CHRISTMAS TRIVIA

 

• Counting Rudolph, there are 9 reindeer
• Cultured Christmas trees must be shaped as they grow to produce fuller foliage. To slow the upward growth and to encourage branching, they are hand-clipped in each spring. Trees grown in the wild have sparser branches, and are known in the industry as "Charlie Brown" trees.
• Dasher, Donder and Dancer are the three reindeer whose names begin with a "D".
• December 25th chosen as Christmas Day to compete with a pagan celebration
• Dr Joel Poinsett, the first US ambassador to Mexico, brought the poinsettia back to America in 1828. Mexicans had long revered poinsettia because it resembled the Star of Bethlehem.
• During the ancient 12-day Christmas celebration, the log burned was called the "Yule log." Sometimes a piece of the Yule log would be kept to kindle the fire the following winter, to ensure that the good luck carried on from year to year. The Yule log custom was handed down from the Druids.
• During the Christmas buying season, Visa cards alone are used an average of 5,340 times every minute in the United States.
• During the Christmas/Hanukkah season, more than 1.76 billion candy canes will be made.
• During World War II it was necessary for Americans to mail Christmas gifts early for the troops in Europe to receive them in time. Merchants joined in the effort to remind the public to shop and mail early and the protracted shopping season was born.
• Ebenezer was Scrooge's first name.
• Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1895. The idea for using electric Christmas lights came from an American, Ralph E. Morris. The new lights proved safer than the traditional candles.
• Eleven pipers piping did my true love give to me.
• Elvis Presley recorded the sad song “Blue Christmas” in the fifties
• Emperor Constantine in 325 A.D is credited with standardizing Dec. 25 as Christmas Day
• Following Princess Diana's tragic death in 1997, the Ty toy company, famous in the late 1990s for its popular Beanie Baby line of beanbag animals, issued a "Princess" bear in tribute. The royal purple Beanie, bearing an embroidered white rose on its chest, became so desired that at Christmas time, American collectors were willing to spend up to $300 for one on the secondary market.