Have yourself a Fruity Christmas!

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 8

What you need to make your own Christmas fruit tree is:

• An apple with a carrot on top
• A whole mess of toothpicks
• Various pieces of fruit
• And blueberries for tinsel

Enjoy!

Thomas Hewitt Jones' 'A Christmas Cracker'

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 7

You may recognise the name Thomas Hewitt Jones. He was the composer behind the music for the London 2012 / LOCOG Mascot Animated Films at this year's Olympics in London and he's now turned his hand to Christmas music with A Christmas Cracker.

You can listen to an extract of it here:



You can find out more about Thomas Hewitt Jones here.

Happy Feast Day of Saint Nicholas!

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 6

Saint Nicholas Day, which is celebrated on 6 December (but on 19 December in most Orthodox countries), is a festival primarily for children. It occurs in many countries in Europe and relates to legends told of the saint, but particularly his reputation as a bringer of gifts.

Saint Nicholas is now better known as Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, of course. But have you heard these facts about the jolly fat man with the big sack before?

• A Dutch tradition kept St. Nicholas' story alive in the form of Sinterklaas, a bishop who travelled from house to house to deliver treats to children on the night of 5 December. The first anglicising of the name to Santa Claus was in a story that appeared in a New York City newspaper in 1773.

• Clement Moore's 1822 poem A Visit From Saint Nicholas was first published anonymously on 23 December 1823. The 56-line poem introduced and popularised many of Santa's defining characteristics, chiefly that he drove a sleigh guided by "eight tiny reindeer."

• In 1890, Massachusetts businessman James Edgar became the first department store Santa. Edgar is credited with coming up with the idea of dressing up in a Santa Claus costume as a marketing tool. Children from all over the state dragged their parents to Edgar's small dry goods store in Brockton, and a tradition was born.

• In his satiric 1809 book A History of New York, Washington Irving did away with the characterisation of Santa Claus as a "lanky bishop". Instead, Irving described Santa as a portly, bearded man who smokes a pipe. Irving's story also marked the first time Santa slid down the chimney.

• The first mention of a spouse for Santa was in the 1849 short story A Christmas Legend by James Rees. Over the next several years, the idea of Mrs Claus found its way into several literary publications, but it wasn't until Katherine Lee Bates' widely-circulated 1889 poem Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride that Santa's wife was popularised.

"Goody" is short for "Goodwife," or "Mrs", but I always thought that Mrs Claus was called Mary... Mary Christmas... or was it Santa Barbara...?

 

If you have any more questions about Father Christmas and the Christmas traditions most associate with him, then you need to pick up a copy of What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas, published in the US as Christmas Miscellany.

Christmas Lights - Gangnam Style

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 5



If you liked that, you'll probably like this one from last year too...

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 4

These days we take the traditional Christmas tree for granted. After all, it's - well - traditional!

But to find out precisely how the Christmas tree became a staple of the festive season, you need to pick up a copy of What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas, or the US version, Christmas Miscellany.

But while you're waiting for your copy to arrive, did you know that six species account for about 90 per cent of the Christmas tree trade in the United States? Scots pine (also known as Scotch pine) ranks first, with about 40 percent of the market, followed by Douglas fir, which accounts for about 35 percent. The other big sellers are noble fir, white pine, balsam fir and white spruce.

The first national American Christmas Tree was lit in 1923 on the White House lawn by President Calvin Coolidge, while Franklin Pierce was the first president to introduce the Christmas tree to the White House in 1856.

Santa Sunday

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 3

Nearly 300 skiing and snowboarding Santas took part in the 'Santa Sunday' event yesterday at the Sunday River resort in America. This was the thirteenth time the charity event had been held, and it seems to go down particularly well with the hundreds of kids who turn out to watch.

People donated money to charity, then got to ski free dressed as Father Christmas.

You can watch a video of the event here.

If you have any more questions about the history and traditions of Christmas, then you'll probably find them answered in What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas, published in the US as Christmas Miscellany.

The Three Wise Men

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 2

In 2004, the General Synod of the Church of England agreed to a revision of the Book of Common Prayer. A committee agreed that the term Magi, as used in the Bible, was the name used by officials at the Persian court. This means that not only were the three wise men who visited Jesus not kings, they did not number three and were possibly not even wise. They might even have been female as well!

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If you have anymore questions about the history and traditions of Christmas, then you'll probably find them answered in What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas, published in the US as Christmas Miscellany.