1700 Posts By Christmas 2011

[CandyKane]

The Puritans in America tried to make Thanksgiving Day the most important annual festival instead of Christmas.

[CandyKane]

Silent Night was written in 1818, by an Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. He was told the day before Christmas that the church organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas Eve. He was saddened by this and could not think of Christmas without music, so he wanted to write a carol that could be sung by choir to guitar music. He sat down and wrote three stanzas. Later that night the people in the little Austrian Church sang "Stille Nacht" for the first time.

[CandyKane]

Christmas movie trivia

In 'The Santa Clause' What did the Elves use to cut the prison bars?

Tinsel
Tinsel, it's not just for decoration anymore!

[CandyKane]

Just finished my bean salad. All that's left is to toss in the fritos right before we eat. Now I'm going to make a cheesecake. Yum! I can't wait for Christmas dinner.

[sugarcookie]

I can't believe Christmas is almost here! It seems like just yesterday, it was June. Thanks for giving me a place to go throughout the whole year to feel the spirit of the holiday season. I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope it's a magical day full of love and joy for all of you!!!

[kiwidogy_max]

That is so funny that you mentioned The Santa Clause movie. I just finished watching #1 & 2! I love those!!

[kiwidogy_max]

I finished my wrapping this morning. Some golf balls for Dad and candles for my aunt.

[kiwidogy_max]

Now for the most important decision of the day... Which Christmas tie to wear???

[kiwidogy_max]

Tomorrow is Jesus' birthday!!!

[CandyKane]

Kiwi--So glad that you found a Christmas home. There are lots of great Christmas forums out there but this one is special to me. So many wonderful friends here.

[kiwidogy_max]

A delicious roast tonight for dinner. It is nice having a butcher as a friend.

[kiwidogy_max]

I couldn't agree with you more CandyKane!

[CandyKane]

A goose was customary Christmas fare until Henry VIII took it upon himself to tuck into a turkey. Mince pies were once shaped like mangers and are thought to date back to the sweetmeats formerly presented to the Vatican on Christmas Eve.

[CandyKane]

Hanging the Christmas stocking on the hearth on Christmas Eve in the hope that it will be filled with presents the next morning is a custom that goes back about 400 years. It derived from the custom in Holland of children placing wooden shoes next to the hearth the night before the arrival of St. Nicholas. The children would fill their shoes with straw and food for St Nicholas's for the donkey that carried the gifts. In exchange he would leave them a small gift such as small cakes, fruits and other gifts. Stockings were substituted for the shoes in Britain, most of Europe and in North America.

[CandyKane]

A wreath with holly, red berries and other decorations began from at least the 17th century. Holly, with its sharply pointed leaves, symbolised the thorns in Christ's crown-of-thorns. Red berries symbolised the drops of Christ's blood. A wreath at Christmas signified a home that celebrated to birth of Christ.

[CandyKane]

On Christmas morning since medieval times, church bells have been rung to announce to the world the coming of the saviour. It was customary from the 18th century to wear clothes and carry a small bell to signify the birth of Christ. The ringing of the bells was to signify the importance of the His Birth.

[CandyKane]

Tom Smith who owned a sweet shop in London was the originator of the cracker. In the 1840s Tom found that people like sugar almonds, but while he was in France he discovered a variety of sweets wrapped up in a twist of paper. These bonbons were popular, so Tom decided to copy them. When Tom noticed that young men were buying them to give to their sweethearts he began to place "love mottoes" on small slips of paper inside the sweet wrapping.
In 1846 Tom's thoughts turned towards Christmas - instead of sweets he thought he would place toys and novelties inside the twisted wrapping. He experimented with this and the idea of producing a wrapping that could be pulled apart - just like the cracker as we know it today.

[CandyKane]

Many Christmas customs are carryovers from pre-Christian celebrations. Hanging gifts on trees is supposed to stem from tree worship of the Druids, and the belief that the tree was the giver of all good things. The Druids are also partly responsible for the use of mistletoe at Christmastime. They regarded the mistletoe as sacred, made certain that it never touched the ground, and dedicated it to the Goddess of Love, which explains the kissing that goes on under it. Originally, when a boy kissed a girl, he plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it to her. When the berries were gone, so were the kisses.

[CandyKane]

The actual gift givers are different in various countries:

Spain and South America: The Three Kings
Italy: La Befana (a kindly old witch)
England: Father Christmas
France: Pere Noel (Father Christmas)
Russia: In some parts - Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure)
Other parts it is Grandfather Frost.
Germany: Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus)
She is a beautiful fair haired girl with a shining crown of candles.
Scandinavia: a variety of Christmas gnomes. One is called Julenisse
Holland: St Nicholas.

[CandyKane]

The first American Christmas carol was written in 1649 by a minister named John de Brebeur and is called "Jesus is Born".