Trivia games are very popular, so we thought we’d see how well you know these Christmas facts.  We bet there are a few you can’t answer! (The answers are at the bottom, but don’t peek!)

   1) Where was mommy kissing Santa Claus?

   2) What is Frosty the Snowman’s nose made out of?

   3) What is the name of Rudolph’s dad?

   4) What did Ralphie (from A Christmas Story) want for Christmas?

   5) In what movie was a boy accidentally left alone at Christmastime while his family   

       went to Europe?

   6) What were the first artificial Christmas trees made from?

   7) When do most Europeans put up their Christmas tree?

   8) What do most Europeans use for Christmas tree lights?

   9) What is Santa’s real name?

 10) How many Reindeer are on Santa’s sleigh?

If you enjoy trivia, read our article “Christmas Trivia”.

Answers:  1) Under the Mistletoe 2) A button 3) Donner 4) A BB Gun 5) Home Alone 6) Goose Feathers 7) Christmas Eve 8) Real candles 9) Kris Kringle 10) 8

The U.S. operations division of Blachere Illumination, The Christopher Shop in Christopher, IL, has grown into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-end commercial Christmas displays.  They supply illuminated displays for shopping centers, casinos, hotels, municipalities, Disney World, and Sea World.

The company was founded in 1971 in France and has expanded into several countries:  Germany, Holland, Belgium, South America, United Kingdom, and the United States.  The Southern Illinois company began as a test site in 2007.  The president of the company, Ronnie Brown, met the owner of a small Christmas business called Trogolo, at a trade show in Las Vegas.  Brown accepted Trogolo’s offer to rent some space from him in Christopher, Illinois.  Before you knew it, Blachere bought Trogolo and began expanding.

Blachere Illumination is currently creating a 15 foot sphere tree for Disney World’s Christmas celebration and illuminated sails to go on a pirate ship at a Christmas display at Sea World.

The company employs about 50 employees in their peak season.  They have grown every year, reported 11% growth for 2010 and expects the same for 2011.

To discover the history of Christmas Tree Lights, read our article "Christmas Tree Lights From Candles to LED’s".

There has been much misunderstanding as to what the twelve days of Christmas means, partly due to different interpretations or traditions.  It is not the twelve days before Christmas as it begins on December 25 or Christmas day, and ends on January 5.  The twelfth night is followed by the Epiphany on January 6. 

Note that some religions traditions may differ by one or two days.  Currently, some religions exchange gifts on Christmas Day, some on the twelfth night, and some every one of the twelfth nights.

As for the song and its historical accuracy, some consider it nonsense and some say it dates back to the 16th century religious wars in England as lessons of the Christian faith.  These lessons were supposedly put into song because it was rumored in the 17th century that those practicing Catholicism in England, or putting it’s teachings down on paper, could be imprisoned or hanged.  However it’s true history, we all still enjoy this popular Christmas song.

One interpretation of the Christmas song follows:   

•  A partridge = Jesus Christ
•  Two turtle doves = Old & New Testament
•  Three French hens = Faith, hope, & love
•  Four calling birds = The four gospels
•  Five golden rings = The 1st 5 books of the Old Testament
•  Six geese-a-laying = The six days of creation
•  Seven swans-a-swimming = The 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit
•  Eight maids-a-milking = The eight Beatitudes
•  Nine ladies dancing = The nine Fruit of the Holy Spirit
•  Ten Lords A-leaping = The ten commandments
•  Eleven Pipers Piping = The eleven faithful apostles
•  Twelve Drummers Drumming = The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles' Creed

Click here to read our article called “The Economics of the 12 Days of Christmas”.

With only 1% of the Chinese population Christian, you might think Christmas is not celebrated in China.  However, Christians in China have similar traditions as the United States.  They celebrate by decorating their houses with paper lanterns and lighting, and trim their Christmas tree with paper flowers, chains, and lanterns.  Chinese Christians call their trees, “Trees of Light”.  Despite Christmas day not being a public holiday, the holiday is becoming more popular and you can find Christmas decorations, trees, and lights being sold in urban department stores.

The Chinese New Year, which takes place from the middle of the twelfth month of one year to the middle of the first month of the new year, is similar to our Christmas season.  Their main celebration occurs on the eve of the Chinese New Year.  Everyone gathers together for dinner including “jiaozi” or dumplings boiled in water.  After dinner, as in our family, they play cards, board games, or watch TV programs focused on the holiday.  They keep every light on the whole night and fireworks begin at midnight.

Similar to our Christmas morning, the children receive presents but it is cash wrapped in red paper packages.  Afterwards the family visits their relatives, and neighbors to convey wishes of sincere peace and happiness.  In the days following, they continue their visiting and exchange many gifts such as clothing and toys.  Fifteen days later the Festival of Lanterns ends the Chinese New Year season with lantern shows and folk dances everywhere.  An emphasis is put on the worship of ancestors and their paintings are brought out and hung in the main room of the house..

More information on the Chinese celebration of Christmas and New Year can be found in our article “Christmas in China”.

Iceland’s version of Christmas is called Yule/Jol and began before the advent of Christianity.

The “drinking of Yule” was part of the Yule celebrations in the Icelandic Sagas.  Many stories and poems refer to the feasts, farmers drinking Yule ale together, and bringing back malt from America to make the ale.  Chieftains would invite many people to Yule, whereas farmers may drink Yule ale among friends.  The chieftains would present their guests with gifts after feasting for several days.  Some of the food included  lamb meat, ham, Rjupa, a wild bird, and Skate, a large flat fish.   Potatoes, vegetables, cookies and frosted cakes rounded out the meal.  Both the farms and the chieftains decorated their houses with decorative materials.

Before the late 19th century, Yule gifts were rare and frequently consisted of clothing which was also considered a bonus for a job well done.  If you did not receive a new piece of clothing, folklore had it that you would be captured by the Yule cat, which was a black, mean cat.  Summer presents were more common.

One tradition is for children to put a shoe in the window from December 12 until Christmas Eve. If they have been good, they receive a gift and if not, a potato.  On December 23rd, St Þorlákur, is celebrated.  Stores are open late but then close for three days.  Yule Eve, equivalent to our Christmas Eve, is when children can open their Yule presents after the evening meal.  Television is actually stopped in Iceland from 5 to 10 pm.

Bonfires, visits, and fireworks are the activities for New Year’s Eve.  Iceland’s Christmas season ends on January 6, when supposedly elves and trolls celebrate by dancing and singing with Icelanders.

To read more about Iceland’s Christmas and the thirteen Yule Lads, read our article “Christmas in Iceland”.

If you live in a part of the country where a white Christmas is a given part of the holiday “décor,” it may be hard to imagine a Christmas season where temperatures may still be downright balmy, and cacti instead of evergreens dot the winter landscape.  Fortunately for those who make their homes in the American southwest, there are many Christmas traditions and decorating ideas that make a desert Christmas as fun and beautiful to behold as any winter weather celebration.

One of the most beautiful Christmas traditions we find in places like Santa Fe or Tucson is the lighting of luminarias.  These lights, which resemble a little paper box, open at the top and pouring out warm brightness, have long been used to light the way to midnight mass, especially in regions where street lighting is something of a recent development.  Today the luminarias often light up walkways to the front doors of adobe houses or light the path to an outdoor holiday party.  Wherever you decorate with luminarias (for they’ve become a nationwide trend in holiday décor) be sure they are not placed at random or staggered in a garden like other outdoor lighting may be.  They are most beautiful and deliver their message best (“follow us!”) when they follow some path, be it a driveway or a sidewalk.

Outdoor parties are one reason a southwestern Christmas can be more fun than you think.  Instead of gathering indoors all evening, some desert dwellers choose to have a bonfire with friends and family.  Bonfires, like luminarias, also used to mark the spot of a Christmas mass, making the mission or church visible for miles around.  With a few heat lamps and a big grill, bonfires can even turn into Christmas dinner barbeques if the weather is still nice.  Many southwestern climates do not experience bitter weather until well into January.

Some of the more festive and funny traditions of the southwest include decorating with chili peppers instead of holly, and trimming a cactus or even a tumbleweed instead of a tree.  Really adventurous decorators swear by the “spraypainted tumbleweed.”  Why get pricked up trying to decorate the thing when you can just spraypaint it red and green?  Despite their well developed sense of humor about their warm weather holiday, southwestern folks also indulge in familiar traditions, like covering the house in Christmas lights, putting Rudolph out on the lawn, and surprising kids with a visit from Santa.

An interesting development in Christmas vacationing may make the Christmas traditions of the southwest more and more commonplace across the country.  Older people and newly retired baby boomers often seek warmer weather for their winter homes, and these “snowbirds” have been known to increase the population of desert cities by half over.  As their grandchildren come to visit at Christmas and take home stories of Utah Yules and Arizona advents, surely more and more of us will think of the Christmas tumbleweed as nothing too unusual.