Topical Talkers

Festive Christmas Facts.

Every year on December 25, we celebrate Christmas, a day for spending time with family, observing an important Christian holiday, partaking in lighthearted traditions, or just spreading some holiday cheer! Christmas has evolved over several millennia into a worldwide celebration chock full of fun-filled, family activities.
Christmas wasn’t always on December 25
Although Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, it doesn’t actually mention December 25 anywhere in the bible. In fact, some historians think Jesus was born in the spring, not the winter at all! Christmas on December 25th wasn’t celebrated until about 336 AD.
Gifts have both Christian and Pagan origins
For Christians, gift giving at Christmas mimics the presents the Wise Men gave to Jesus and the charitable giving of the ancient St. Nicholas (the forerunner to Santa!). However, winter gift giving also has its roots in Saturnalia, a pagan holiday where they gave offerings to the gods.
Evergreens are an ancient tradition
The iconic Christmas tree has a lot of roots (forgive the pun). Ancient Egyptians used to mark the winter solstice by decorating their homes with green palms, while the Romans celebrated Saturnalia with evergreen boughs. These green plants signified that the spring would return with new life. The first Christmas trees as we know them today started in Germany in the 16th century.
You can thank Prince Albert for your Christmas tree
Christmas trees have German roots, but they really took off in popularity thanks to Queen Victoria and her husband, German Prince Consort Albert. In 1848 they were sketched standing in front of their tree with their children by the Illustrated London News, which quickly made Christmas trees fashionable.
St. Nick was more generous than jolly
The original Santa Claus was actually St. Nicholas, a Christian bishop in the 4th century. He didn’t wear the red suit that’s so famous today, but he did give all of his inheritance to the poor and needy. In Dutch, his name is Sinter Klaas, which later morphed into Santa Claus.
Coca-Cola played a part in Santa’s image
Santa wasn’t always the jolly man in red. Older depictions of Santa from the early 1900s depicted him more sternly, and there wasn’t a standardized “look” for his appearance. The classic image of a happy and plump Santa that we all know today came in part from Coca-Cola ads, drawn in 1931 by illustrator Haddon Sundblom.
Hanging stockings started by accident
The historic St. Nicholas heard about the plight of a local man who did not have enough dowry money to marry off his three daughters. The generous St. Nick tossed some money down the chimney that landed in the ladies’ stockings that were drying by the fire. After that, the tradition stuck!
Rudolph was a marketing ploy

The beloved reindeer was created by a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store (United States) in 1939. He wrote Rudolph into a children’s story that could be given out to promote the store. It was a huge hit, with more than 2.4 million copies distributed in its first year! In 1949 Gene Autry recorded the famous song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and in 1964 came the movie featuring the island of misfit toys.

Christmas wreaths are religious symbols
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. However, the religious significance 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.”
Celebrating Christmas used to be illegal
From 1659 to 1681, 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 as were superstitiously kept in other countries” and were “a great dishonor of God and offense of others. The penalty for breaking the law was five shillings.
By the Revolutionary War, the day had so little significance that Congress even held their first session on December 25, 1789. Christmas wasn’t even proclaimed a federal holiday for almost another century, proving that the Grinch’s attitude toward the holiday was alive and well long before he was.
It’s rumored that eggnog originated in medieval Britain
Although there’s no official confirmation on who invented eggnog, most historians agree that eggnog originated in medieval Britain. Eggnog was an upper-class luxury since they were the only ones who had access to the milk, sherry and eggs required to create the original version. Monks in the Middle Ages added figs and eggs and called the drink”posset” while the wealthy kept with the simple recipe and used it for toasts or big events. Research shows that eggnog most likely became associated with the holidays due to a lack of refrigeration. It became a drink for the more common man in America because of the larger farming opportunities and more access to cows and chickens.
The term “Xmas” dates back to the 1500s
Contrary to popular belief, “Xmas” is not a trendy attempt to “take Christ out of Christmas”. “Christianity” was spelled “Xianity” as far back as 1100. X, or Chi, is the Greek first letter of “Christ” so “X” and back in the fourth century, Constantine the Great often referenced the shorthand version. Some say it was as early as 1021 that the abbreviation “XPmas” was used to reference the holiday, which was later shortened to “Xmas.”
Mistletoe is an aphrodisiac
The holiday decoration isn’t just pretty. It’s also an ancient symbol of fertility and virility — and the Druids considered it an aphrodisiac but Mistletoe isn’t as sweet as it sounds… Mistle thrush birds eat the plant’s berries, digest the seed and then help the plant germinate with their droppings. The Germanic word for mistletoe literally means “dung on a twig.” Really makes you want to pucker up, doesn’t it?
Norway provides the tree in Trafalgar Square
Londoners and visitors alike probably know the iconic spruce that stretches to the sky in Trafalgar Square each year, but few realize it’s an equally iconic holiday gift. Since 1947, the city of Oslo in Norway has given the tree to London as a token of gratitude for Britain’s support during World War II.
Free festive imaging
For the festive season, we’ve created some free imaging for you to use! Imaging also contains a full 24 days to Christmas countdown.
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