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 | Christmas Traditions Uncovered
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A fir tree by the fire, a stocking on the chimney, and carol singers outside on the snowy lawn: they're all the ingredients of the traditional Christmas, but have you ever stopped to wonder just how those traditions came about?
THE DATE OF CHRISTMAS
Take the date of Christmas itself. While the day is a celebration of the birth of Christ, it's highly unlikely that December 25th was the actual date of Christ's birth, who was probably born in Spring. Nevertheless, Christmas has been celebrated in December since the fourth century, when early Christians took advantage of the date of an earlier pagan celebration at around the same time, to stage their own celebrations.
CHRISTMAS TREES
It wasn't until the 16th century that people started bringing fir trees into their home and decorating them with baubles, ribbons, sweets and lights. The tradition is believed to have started in Germany, and to have quickly spread across Europe, although the Christmas tree only gained popularity in the UK when Prince Albert and Queen Victoria erected the first British Christmas tree at Windsor Castle.
CHRISTMAS CARDS
The Victorians are also credited with the invention of Christmas Cards, which first appeared in 1843. The first ever card was made by the postal service, and showed a traditional Christmas scene with the message "A Merry Christams and a Happy New Year to You". It's likely that the idea behind the cards came from the nation's schoolchildren, who would send "Christmas Pieces" to their parents as a way to demonstrate their writing skills, and it's a tradition which remains almost unchanged to this day.
SANTA CLAUS
Christmas morning (or, indeed, Christmas Eve!) wouldn't be the same were it not for the tradition of Santa Claus - a jolly, red-suited fellow who travels the world distributing gifts to children. Santa Claus is almost as old as Christmas itself, with the original "Santa Claus" being the bishop canonized as St. Nicholas - a generous man who would give gifts to children wherever he traveled. St. Nicholas is rumoured to have delivered these gifts, on occasion, by throwing them through windows, which is perhaps where the legend of Santa coming down the chimney comes from.
CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS
As modern Christmas presents get more and more elaborate, today's children are more likely to lay out a pillow-case than a stocking on the night before Christmas. The tradition started around 400 years ago, in Holland, and children didn't use stockings then either, but would place a pair of wooden shoes filled with food for Santa Claus and straw for the white horse which carried him. These days, of course, children leave milk (or something stronger), cookies and fruit for Santa and his reindeer, and leave stockings, pillow cases or specially made sacks to be filled with presents for themselves!
MISTLETOE
Mistletoe was sacred to the ancient Druids, who used it in their worship of the Goddess of Love, and believed that it should be prevented from touching the ground. Mistletoe is still kept above ground, usually suspended from the ceiling for couples to kiss under!
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