesus is the shepherd of man. If you turn it upside down, it becomes the letter J symbolizing the first letter in Jesus' name. The candy maker made these Candy Canes for Christmas, so everyone would remember what Christmas is all about.

"Silent Night"
In 1818, an Austrian priest Joseph Mohr, was told the day before Christmas, that the church organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas Eve. He was saddened by this and could not think of Christmas without music. He wanted to write a carol that could be sung by a choir to guitar music. He sat down and wrote three stanzas. Later that night, the people in the little Austrian Church sang "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night) for the first time.

Lump of Coal
According to tradition, giving a lump of coal in the stockings of naughty children comes from Italy.

More Christmasy Facts!