Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created as a promotion for an American department store?
True False
True: Montgomery Ward published the story in 1939 to give away as a promotional booklet. Copywriter Robert L. May wrote the story in verse for the Chicago-based retailer, which had been buying colouring books to give away but wanted its own to save money. Around two and a half million copies were distributed in the first year alone.
The modern Christmas tree tradition originated in Italy?
True False
False: It originated in 16th-century Germany. Decorated fir trees first appeared in parts of 16th-century Germany, particularly the Alsace region. The custom spread to Britain in the 19th century and became firmly established across the English-speaking world during the Victorian era.
The song Jingle Bells was originally written for Thanksgiving?
True False
True: James Lord Pierpont wrote it in 1857 for a Thanksgiving Sunday school performance. The song was originally titled 'One Horse Open Sleigh' and makes no mention of Christmas in its lyrics, describing instead a rowdy winter sleigh ride.
In the carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, the partridge is sitting in a pear tree?
True False
True: A partridge in a pear tree is the gift on the first day. Add up all the gifts cumulatively across the twelve days and you get 364 - one for every day of the year except Christmas Day itself.
The film Elf starring Will Ferrell was released in 2003?
True False
True: Directed by Jon Favreau, released in November 2003. The film grossed over $220 million worldwide, established Will Ferrell as a leading comic actor, and has since become a modern Christmas staple alongside older classics.
Boxing Day is named after the sport of boxing, traditionally held on 26th December?
True False
False: It's named after the Christmas boxes of gifts or money given to servants and tradespeople. The tradition of giving 'Christmas boxes' to servants, errand boys and the poor dates back several centuries in Britain. In modern times Boxing Day has also become strongly associated with football fixtures and the start of the retail sales.
One of Santa's reindeer, Donner, has a name that means thunder in German?
True False
True: Donner is the German word for thunder. Donner and his partner Blitzen derive from the German 'Donder und Blitzen' - thunder and lightning. Their names were slightly adapted from Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas'.
Mistletoe is a type of flower native to the Mediterranean?
True False
False: It's a semi-parasitic plant, and it grows across Europe, North America and many other regions. Mistletoe is not a flower but a woody, hemi-parasitic plant that attaches itself to the branches of host trees. It is found widely across temperate regions, including throughout the UK.
Bing Crosby recorded the best-selling single of all time with White Christmas?
True False
True: His 1942 recording is the best-selling single ever. Written by Irving Berlin, the song is estimated to have sold over 50 million copies worldwide and retains the Guinness World Record as the best-selling single of all time.
In most countries, Christmas Day is celebrated on the 24th of December?
True False
False: Christmas Day is the 25th of December. The 24th is Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve (24th) does have particular significance in some countries such as Germany, Poland and the Nordic nations, where the main celebration and gift-giving traditionally take place that evening, but the feast day itself is 25th December.
Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843?
True False
True: It was first published on 19th December 1843. Dickens wrote the novella in just six weeks. It sold out its first print run within days and is widely credited with shaping Victorian Britain's revival of Christmas traditions around family, charity and celebration.
The Christmas carol Silent Night was first performed in Austria?
True False
True: It was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 in Oberndorf, Austria. Written by priest Joseph Mohr with music by Franz Xaver Gruber, the carol was reportedly first performed on guitar because the church organ was broken. It has since been translated into hundreds of languages.
The poinsettia plant is native to Mexico?
True False
True: It grows wild in southern Mexico and Central America. Known in Mexico as 'Flor de Nochebuena' (Christmas Eve Flower), the plant takes its English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US Minister to Mexico, who introduced it to the United States in the 1820s.
The first commercial Christmas card was produced in Canada?
True False
False: It was produced in England by Sir Henry Cole in 1843. Sir Henry Cole commissioned artist John Callcott Horsley to design the card, and around 1,000 copies were printed and sold in London - coincidentally the same year Dickens published 'A Christmas Carol'.
Christmas crackers were invented by a London sweet maker named Tom Smith?
True False
True: He created them in the 1840s, inspired by the French bon-bon wrapper. Smith added the signature 'crack' by incorporating a small strip of chemically-treated card, transforming the simple sweet wrapper into the festive table staple still pulled across the UK today.
Male reindeer keep their antlers all year round, while females shed theirs in winter?
True False
False: It's the other way round — males shed antlers in early winter; females keep theirs through to spring. Because Santa's reindeer are traditionally depicted with antlers on Christmas Eve, they would technically have to be female - or castrated males - to still have them at that time of year.
A traditional British Christmas pudding contains thirteen ingredients, said to represent Jesus and the twelve apostles?
True False
True: The count of thirteen ingredients is the traditional symbolism. Classic recipes include raisins, currants, sultanas, candied peel, suet, flour, breadcrumbs, eggs, milk, brandy, sugar, mixed spice and lemon - adding up to the symbolic thirteen.
Wassailing is the old English tradition of going door-to-door singing carols and sharing a spiced drink?
True False
True: Wassail is a spiced cider drink, and wassailing has been a Christmas custom in England for centuries. The word comes from the Old English 'waes hael', meaning 'be well'. In parts of western England, wassailing still involves singing to apple trees in January to encourage a good harvest the following year.
The image of a red-and-white-suited Santa Claus was invented by Coca-Cola in the 1930s?
True False
False: The red-suited Santa pre-dates Coca-Cola — he appeared in Thomas Nast cartoons from the 1880s. Coca-Cola popularised, but did not invent, the look. Cartoonist Thomas Nast drew a plump, red-suited Santa for Harper's Weekly from the 1860s onwards. Coca-Cola's famous 1931 Haddon Sundblom illustrations simply cemented the image in global popular culture.
Eggnog is traditionally flavoured with nutmeg?
True False
True: Nutmeg is the classic flavouring, usually grated over the top. Eggnog typically combines milk, cream, sugar and beaten eggs, served cold with a sprinkle of nutmeg on top. Adult versions are commonly fortified with brandy, rum or bourbon.
