Christmas is not just a holiday filled with cookie baking, gift-wrapping, crafting with the kids, and spending time enjoying big Christmas brunches or dinners with family and friends. It is a celebration of traditions as well that most people who celebrate the joyous holiday don't know much about but partake in year after year. In addition, there is some pretty fascinating history behind some of the favorite parts of the holiday season, along with its religious significance, that people absolutely would not believe. Let's know 10 interesting facts about the festival of Christmas.
1. In 1843, the custom of sending Christmas cards began. At the time, Sir Henry Cole worked as a senior civil servant and he helped set up what would become the Post Office. He wanted to try and encourage it to be used by ordinary people. His idea of Christmas cards was created, and they were initially sold for only 1 shilling each. The custom slowly became more popular throughout the years and almost 170 years later, we still love to send our beloved friends and family a Christmas card to wish them well.
2. Christmas's biggest gift ever sent was in 1865 when Edouard de Laboulaye proposed a gift from France to the United States to commemorate their commitment to democracy and honor the late President Abraham Lincoln. The Statue of Liberty was officially dedicated in 1886 and has since become an iconic symbol of the United States.
3. Jingle Bells is a favorite song for many people, but they don't know that in 1965, it became not just the first Christmas song but the first song ever to be played in space. During the Gemini 6A space flight, it was broadcast as a prank from the astronauts to those down below. In addition, Jingle Bells was originally a song written for the American holiday of Thanksgiving and not Christmas. The original title for the song was 'The One Horse Open Sleigh'.
4. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer has become an integral part of Christmas culture, and we all are well aware of the story of poor Rudolph who tries to fit in with Santa's other reindeer. But many don't know that he was created for a marketing campaign. American department store, Montgomery Ward, wanted to make fun coloring books to give away to children in 1939 and tasked Robert L. May to create a poem for the book. Rudolph was born due to this reason and became a cultural icon for children worldwide. The story of Rudolph is all about why we should not bully others just because they look different but instead embrace them.
5. The custom of bringing evergreens into the home began in the 16th century among northern and eastern Europeans, primarily Germans, as a means of cleaning up the Christmas tree and making it more uniform. Instead of throwing out cut-off greens, people wove the excess into wreaths. But the religious significance behind it is that the circular shape and evergreen material of the wreath represent eternal life. The circle, which has no beginning or end, "symbolizes the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life we find in Christ."
6. From 1659 to 1681, celebrating Christmas used to be illegal and anyone caught making merry in the colonies would face a fine for celebrating. The Massachusetts Bay Colony created the Penalty for Keeping Christmas. It was thought that such festivals were superstitiously kept in other countries and were a great dishonor of God and an offense to others. The penalty for breaking the law was five shillings.
7. A choirmaster originally gave the red-and-white-striped candies to young children to keep them quiet during marathon church services back in 1670. It was not until a German-Swedish immigrant decorated his tree with candy canes in 1847 that they became popular as a Christmas candy. Nowadays, they are available in a wide variety of colors and flavors like cherry, green apple, and watermelon.
8. Tinsel was invented in 1610 in Germany. It was spun from real silver and then hammered out and was more of a luxury decoration than the cheap tree trimming it is today. The U.S. government once banned tinsel because it used to contain poisonous lead, but now it is just plastic.
9. The name Christmas comes from the old English phrase Cristes maesse which means ‘Christ’s mass’. But lots of people think that Xmas is just a modern-day abbreviation but it dates back to the 16th century. The ‘X’ is said to represent the Greek letter ‘Chi’– the first letter in the Greek word for Christ.
10. Every year, Norway sends a beautiful home-grown Christmas tree to London, where it is decorated with lights in Trafalgar Square. Standing a towering 20m tall, the terrific tree is a gift to say thank you for the help the UK gave Norway during World War II.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)