Christmas trivia you probably didn’t know

The first known candy cane was made in 1670, allegedly by a German choirmaster to help children endure lengthy nativity services. They were white and supposedly modelled after shepherds’ canes – although like many religion-themed myths surrounding the origin of candy canes, there’s no evidence of this, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

You might think you learned the truth about Santa Claus as a child, but you probably don’t know everything about his origin story. Santa Claus wasn’t always the red-suited, white-bearded man he is today: As explained in National Geographic, Saint Nicholas was a real person who lived in Greece in the fourth century, who was known for gift-giving and whose feast day happens to be on December 6.

Dutch children have long cheered the annual coming of Sinterklaas – known also as St. Nicholas – who sports a crimson mitre and rolls into town on a steamboat filled with presents in mid-November. Then, he rides around on his mighty white steed Amerigo and distributes gifts. Over time, Sinterklaas’s image was transmuted into Santa’s, and Amerigo became a sled with flying reindeer.

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Washington Irving is generally considered the first man to significantly transform the Dutch Sinterklaas into “Santa Claus.” In his book History of New York, he spoofed the gift-giving legend and portrayed Santa Claus as a pipe-smoking sailor in a green coat. Then, inspired at least in part by Sinterklaas and the history of St. Nicholas, author Clement Clarke Moore wrote a poem titled A Visit from St. Nicholas, aka. The Night Before Christmas. From this work came much of what we now associate with Santa Claus: the flying reindeer, his ample gut, and jolly laughter.

Speaking of Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” one of the most hotly debated topics is whether Santa was actually conceived by the author as an elf. In the poem, he arrived with “a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.” He’s also described as the sleigh’s “little old driver” and “a right jolly old elf” – maybe that’s how he could fit down the chimney!

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Fun fact: Although the poem mentions Santa was dressed in fur, nowhere does it mention the fur was red. That addition came in the 19th century from illustrator Thomas Nast, who was largely responsible for popularising our modern image of Santa – along with Coca-Cola, which used his likeness extensively in Christmas ads since 1931.

You can thank Ol’ Saint Nick for those treats in your Christmas stocking. According to legend, St. Nicholas heard about a widower who was worried his three daughters would never marry because they were so poor. He found out where the family lived and snuck down their chimney that night. He saw the girls’ socks drying over the fireplace, filled them with gold coins, and disappeared. When the girls got up the next morning, they realised they finally had dowries to get married.

Unlike other holiday traditions with somewhat nebulous origins, the Christmas card has a start date: 1843. In that year, Victoria and Albert Museum founder Henry Cole had cards printed to send to friends as a time-saving measure to answer all his mail around the holidays – and the idea caught on.

Many people know Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer as a fun-loving reindeer who saves Santa and Christmas. But how did that story originate? Montgomery Ward created the character of Rudolph back in 1939 as a way to sell a book and make more money.

Xmas is more than just an abbreviation for Christmas. You might think it’s a recent term to make texting easier, however, Xmas actually dates back to the 1500s!

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Source: RD.com