[Christmas Background Music Starts]
From Kentucky Fried Chicken to kissing under the mistletoe we countdown our Top 10 Things
You Probably Didn't Know About Christmas.
#10: Santa Clause has a real zip code in Canada. Most children have written letters to the
jolly red man over the decades. However, there is a real world location that people can send
their letters to Santa. If done before the deadline, they will even get a response back
before Christmas. The address? Santa Clause. North Pole. H0H 0H0. Canada.
#9: The first song ever composed and recorded in space was a Christmas song.
Chris Hadfield was an astronaut known for his social media savvy while on the job. He
was always taking pictures from space and daily life and posting them back to Earth.
Well one Christmas Eve, he sent out a song to his family. His Christmas song, Jewel of
my Heart, went viral soon after.
#8: The first mass produced artificial Christmas tree was made of… toilet brushes.
Artificial trees had been around for quite a while before this, mostly as goose down
secured to metal branches. The Addis brush company looked at these trees and knew that
they could be made better. They used the same technology that constructed their brush bristles,
only they dyed them green. The result was a sturdier and longer lasting tree that could
hold larger and heavier ornaments.
#7: Japan eats Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas
In Japan, there is a huge shortage of turkeys. You can't find a turkey hardly anywhere on
a layman's budget. Kentucky Fried chicken, seeing a huge niche to fill in the Christmas
market, introduced their 1974 marketing campaign “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!” which means
Kentucky for Christmas!.The campaign was a smashing success. Their special “Christmas
chicken” comes with cake and champagne. It has become such a common fixture for a
Christmas celebration in Japan that people wait in line for as long as two hours to get
their share of the finger-licking good Christmas dinner.
#6: NORAD's Sixty Year stretch of Santa tracking started with a typo.
A newspaper ad for the Colorado Springs Sears and Roebuck was supposed to send children
to a hotline where they could talk to Santa. Instead, there was a typo that sent the children
straight to the Continental Air Defense Command's Hotline. Colonel Henry Shoup was directing
NORAD at the time. Instead of turning away masses of disappointed children, the Colonel
had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa and gave the children updates. This
started a yearly tradition that NORAD took over in 1958.
#5: “The 12 Days of Christmas” was a Catholic Code
From 1558 to 1829, Roman Catholics were not allowed to practice their faith openly. During
that time period, someone wrote the 12 Days of Christmas to teach young Catholics the
various realities of their faith. The song had two meanings: There is the literal one
that we enjoy singing. Then there is a coded symbol for a child to remember. For example,
'Six geese a Laying” referred to the six days of creation.
#4: There is Etiquette to Kissing under the Mistletoe.
Mistletoe was used in ancient times as a symbol of love and fertility. It was also used to
promote good luck.. Most people have seen this sprig over the doorway of a Christmas
party at least once. It was not until the Victorian era that couples started a tradition
of kissing under the mistletoe in the doorway. It was said that anyone who kissed under the
mistletoe would be granted good luck over the next year. But there were limited uses
on this luck it seems! Whenever a man kisses a woman under the mistletoe, they are expected
to take a berry off the sprig. When the berries run out, there was no more kissing under that
mistletoe. Those left out had to wait until next year.. or the next party.
#3: Christmas used to be Illegal in the United States.
Being no one knows the actual day of Christ's birth, December 25th was chosen as the day
of celebration by Bishop Liberius in the year 354. This coincidentally fell on a pagan holiday,
known in some regions as Saturnalia and others as Yule. Puritans refused to acknowledge the
holiday, claiming it was a man-made holiday of revelry rather than the day of Christ's
birth. When they traveled to the colonies, motions were made to ban the celebration of
Christmas. It became illegal from 1651 to 1681, with a fine of five shillings if you
were caught.
#2 Santa gets more than milk and cookies for Christmas.
Milk and cookies for Santa is a common tradition seen in movies, books and households around
the world. However, some places are a little more creative in their tributes to Jolly old
Saint Nick. Kids in Chili leave him a spiced sponge cake, while in Denmark families favor
leaving a bowl of rice pudding. Many countries also have a custom of leaving carrots or hay
for the reindeer. The number one gift to Santa from the grown ups of Australia? A nice cold
beer
#1: The Christmas Tree became fashionable due to Celebrity Culture
Large numbers of people emulate the fashion of those they look up to, from clothing to
tiny dogs in oversized purses. In 1848, 'celebrities' included Queen Victoria and the royal family.
Before this, decorating a tree around Yule has been a tradition long before Christianity
began. However, by and large it was not THE thing to do for Christmas. The practice was
most prominent in Germany. When Queen Victoria wed Germany's Prince Albert, he brought the
tradition of the Christmas tree with him to the castle. When London news featured a sketch
of the royal family standing around their Christmas tree, it immediately became fashionable
in Britain and the East Coast American Society. It quickly spread into a common symbol of
Christmas in the States and other countries from there.
Hey guys fresh here and thanks for watching my video on the Top Ten Things You Probably
Didn't Know About Christmas. If you use twitter, feel free to follow me @freshjiivetv there
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