Christmas is just around the corner! Surprisingly our current Christmas traditions were not always the way they are now and they actually have roots in a combination of different ancient cultures. Here are eleven facts about the world’s most widespread holiday!
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Christmas actually had its roots in pagan festivals and was considered illegal to celebrate! In Boston until the year 1681, you were fined if you were caught honoring the holiday.
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Santa Claus was originally dressed in blue or green! Coca-Cola dressed him in red in a 1930’s soda ad and the tradition stuck!
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Santa Claus’s original name was Saint Nicholas and was based off of a Christian bishop who would give presents to the needy in 300 AD.
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Leaving cookies for Santa started when a group for Dutch children left out dinner for Saint Nicholas on his feast day.
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Rudolph was actually created when the department store Montgomery Ward needed a character for their holiday coloring books.
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Tinsel, a German decoration, was originally made of real silver.
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The very first Christmas was celebrated in Rome on December 25, 336 AD.
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In Poland, spiderwebs are used as decorations because the spider is a symbol of prosperity. In their version of the Christmas story, a spider weaved a bed out of spider web for baby Jesus.
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“Jingle Bells” was originally a Thanksgiving carol.
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Americans ship a total of 28.2 million gifts according to Goodhousekeeping.com
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Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” is the most played Christmas song, also reported by Goodhousekeeping.com
Share these facts with a friend and blow their mind this season! Happy Holidays, everyone!
*all media courtesy of Photopin.com