Fun Holiday Facts About Christmas:
Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.All the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas would equal 364 gifts.
The “true love” mentioned in the song “Twelve Days of Christmas” does not refer to a romantic couple, but the Catholic Church’s code for God. The person who receives the gifts represents someone who has accepted that code. For example, the “partridge in a pear tree” represents Christ. The “two turtledoves” represent the Old and New Testaments.
In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ.
The traditional three colors of Christmas are green, red, and gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.
Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850.
According to the Guinness world records, the tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas fir that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington.
Alabama was the first state in the United States to officially recognize Christmas in 1836.
Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.
Oklahoma was the last U.S. state to declare Christmas a legal holiday, in 1907.
Santa Claus is based on a real person, St. Nikolas of Myra (also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker, Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna, and Nikolaos of Bari), who lived during the fourth century. Born in Patara (in modern-day Turkey), he is the world’s most popular non-Biblical saint, and artists have portrayed him more often than any other saint except Mary. He is the patron saint of banking, pawnbroking, pirating, butchery, sailing, thievery, orphans, royalty, and New York City.
Christmas stockings allegedly evolved from three sisters who were too poor to afford a marriage dowry and were, therefore, doomed to a life of prostitution. They were saved, however, when the wealthy Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna (the precursor to Santa Claus) crept down their chimney and generously filled their stockings with gold coins.
It is estimated that the single “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the best selling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.
In 1962, the first Christmas postage stamp was issued in the United States.
Christmas purchases account for 1/6 of all retail sales in the U.S.
The first printed reference to a Christmas tree was in 1531 in Germany.
Approximately 30-35 million real (living) Christmas trees are sold each year in the U.S.
The image of Santa Claus flying his sleigh began in 1819 and was created by Washington Irving, the same author who dreamt up the Headless Horseman.
From our staff and families at Boehmer Law we wish you all very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.
