Christmas is the most magical time of the year for children and adults. With all the traditions and merriment connected with this season it’s easy to hope for peace and good will for the year to come.
A lot of what is widely regarded as true about Christmas or held as a tradition cannot or has not been verified, or, has changed through the years. Even Christmas Day itself, December 25, has been questioned as to whether that is the exact day on which Jesus was born. Skeptics have asked “why would shepherds be out in the cold watching their flocks by night during the winter?” These skeptics have put forward the thought that Jesus may really have been born in the spring instead.
When even the exact date for the birth of Christ is unknown, there is little wonder that there are many fancy stories and tales that are told about Christmas and the Christmas season.
The most common fancy tale that everyone tells, particularly to children, is about Santa Claus, also called St. Nicholas. Two big questions arise about Santa: where does he live and how is he able to get to all the houses of good boys and girls on Christmas Eve?
In the United States, Santa Claus is said to have two homes. There is a home in Torrington, Connecticut, which is used as a distribution point for Santa and his many helpers, who are elves, to hand out gifts. And then, a second home is said to be located in Wilmington, New York, and that is where Santa Claus and his delivery reindeer crew are located. But Santa can be visited in Cyberspace at anytime and what about the widely held belief that Santa Claus really lives in a village at the North Pole?
The people of Finland also claim that their country is the official residence of Santa Claus. That’s because in Finland, you can actually visit a village any time during the year and see Santa’s workshop and observe Santa and his elves hard at work as they prepare for their very important Christmas gift delivery job on Christmas Eve. The only day when Santa’s workshop is closed to visitors is, of course, Christmas Eve. Maybe a very smart visitor could visit Santa’s workshop on the day before Christmas Eve to see if there are any clues to how Santa and his reindeers plan to make their trip the next day. That’s because as the tale goes, in Finland Santa Claus and his reindeers do not reach their destinations around the globe by flying.
Finland welcomes visitors to Santa’s workshop but there is nothing said about whether visitors actually have any chance of having a word with the man himself. While the chances of doing so are believed to be non-existent, among the questions that inquiring minds could ask Santa is whether Rudolph is the son of Donner (and to confirm the spelling – Donner or Donder) or whether Santa spotted him in a different reindeer village one foggy Christmas Eve when he had already started on his Christmas toy-delivery mission. If mere mortals got a chance to question Santa, then he also would likely have some questions for us humans. He may want to know whose idea was it to have Christmas trees and for the gifts to be placed under them.
The tradition of Christmas trees as it exists today comes from Germany by way of immigrants. But it isn’t clear how the tradition really gained a foothold in Germany. One story is that Christians in Germany during the 16th century started to bring trees that were decorated into their homes. Some of those Christians would build pyramids for Christmas. The pyramids were made of wood and would be decorated with evergreens and candles. It is however, Martin Luther, a Protestant reformer, who is said to have been the first to add lighted candles as decoration to a tree. Lighting the candles was based on his inspiration from the brilliant light of twinkling stars that shone through evergreen trees as he walked home one winter evening. As the legend goes, Martin Luther placed a tree in a main room of his house and placed wires with small, lighted candles around the branches of the tree. And that is how, as the tale goes, the Christmas tree as known today, was started.
Filed under Santa by on Sep 15th, 2010. 
One of the joys of the Christmas season is receiving Christmas cards. For many of us this is the only communication we have with some friends and family all year. It is always good to get cards even if it’s from someone we didn’t send one to. It’s easy enough to add that person to the card list for next year if it arrived too late to send one this year.
In England in 1843 Sir Henry Cole, a wealthy and successful London businessman, commissioned John Calcott, an artist, to create a card that he could use to send Christmas greetings to his friends and business clients. This is the first known time a card was made for just this purpose.
In addition to sending Christmas greetings Sir Henry Cole wanted to raise awareness in his friends and business associates to the needs of the poor in London. The card that John Calcott Horsley created was a triptych which is a card with three-panels; the two outer panels fold in towards the middle panel. Each side panel showed a good deed being performed: people feeding the hungry and clothing the poor. The inside panel, with its depiction of a wealthy family a feast raising glasses in a toast, caused quite an uproar at the time.
One thousand cards were printed in black and white then hand colored. The inside message read “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.” Neither Sir Henry Cole nor John Calcott Horsley knew the impact this first Christmas card would have on England or the United States. For several years many thought the idea of sending Christmas cards was just a passing fancy.
Somewhere around 1845 Americans began sending cards to each other through the mail. But it wasn’t until 1875 that Americans could buy cards made in the United States by a German immigrant, Louis Prang. Until that time they had to buy cards that were made in Germany.
The cards that Prang made were high-quality but expensive. In the beginning his cards didn’t look like what we think of as Christmas cards with the manger scene or Santa Claus. Rather his designs were mostly of floral designs. Americans became enthusiastic about Christmas cards, but not those made by Prang. In fact he was forced to close his business in 1890. His cards were just too expensive. Americans went back to buying cards from Germany and it was the cheap penny postcards that they favored. These cards were popular until the end of World War I. By the end of the war American companies had started making cards.
Today, more than 2 billion Christmas cards are exchanged each year. As you send and receive cards this year may your heart be filled with the joyful Christmas spirit. Personalized photo cards at Cardstore.com
Filed under Christmas cards by on May 25th, 2010.
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