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CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS
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Advent
There are several ways that Advent is counted
down but the most common is by a calendar or
candle(s). There are many types of calendars
used in different countries. The most common ones
in the U.K. and U.S.A. are made of paper or card
with 25 windows. A window is opened on every
day in December and a Christmas picture is
displayed underneath. When they were first made,
scenes from the Christmas Story and other
Christmas images were used, such as snowmen and
robins, but now many calendars are made in the
theme of television programmes and sports clubs.
Some of these types of calendar even have
chocolate under each window, to make every day in
December that little bit better!
There are two types of candle(s) that are used to
count down to Christmas Day in Advent. The first
looks like a normal candle, but has the days up
to Christmas Day marked down the candle. On the
first of December the candle is lit and burnt
down to the first line on the candle. The same is
done every day and then the rest of the candle is
burnt on Christmas day. An Advent Crown is
another form of candles that are used to count
down Advent. These are often used in Churches
rather than in people's homes. The crown is often
made up of a wreath of greenery and has four
candles round the outside and one in the middle
or in a separate place. Sometimes a more
traditional candelabra is used to display the
five candles.
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The Ringing of Bells
Bells have been traditionally associated with
Christmas for a long time. Bells were rung at
pagan winter celebrations. It was thought that
evil spirits could be driven out by loud noises,
and bells often accompanied singing and
shouting. Bells are mentioned in the Old
Testament as being used on the robes of the high
priest. During the Middle ages bells were rung
with increasing frequency until midnight, to warn
the devil of the approaching birth of the Christ
Child. The bells represent the church bells that
ring at the time when baby Jesus was born.
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Candles
There are many different reasons why candles are
associated with Christmas, although no one knows
when they first became connected! They were
used during ancient winter solstice celebrations
a way of remembering that spring would soon
come. Some of the earliest records of candles
being used at Christmas is from the middle ages
where a large candle was used to represent the
star of Bethlehem and also Jesus is sometimes
called The Light of the World' by Christians.
This might have started the custom of the Advent
Crown and Advent Candles. Candles were also
originally used to decorate Christmas Trees,
until safer electric lights were invented!
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Christmas Candy Canes
The Christmas Candy Cane originated in Germany
about 250 years ago and came as straight white
sugar sticks. A story goes, a choirmaster
worried about children sitting quietly all
through the long Christmas nativity service gave
them something to eat to keep them quiet! As he
wanted to remind them of Christmas, he made them
in a 'J' shape like a shepherds crook, to remind
them of the shepherds that visited the baby Jesus
at the first Christmas. Early in the 1900s the
red stripes were added and they were flavoured
with peppermint or wintergreen. Sometimes other
Christian meanings are giving to the parts of the
canes. The 'J' can also mean Jesus. The white of
the cane can represent the purity of Jesus Christ
and the red stripes are for the blood he shed
when he died on the cross. The peppermint flavour
can represent the hyssop plant that was used for
purifying in the Bible.
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Carols
Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of
years ago, but these were not Christmas Carols.
They were pagan songs, sung at the Winter
Solstice celebrations as people danced round
stone circles. The Winter Solstice is the
shortest day of the year, usually taking place
around the 22nd December. The word Carol actually
means dance or a song of praise and joy! Carols
used to be written and sung during all four
seasons, but only the tradition of singing them
at Christmas has really survived! When Oliver
Cromwell and the Puritans came to power in
England in 1647, they banned Christmas and the
singing of carols. However, the carols survived
as people still sang them in secret. Carols
remained mainly unsung until Victorian times,
when two gentlemen by the names of William Sandys
and Davis Gilbert collected lots of old
Christmas music from villages in England. One
of the most popular types of Carols services are
Carols by Candlelight. At this service, the
church is lit by candlelight, giving the feeling
of Christmas.
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Christmas Cards
The custom of sending Christmas cards was started
in the UK in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a
civil servant who was very interested in the new
'Public Post Office' and wondered how it could be
used more by ordinary people. He had the idea of
Christmas Cards with his friend John Horsley, who
was an artist, they designed the first card and
sold them for 1 shilling each. The card had
three panels as shown on the left. The outer two
showed people caring for the poor and the centre
panel was a family having a large Christmas
dinner! Some people didn't like the card
because it showed a child being given a glass of
wine! The first post that ordinary people could
use was started in 1840 when the first 'Penny
Post' public postal deliveries began. Before
that, only very rich people could afford to send
anything in the post. The new Post Office was
able to offer a Penny stamp because new railways
were being built. These could carry much more
post than the horse and carriage that had been
used before. Also, trains could go a lot faster.
Cards became even more popular in the UK when
they could be posted in an unsealed envelope for
one halfpenny - half the price of an ordinary
letter.
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Christingle
Christingle actually means 'Christ Light' and
celebrates the light of Jesus coming into the
world but no one is really sure how Christingles
came into being. The story goes Many years
ago, children were asked to take a gift to put
beside the crib in Church. One family had no
money for gifts but were determined to take
something. They found an orange which they felt
would be okay, but were disappointed to find it
was going mouldy at the top. However, they
thought they would scoop out the bad bits and put
a candle in the top and turn it into a lantern.
Thinking that it looked a bit ordinary, one of
the girls took a red ribbon from her hair and
tied it around the middle. They had difficulty
getting it to stay in place, so fastened it with
four small sticks, on the ends of which they put
a few raisins. They took their lantern to
church and were afraid of the reactions of the
other children. However, the priest acknowledged
their gift and told the congregation how special
it was for the following reasons
The orange is round like the world. The candle
stands tall and straight and gives light in the
dark like the love of God. The red ribbon goes
all around the 'world' and is a symbol of the
blood Jesus shed when he died for us. The four
sticks point in all directions and symbolise
North, South, East and West - they also
represent the four seasons. Fruit and nuts (or
sometimes sweets!) represent the fruits of the
earth, nurtured by the sunshine and the rain.
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Christmas Crackers
The Christmas Cracker was devised in 1847 by an
English confectioner and stationery manufacturer,
whilst on holiday in Paris with his family. At a
time when English sweets were still sold loose
from the trays they were made in, his children
discovered the Parisian Bon-Bons - coated sugar
lollies wrapped in a twist of coloured paper -
quite a novelty and rather more hygienic he
concluded. He liked the idea so much that on his
return to England he wrapped his lollies in
similar paper and, unwittingly, began the
development of his own Bon-Bons. In the early
days, the crackers were called Bon Bons - meaning
lollies or candies in French - and as a
consequence were still quite small in size with a
fairly plain wrapping. Later he added a coloured
outer wrapper and a friction strip consisting
of two overlapping strips of cardboard coated
with a small amount of explosive powder - that is
inside all ordinary crackers - and joined
together, which became known as a "snap" -
because when the cracker is pulled apart the
strips rub across each other setting off a
chemical reaction that produces an audible bang.
At the same time - as a confectioner - he would
have been familiar with the popular Italian
custom of having a surprise "trinket" inside
chocolate Easter eggs and also with the ancient
Chinese custom of inserting a fortune prediction
"motto" inside the fortune cookies. By putting
all these ideas together on his return from the
Paris family holiday, the Christmas Cracker was
born complete with a surprise novelty gift, a
trinket, a tissue paper hat, a snap to make a
bang when pulled apart and a piece of paper with
a joke or motto - a maxim of appropriate
character to express a principle or ideal suited
to the occasion. After more than 150 years, the
time-honoured tradition of having a Christmas
Cracker at each place setting for Christmas still
continues.
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Colours
There are several colours which are traditionally
associated with Christmas - why do we have them
and what do the colours represent?
GREEN Evergreen plants, like Holly, Ivy and
Mistletoe have been used for thousands of years
to decorate and brighten up buildings during the
long dark winter. They also reminded people that
spring would come and that winter wouldn't last
forever! The Romans would exchange evergreen
branches during January as a sign of good luck.
The ancient Egyptians used to bring palm branches
into their houses during the mid winter
festivals. Now the most common use of green at
Christmas are Christmas Trees WHITE White is
often associated with purity and peace in western
cultures. The snow of winter is also very
white! White paper wafers were also sometimes
used to decorate paradise trees. The wafers
represented the bread eaten during Christian
Communion or Mass, when Christians remember that
Jesus died for them. White is used by most
churches as the colour of Christmas, when the
altar is covered with a white cloth. RED An
early use of red at Christmas were the apples on
the paradise tree. They represented the fall of
Adam in the plays. Red is also the colour of
Holly berries, which is said to represent the
blood of Jesus when he died on the cross. Red is
also the colour of Bishops robes. These would
have been worn by St Nicholas, eventually red
became Santa's uniform! BLUE The colour blue is
often associated with Mary, the mother of Jesus.
In medieval times blue dye and paint was more
expensive than gold! So it would only be worn by
Royal families and very rich people. Mary was
often painted wearing blue to show she was very
important GOLD Gold is the color of the Sun and
light - both very important in the dark winter.
It's also the color of fire that you need to keep
you warm. Gold was also one of the presents
brought to the baby Jesus by one of the wise men
and traditionally is the color used to show the
star that the wise men followed. Silver is
sometimes used instead of (or with) gold, but
gold is a 'warmer' colour.
During Advent, purple and sometimes blue is used
in most churches for the colour of the altar
cloth.
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Christmas Stocking
Like all good legends, the story of the Christmas
stocking has many versions. The original story
has evolved to allow for differences in culture,
time period, and good old fashioned
story-telling. So it's hard to pin down exactly
how the Christmas stocking tradition started, but
too much exactness isn't any fun, and certainly
not in the spirit of Christmas. So here's a
favourite version of the story Once there was a
father with three beautiful daughters. Although
the daughters were kind and strong, the father
despaired of them ever making good marriages,
because he didn't have enough money to pay their
dowries. One day, St. Nicholas of Myra was
passing through their village and heard the
locals discussing the plight of these poor girls.
St Nicholas knew the father would be too proud to
accept an outright gift. So he waited till dark,
snuck to the man's house, and dropped three bags
of gold coins down the chimney. The daughters
had spent the evening washing clothes, and had
hung their stockings by the fireplace to dry. The
gold coins dropped into the stockings, one bag
for each daughter. In the morning, they awoke to
find enough money to make them each a generous
dowry, and all married well and happily. As word
of St. Nicholas' generosity spread, others began
to hang their stockings by the fireplace, hoping
for a similar gift.
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Santa Claus
The real Santa Claus was Saint Nicholas a fourth
century Bishop in Turkey. Famous for acts of
kindness, especially towards children. He is the
patron saint of sail children. He became
popular in Holland, where he was known as "Sinter
Klaas". Dutch children would place their wooden
shoes by the hearth in hopes that they would be
filled with a treat. Around 1870, the Americans
turned the name into Santa Claus. In nineteenth
century Britain the Elizabethan character Father
Christmas - the jolly old man imagined to provide
the Christmas feast - merged with Santa.
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Wreaths of Holly and Berries
Christmas wreaths combine two symbols of
everlasting life. The evergreen bough, that stays
green all winter and a continuous unbroken
circular shape. They are traditionally displayed
on the front door of a home during the weeks of
Advent and the Christmas season. It is believed
that the wreaths also to protect the homes from
evil spirits. Druids once believed that holly,
with its shiny leaves and red berries stayed
green in Winter to keep the earth beautiful when
the sacred Oak lost it leaves. Holly was the
sacred plant of Saturn and was used at the Roman
Saturnalia festival to honour him. Romans gave
one another holly wreaths and carried them about
decorating images of Saturn with it. Holly in
Christianity, serves as a reminder of the crown
of thorns worn by Jesus Christ at his crucifixion.
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Mistletoe
Mistletoe is a plant that grows on willow and
apple trees. The tradition of hanging it in the
house goes back to the times of the ancient
Druids. It is supposed to possess mystical powers
which bring good luck to the household and ward
off evil spirits. When the first Christians came
to Western Europe, some tried to ban the use of
Mistletoe as a decoration in Churches, but many
still continued to use it! York Minster Church in
the UK used to hold a special Mistletoe Service
in the winter, where wrong doers in the city of
York could come and be pardoned. The custom of
kissing under Mistletoe comes from England! The
original custom was that a berry was picked from
the sprig of Mistletoe before the person could be
kissed and when all the berries had gone, there
could be no more kissing!
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Christmas Lights
The Christmas tree was adopted in upper-class
homes in 18th-century Germany, where it was
occasionally decorated with candles, which at the
time was a comparatively expensive light source.
Candles for the tree were glued with melted wax
to a tree branch or attached by pins. Around
1890, candleholders were first used for Christmas
candles. Between 1902 and 1914, small lanterns
and glass balls to hold the candles started to be
used. Early electric Christmas lights were
introduced with electrification, beginning in the
1880s.
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Tree Toppers
Today, Christmas trees are often bedecked with
Christmas angels and fairies. The Christmas tree
topper was traditionally a star or angel, but can
also be a fairy residing over the twinkling
lights. It is said that early Christmas trees
had figures of fairies in place of angels. These
represented good spirits, while horns and bells
were once used to frighten away evil
spirits. The fairy at the top of the Christmas
tree was originally a little figure of the baby
Jesus.
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Christmas Tree
There are many historical clues that ensure the
importance of Christmas tree. Long time ago,
people used to believe that evergreen trees were
magical. Because, even in winter, when all the
other trees and were brown and bare, the
evergreen tree stayed strong and green. People
started calling the evergreen as a symbol of life
and as a sure sign that sunshine and spring would
soon return. The modern custom of an indoor
Christmas tree is thought to have originated in
Germany. They used to bring trees into their
homes to decorate their homes. Later, with time
it gained popularity and now Christmas tree
became synonymous to Christmas.
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Poinsettia
Owing to its flame leaf, the poinsettia is
sometimes called the Christmas Star. Mexico's
legend of the Poinsettia tells of a poor Mexican
girl Maria and her little brother Pablo who were
disappointed they had no money to buy a present
for baby Jesus at the annual Mexican Christmas
festival On Christmas eve Maria and Pablo
stopped to pick some weeds, for baby Jesus. As
they placed the weeds around the Manger, the
green leaves miraculously turned into bright red
petals.
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Christmas Pudding
The plum pudding's association with Christmas
goes back to medieval England with the Roman
Catholic Church's decree that the "pudding should
be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity, that it
be prepared with 13 ingredients to represent
Christ and the 12 apostles, and that every family
member stir it in turn from east to west to
honour the Magi and their supposed journey in
that direction. Although it took its final form
in Victorian England, the pudding's origins can
be traced back to the 1420s, to two sources. It
emerged not as a confection or a dessert at all,
but as a way of preserving meat at the end of the
season. Because of shortages of fodder, all
surplus livestock were slaughtered in the autumn.
The meat was then kept in a pastry case along
with dried fruits acting as a preservative. The
resultant large "mince pies" could then be used
to feed hosts of people, particularly at the
festive season. Plum porridge - a soft, sweet
mixture enriched with dried fruit, known as plums
- was a luxury for Elizabethans. In the
eighteenth century In 1714, King George I
(sometimes known as the Pudding King) requested
that plum pudding be served as part of his royal
feast in his first Christmas in It was not until
the 1830s that the cannon-ball of flour, fruits,
suet, sugar and spices, all topped with holly,
made a definite appearance, becoming more and
more associated with Christmas.
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Mince Pies
Mince Pies, like Christmas Pudding, were
originally filled with meat, such as lamb, rather
than a dried fruit mix as they are today. They
were also first made in an oval shape to
represent the manger that Jesus slept in as a
baby, with the top representing his swaddling
clothes. Now they are normally made in a round
shape and are eaten hot or cold. A custom from
the middle ages says that if you eat a mince pie
on every day from Christmas to Twelfth Night (6th
January) you will have happiness for the next 12
months! On Christmas Eve, children in the UK.
often leave out mince pies with brandy or some
similar drink for Father Christmas, and a carrot
for the reindeer.
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Presents
All over the world, families and friends give
presents to each other. Most children around the
world believe in a Christmas gift bringer. It's
often St. Nicholas, Santa Claus or Father
Christmas, but in Germany they believe that it is
the Christkind, in Spain they believe it is the
Wise Men and in Italy they believe it is an old
lady called Befana. These presents are also left
in different places! In most of Europe, the
presents are left in shoes or boots put out by
the children. In Italy, the UK and the USA
presents are left in stockings, often left
hanging by a fire place. In many countries,
presents for friends and family may be left under
the Christmas Tree. In the UK, they are often
opened on Christmas day morning with all the
family together.
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Pantomime
Pantomime (or 'Panto' for short!) is a
traditional British Christmas play and chance for
people to go to the theatre. But it really came
from very un-British traditions, nothing to do
with Christmas whatever!! There are four
classic pantomime stories Cinderella, Aladdin,
Dick Whittington and His Cat (based on a 17th
century play), and Jack and the Beanstalk.
Because of their popularity, major theatres
tend to stage these in a four-year
cycle. Smaller theatres and amateur companies
sometimes perform a wider range of stories, but
still within a relatively narrow rangemostly
based on the fairy tales
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The Nativity
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of
Jesus. The word nativity comes from the Latin
word 'natal' which means birth. It is
traditional in the UK for Primary schools to put
on a Nativity Play for the parents and local
people associated with the school. The Nativity
Play recreates the scene of Jesus' Birth, in the
stable and tells of how Mary and Joseph were
visited by the Shepherds and Wise Men. The parts
of Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds and the Wise Men
are played by children. The first Nativity
Play was not performed by Children in the UK, but
in a cave by Monks in Italy! St. Francis of
Assisi and his followers acted in the first play
in 1223 to remind the local population that Jesus
was born for them, as he was born into a poor
family like theirs and not to a rich family.
St. Francis told the part of each character in
the story himself using wooden figures in the
play. After a couple of years, the play had
become so popular that real people played the
parts of the characters in the story. Songs were
sung by the people taking part and they became
what we call carols today! Now cribs are used
in Churches all over the world and even in some
homes.
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