Christmas Trivia

Challenge yourself with some Christmas trivia and see how much you know about this iconic holiday. With so much effort and time put into holiday traditions every year, it’s perhaps the most popular and familiar tradition that Americans take part in. However, there is probably quite a bit about the holiday season that you aren’t aware of, like the origin of its traditions and some of the eccentric traditions other countries bring to the celebration.

What is some interesting Christmas trivia about American traditions?

Santa Claus is one of the most famous holiday icons in America, but his current form was actually a marketing initiative created by the Coca-Cola Company. The red and white trimmed suit Santa wears is made to mimic the company’s color scheme. Coca-Cola’s take on the jolly old man was so popular that it remains the classic take.

The real origin of Santa Claus was likely from Saint Nicholas, a person of great charity who handed out gifts to the poor and suffering in 4th century Greece. The Saint Nicholas tradition was brought to America by Dutch immigrants, who referred to the saint as Sinter Klaas. And though Santa Claus hasn’t really caught on as a widely used name for others, there are still around 80 people in the U.S. with it as their official name.

Of course, it isn’t an American holiday without some kind of shopping. Black Friday is considered by most people to be the busiest shopping day of the year, but it’s only between the fifth and 10th busiest shopping day. The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days. And this shopping does run up some impressive debt. In fact, the average American will require about six months to pay off their credit card debt arising from holiday shopping.

Some of the shopping includes holiday decorations, with 37 million live trees selling every year. However, since 1991, artificial trees have outsold natural trees every year.

Are there some interesting pieces of Christmas trivia associated with other countries’ traditions?

England may be the only country that takes the holiday more seriously than America. In fact, the first holiday card was created in England, all the way back in 1842. And the English make their dogs a part of the holiday as well, as seven out of 10 dogs in England will receive a gift from their owners.

In America, people prefer their trees free of insects, but in Ukraine, it’s considered good luck. Ukrainians decorate their trees with artificial spider webs. If a natural spun spider web is found, it is a good sign for the family’s prospects for the next year. That’s probably not a tradition that’s getting imported to the U.S. anytime soon.

There’s always more to learn about such an important global holiday, but armed with these tidbits of interesting information, you’ll be ready to entertain family and friends this year.