FACTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS FACTS ABOUT FATHER CHRISTMAS Father Christmas has two addresses, Edinburgh and the

North Pole. Letters addressed to 'TOYLAND' or 'SNOWLAND' go to Edinburgh, but letters addressed to 'THE NORTH POLE' have to be sent there because there really is such a place!

What are the names of Santa's reindeer? Father Christmas' reindeers are called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner/Donder, Blitzen, and Rudolph. Eight of these names are taken from Clement C. Moore's "A Visit From St. Nicholas," and the ninth from the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (NB. Donder is also known as Donner.)

White Christmas England has only known seven white Christmases in the entire twentieth century. According to the records of the Meteorological Office in London, snow fell on Christmas Day only in 1938 and 1976. (The definition of a white Christmas in England is when one snowflake falls on the roof of the London Weather Centre in the 24 hours of 25 December.) The last time we had a White Christmas with snow falling across the UK was 2004, although large parts of the southeast England missed significant falls. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are more likely to have a white Christmas than England.

Facts about Christmas Food An old wives' tale says that bread baked on Christmas Eve will never go mouldy. The Christmas turkey was imported to France by the Jesuits and it is still known in some French dialects as a 'Jesuite'.

Christmas Turkey Christmas pudding was first made as a kind of thick soup with raisins and wine in it.

Christmas Pudding Christmas pudding originates from an old, Celtic dish known as 'frumenty'. In the 19th century, the Christmas Cake was eaten on Christmas Eve. It was consider unlucky to cut a Christmas cake before dawn on Christmas Eve. It is considered unlucky to cut a mince pie with a knife. Mince pies should only be eaten between Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night and one should be eaten on every day of the twelve days of Christmas to bring good luck.

Facts about Christmas Day 25th December was not celebrated as the birthday of Christ until the year AD 440. The Queen's Christmas speech was televised for the first time in 1957. Christmas crackers were invented by Thomas Smith. He had imported some French novelties to sell as Christmas gifts, but these were not popular until he wrapped them up and added a snapper.

Christmas crackers

Facts about Christmas Decorations Each year between 34-36 million Christmas trees are produced to cope with the holiday demand Electric tree lights were first used just 3 years after Thomas Edison has his first mass public demonstration of electric lights back in 1879. Thomas Edisons assistant, Edward Johnson, came up with the idea of electric lights for Christmas trees in 1882. His lights were a huge hit. It took quite a few years, however, before they would be made available to the general public. copyright of projectbritain.com In 1895 Ralph Morris, an American telephonist, invented the string of electric Christmas lights similar to the ones we use today. The actual strings of lights had already been manufactured for use in telephone switchboards. Morris looked at the tiny bulbs and had the idea of using them on his tree.

Christmas Banned In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal. Christmas festivities were banned by Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral. Anybody caught celebrating Christmas was arrested. The ban was lifted only when the Puritans lost power in 1660.

Facts about Christmas Cards and Christmas Post In 1843, the first Christmas card was created on the instructions of an Englishman, Sir Henry Cole. J.C. Horsley designed the card and sold 1000 copies in London. Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called "robins". This was because their uniforms were red. Victorian Xmas cards often showed a robin delivering Xmas mail. In the nineteenth century, the British Post Office used to deliver cards on Christmas morning. The first Christmas stamp was released in Canada in 1898.

Facts about Christmas Carols St Francis of Assisi introduced Christmas Carols to formal church services. The word comes from the ancient Greek 'choros', which means "dancing in a circle", and from the Old French word carole, meaning "a song to accompany dancing" The first instrument on which the carol "Silent Night" was played was a guitar The popular Christmas song "Jingle Bells" was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was originally called "One-Horse Open Sleigh". It was actually written for Thanksgiving, not Xmas.

Facts about Twelfth Night It is not until Twelfth Night that the figures of the Three Kings are supposed to be added to the Christmas crib. In Germany, Twelfth Night is known as 'Three Kings Day'. The "Twelve Days of Christmas " gifts: A partridge in a pear tree, two turtledoves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings, six geese laying, seven swans swimming, eight maids milking, nine ladies dancing, ten lords leaping, eleven pipers piping, and twelve drummers drumming. There are 364 gifts altogether, one for everyday of the year. The poem commonly referred to as "The Night Before Christmas" was originally titled "A Visit From Saint Nicholas." This poem was written by Clement Moore for his children and some guests, one of whom anonymously sent the poem to a New York newspaper for publication.

Christmas is the time when Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Christmas in an English home Why do we celebrate Christmas? Every year in December we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ. That is why we call this time of year 'Christmas' - we celebrate the 'Mass', or church service, for Christ. Where does the word Christmas come from? The word Christmas (or Christ's Mass) comes from the Old English name 'Cristes Maesse' - Christ's Mass - and is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The first recorded observance occurred in Rome in AD360, but it wasn't until AD440 that the Christian Church fixed a celebration date of 25 December. How is Christmas Celebrated in Britain? Christmas is a truly magical season, bringing families and friends together to share the much loved customs and traditions which have been around for centuries. Most people are on holiday in the UK and stay at home with their family on Christmas day, the main day for Christmas celebrations in Britain. What day is the main Christmas celebration in Britain? Christmas is celebrated on the 25th December, with a Christmas dinner at midday for the whole family. How do the British prepare for Christmas? During the weeks before Christmas Day, we send cards, watch nativity plays and go to carol services. We put up Christmas decorations in our homes and churches. You can read more about our Christmas customs and traditions by selecting a link on the left of this page. History of British Christmas Customs and Traditions

Many of our Christmas customs began long before Jesus was born. They came from earlier festivals which had nothing to do with the Christian church. Long time ago people had mid-winter festivals when the days were shortest and the sunlight weakest. They believed that their ceremonies would give the sun back its power. The Romans, for example, held the festival of Saturnalia around 25 December. They decorated their homes with evergreens to remind them of Saturn, their harvest god, to return the following spring. Some of these customs and traditions were adopted by early Christians as part of their celebrations of Jesus' birthday. In Victorian times some new ideas such as Father Christmas, Christmas cards and crackers were added to the celebrations.

The average person in Britain sends 50 Christmas cards each year.

Stockings were originally hung, hoping that Saint Nicholas would bring gold coins (as legend says he did for three poor girls that needed money to get married) Most were filled with small gifts, especially fruit and nuts Santas red and white suit came from the traditional Bishops robes that Saint Nicholas would have worn Christmas is abbreviated Xmas because the word for Christ in Greek is Xristos Started to become popular in 1860s, and by 1874 Macys in New York developed Christmas theme window displays Tree decorations became common in 1880 when Woolworths began to sell manufactured ornaments Two most popular secular songs at Christmas are: Bing Crosbys White Christmas (1942) Gene Autrys Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer (1949)

Christmas Words
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General Words
bells candles cards celebrate festival family reunion Frosty greetings holiday jubilee merry Noel parades party red/green Scrooge season spirit stocking stuffers stockings tidings tradition traffic trips vacation wassail wassailing yule yuletide

Food
brandy butter bread candy candy canes Christmas cookies cranberry sauce dressing eggnog fruitcake ham mince pies mince meat pie plum pudding pumpkin pie punch sauce spice tea sweet potato

turkey white sauce

Flowers
holly mistletoe poinsettia wreath

Religious
Advent alleluia angelic angels announcement astrologers babe baby Bethlehem birth camel ceremonies Christ Child creche donkey Emmanuel/Immanuel Epiphany flocks frankincense gifts gloria gold goodwill holy incarnation inn Jerusalem Joseph Lord Magi manager Mary miracle myrrh nativity pageant Prince of Peace proclamation prophecy sacred Savior shepherds stable star wisemen worship

Christmas Tree

artificial cedar Christmas tree decorations fir icicles ivy lights pine stand star tinsel

Shopping
crowds dolls gift boxes lists presents ribbon ribbon sales seals stickers toys wrapping paper

Santa Claus
chimney elves fairies jolly North Pole reindeer Rudolph sled sleigh sleigh bells St. Nick toys

Feelings
anticipating excited exhausted happy sad

Reindeer Names
Blitzer Rudolph Comet Cupid Dancer Dasher

Donner Prancer Vixan