The passing of time has proven that these traditions are now part of our identity, with
each society and culture able to respect their differences and know that they have their
own unique traditions by the simple act of identifying them.
Having never experienced the previous era, we can't be sure if they were as bad.
With today's available information and knowledge, though it would seem to be beneficial to adopt
some of these beliefs in order to make our lives a little better.
What if there's an explanation behind them that is at least less than mystical and what
if they aren't even tested by time?
Here are 10 traditions that you might think are real but actually aren't sure!
Number 10 - Chocolate on Valentine's Day.
Ah, Valentine's day, an occasion of romantic love affection, and most of all chocolates!
Ever wonder how the delicious confectionary got associated with the holiday of hearts.
It actually started with a guy named Richard Cadbury, whose last name you might recognize
from those chocolate bars you see at the supermarket.
In 1861, Cadbury started packaging his company's chocolates in heart shape boxes, and started
marketing it as a perfect gift for Valentine’s Day.
This moved by the British chocolate company proved enormously successful as other chocolate
manufacturing companies followed suits soon after such as Hershey's with their kisses,
a brand whose name is closely associated with what couples do during Valentine's.
Number 9 - The USA's pledge of allegiance.
Every patriotic American has the pledge memorized by heart.
In fact, even just the opening lines of the pledge makes you conjure up images of the
sun rising all over the land of the free while a bald Eagle flies over the horizon.
It's actually pretty impressive considering that the whole pledge just comes from a children's
magazine published in the 1890s called the used ‘Youth Campanion.’
In fact it wasn't until 1942, that it was formally accepted by the US Congress as ‘the
country's official pledge.
While the phrase “under God” was only included in 1954, when president Dwight D
Eisenhower ordered for it to be added after being inspired by pastor George McPherson
Daugherty Sermons.
Where he recited the pledge with the under God phrase!
Number 8 - Wedding traditions.
Humans are social animals and no other custom in history proves that you've achieved the
epitome of sociability than getting married.
It just goes to show that someone's willing to waste away with you and vice versa.
Ain't that the dream that being said, did you know that a couple of traditions associated
with matrimony are just marketing employees that have been established not too long ago.
For one there's the diamond engagement ring!
Couples make a whole show out of it.
Men spend exorbitant amounts of money for it and women gush at the idea of receiving
it.
Depending on how you look at it.
We have diamond mining powerhouse to beers, to thank or blame for it.
See the whole idea of giving and receiving engagement rings started with diamonds started
around the 1940s.
When the company employed NWA and Son, advertising agency to create the diamonds are forever
campaign targeted at couples planning to get hitched.
Since then it's become a huge, and sometimes even bloody industries.
But hey, at least it's shiny.
Number 7 - Thanksgiving turkeys Nothing says Thanksgiving, like a good old
helping of stuffing, mashed potatoes, family squabbles and of course, Turkey!
After all Americans are commemorating this holiday by mirroring exactly what the pilgrims
and natives dined on way back in 1621.
Well, that's actually a bunch of hooey.
There's no historical evidence that tells us the American forefathers really ate this
bird during the first Thanksgiving dinner.
The only reason that Thanksgiving became an official holiday and Turkey its main entree
was because Abraham Lincoln announced it in 1863, after being pestered by a magazine editor
named Sarah Heil.
Heil worked at Godey’s lady's book, which was the number one magazine in the United
States at the time, she also wrote a traditional Thanksgiving cookbook.
Whose recipes are purported to have been served at the first Thanksgiving, which she really
just created on her own to amp up sales.
Number 6 - Indian traditions Curry and Chutney One of India's signature dishes is of course
Curry with chutney being their most well known, traditional condiment.
Many Indian restaurants, all around the world won't be complete without these two dishes.
On that note many of them will be mistaken to think that Curry and chutney [are really
of Indian origin.
As world history tells us Britain had the idea of colonizing India back when Westerners
thought that subjugating other people was totally cool.
During this time, British officials stationed in the subcontinent had a liking for the spicy
dishes the nation had to offer, which actually each had a different name and mistakenly generalized
all of it as Curry.
The reason behind this whole kerfuffle is that the word Curry was just derived from
the old English word Curry.
Which really just means to cook.
In other words, Curry originally just meant any type of food rather than a distinct dish
that we think originated from India.
As for chutney.
It originally was just a pickling method used by Indians ever since 500 BC.
The chutney we know today, which is a sauce made from various ingredients, actually originates
from the British settlers of India who started preserving English, fruits, a specific type
of sauce that is a far cry from the original Indian version of it.
Chutney, as we know it today is how the Britains envisioned it and it's mainly because of their
influence that stems from interacting and trading with numerous other nations.
Number 5 - Druidism The idea of druidism claims to have been a
belief that spans millennia, that the men and women have practiced this since the Dawn
of time.
Well, that's all a lie.
The whole idea of druidism that we know today.
Actually, is just a whole fabrication by Edward Williams who adopted the name Lolo Morganwg
in the 1790s.
According to his own fantastic imagination.
The religion was a revival of millennial old traditions, which is highly improbable, considering
all the rituals and beliefs he created, came from no other source than his mind and the
many works he plagiarize such as the Myvyrian archaeology, a book containing medieval Welsh
literature.
Furthermore, he believed that he's a direct descendant of ancient Celtic Druids from the
iron age, despite you know, not having any proof to support his claim.
In any case, this is probably one of the greatest cons in human history.
Williams was able to lead a whole cultural movement in the 18th century.
Get rich while doing it and be regarded as a prominent literary authority until the 20th
century.
So much so that druidism is still quite an active movement to this day that has approximate
50,000 members throughout the world and has been recognized as a legitimate religion.
Number 4 - British Royal Coronations.
Whenever we think of Kings and Queens being crowned in England, pictures of elaborate
rituals and lavish ornaments come to mind.
It is after all a national event celebrating the highest ranking members of British society
that follows in the footsteps of the monarchs that came hundreds of years before.
Sorry to say this though, but that is all just a load of bull.
The whole concept of coronations being a grand gesture complete with pre-written prompts,
acquire, and an orchestra kneeling, and the ritual placing of the crown on the monarch's
head, not unlike what game of Thrones depicts only started in 1902.
Before that coronations were purely impromptu occasions that had no set of rules.
In fact, the previous coronation of queen Victoria, which happened in 1838 was said
to be a doll unrehearsed ceremony.
In other words, you can think of coronations the way you think of the Batman movie.
It's a franchise where some instalments aren't that critically acclaimed!
Number 3 - Kilts And Tartans Kilts and Tartans those loudly colored man
skirts that have a square pattern worn by men has become such an enduring image for
Scotland, that it has turned into an offensive stereotype.
Groundskeeper Willie wears it, Mel Gibson wore in Braveheart in fact, no depiction of
ascot from popular media is complete without them sporting this Daini garment.
However, kilts and tartans aren't even truly Scottish.
They were introduced by an Englishman.
Thomas Rawlinson an English Quaker, invented the kilt and tartan design in the 1720s as
an update to what is known as the traditional belted plaid.
Which is a huge one-piece garb akin to a Toga secured by a belt worn by Scott's prior to
the kilts invention.
Rawlinson thought that these belted plaids were too cumbersome and a separate mans skirt
provides more mobility in Scotland's terrain, hence the kilt.
Number 2 - Gift giving on Christmas.
Christmas is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the world and for some reason
it's also become the time of giving.
This leads us to the question.
When did the tradition of exchanging gifts on Christmas?
Actually start?
Sure, even Jesus' whole origin story involves three King's giving 'em gifts and the ancient
Romans traded presence and the medieval nuns of France gave away stuff to the poor, but
it was far and away from being an actual Christmas tradition.
In truth gift giving only became synonymous with Christmas as recently as 1820.
Thanks, mainly to good old commercialism back then companies ran ads during the holiday
season to boost their sales.
And by 1867, it would culminate in department store powerhouse Macy's decision to stay open
until Christmas Eves midnight for some last-minute shopping.
Furthermore, the whole concept of wrapping gifts only started in 1917 when JC and Rowley
Hall started selling French paper at 10 cents a pop.
By 1919, they began printing specially designed paper made specifically for wrapping presents.
Number 1 - Santa Claus and Christmas trees.
And since we were on the topic of Christmas, Perhaps no other two symbols encapsulate the
holiday spirit other than Santa Claus and the Christmas tree.
First off we have St. Nick himself, that jolly fat man in red that judges you every year
and rewards you with gifts or coal, depending on your performance review.
So where did the whole costume look come from?
Originally?
It was designed by artist Thomas Nath in 1892.
Although at the time the jolly fat man character was in black and white.
In the 1930s however, the Coca-Cola company went on an ad campaign that featured the same
design by Nast.
Except this time his suit has been colored red by an artist named Haddon Sundblom, their
advertising move proved to be very successful, considering it greatly boosted the sales of
their beverage, which at the time was relatively new.
Since then the red Santa suit stuck and became an almost universal image for the Christmas
season.
So there you have it the 10 traditions we believe are authentic, but are actually lies!
Sound off in the comments if you know some that weren't on the list.
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