246 – Do You Know the Origin of Our Christmas Traditions? Some Will Surprise You!
This is a special holiday edition of the podcast. We go back to learn about the origin some of the non-religious traditions of Christmas. You’re in for some fun and surprises!
What other time of the year can you add fantasy into your life, without excuse, as much as you can on Christmas?
Traditions are so special. They bond us to one another and provide comfort and excitement with expectation of familiar and heartwarming events remembered from childhood.
It’s a time when we can celebrate memories of past relatives too, since many of our individual family traditions have been handed down from them.
I thought it would be fun to learn how some of the well-known traditions of Christmas got started. It’s fascinating to discover the beginnings of symbols and activities we accept and never question.
Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
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Thank so much! Sue
Transcript
Gift biz unwrapped episode 246 At Tinton,
Speaker:gifters, bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun whether you
Speaker:have an established business or looking to start one now you
Speaker:are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights Pope.
Speaker:Oh, Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue and thanks for joining me today on this special
Speaker:holiday episode of gift biz on wrapped.
Speaker:My son says,
Speaker:I turn into a 10 year old at Christmas.
Speaker:He's probably right,
Speaker:but what other time of year can you add fantasy and
Speaker:all the traditions into your life without excuse as much as
Speaker:you can on Christmas?
Speaker:Traditions are so special.
Speaker:They bond us to one another and provide comfort and excitement
Speaker:with that expectation of familiar and heartwarming events.
Speaker:Those remembered from childhood.
Speaker:It's a time when we can celebrate memories of past relatives
Speaker:too. Since many of our individual family traditions have been handed
Speaker:down from them.
Speaker:In my family,
Speaker:we have a special four foot Christmas tree that we've lovingly
Speaker:called the sugar plum tree.
Speaker:Somewhere in the 1940s my grandfather braved the blizzardy Minnesota snow
Speaker:and went into the forest to find the perfect branch,
Speaker:one with lots of little baby branch extensions.
Speaker:He brought it home,
Speaker:painted it silver and made a solid wooden base for it.
Speaker:All my life I've seen this beautiful branch decorated with lights
Speaker:and ornaments,
Speaker:our sugar Palm tree with the passing of my mom this
Speaker:year. I'm now the owner and protector of this cherished family
Speaker:tradition. Our sugar Palm tree holds a prime position in our
Speaker:living room now for all to see.
Speaker:I have more family traditions and I bet you do too.
Speaker:They're so worth sharing with future generations to experience,
Speaker:enjoy and connect with those who came before.
Speaker:I thought it would be fun to go back and learn
Speaker:how some of the well known traditions of Christmas got started.
Speaker:It's fascinating to discover the beginnings of symbols and activities.
Speaker:I've always accepted,
Speaker:but never really questioned.
Speaker:Taking into account all of our listeners.
Speaker:I'm limiting the focus as much as possible to nonreligious traditions.
Speaker:Some of these I think are going to surprise you.
Speaker:Are you ready to discover things about Christmas you never knew
Speaker:before? Whoa,
Speaker:Whoa, Whoa.
Speaker:Here we go.
Speaker:It's beginning.
Speaker:Look a lot Like Christmas.
Speaker:It all starts with setting the stage,
Speaker:which seems to always include snow.
Speaker:Why is that?
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:the origin story of Christmas started in Bethlehem,
Speaker:so the idea of snow seems to be a little confusing,
Speaker:but the truth is both Bethlehem and Jerusalem are on a
Speaker:range of Hills and there can indeed be snow from November
Speaker:to April,
Speaker:so it really is plausible.
Speaker:But the true connection with snow is from the Victorians.
Speaker:They were the ones who created the traditional Christmas.
Speaker:We recognize somewhere around 1837 at that time,
Speaker:Britain was in a mini ice age and often a winter
Speaker:fair was held on the river Thames.
Speaker:This is how snow,
Speaker:ice and cold weather became associated with the Christmas season.
Speaker:As the holiday approaches Christmas cards begin arriving.
Speaker:The first one was mailed in 1842 it was the idea
Speaker:of sir Henry Cole,
Speaker:a British government worker who helped set up the first public
Speaker:record office,
Speaker:what we now call the post office.
Speaker:He thought the service should be used by people of the
Speaker:community for things over and above government services.
Speaker:So he and an artist friend John Horsley designed the first
Speaker:card which caused a little bit of controversy.
Speaker:Surprise, surprise,
Speaker:not because of the idea of holiday cards,
Speaker:but because one of the images on the card was a
Speaker:child being served a glass of wine.
Speaker:It would cause controversy today too.
Speaker:I think they're right.
Speaker:Those first cards sold for one shilling,
Speaker:which would equate to about 8 cents today.
Speaker:Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy.
Speaker:So when the car and got pipe and a button nose
Speaker:and two I've made out of coal,
Speaker:frosty, the snowman is a fairy tale.
Speaker:They say he was made of snow,
Speaker:but the children know how we came to that one day
Speaker:Earlier and earlier,
Speaker:but some time as the season approaches,
Speaker:Carol's begin to be heard.
Speaker:Not many holidays have traditional songs attached to them the way
Speaker:Christmas does,
Speaker:and it's the act of Carolyn that makes it unique.
Speaker:Carol's have been song for thousands of years in Europe,
Speaker:but they were pagan songs,
Speaker:song for the winter solstice.
Speaker:They actually were used for all seasons,
Speaker:but only Christmas.
Speaker:Caroline survived.
Speaker:Christians took over the tradition in one 29 when a Roman
Speaker:Bishop said that a song called angels him,
Speaker:it should be song for Christmas service in seven 60 comas
Speaker:of Jerusalem wrote another Christian him for the Greek Orthodox church.
Speaker:After that,
Speaker:many composers everywhere started creating and forming what is now our
Speaker:Christmas caroling tradition.
Speaker:I just love the images that you see with family gathered
Speaker:around the piano,
Speaker:singing out all the Christmas carols and just enjoying being together.
Speaker:When else do we do this?
Speaker:During the year as a child,
Speaker:some of my friends and I would make a party of
Speaker:getting all bundled up,
Speaker:going out to houses,
Speaker:knocking on the door,
Speaker:singing Christmas carols,
Speaker:going to the next house,
Speaker:doing the same thing,
Speaker:and then hopping back to the originators house for hot chocolate
Speaker:and marshmallows.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:What great memories.
Speaker:Also part of setting the scene are all the decorations.
Speaker:As the years have gone on.
Speaker:Some may say it's getting a little bit out of hand.
Speaker:I just think it's all in such good fun,
Speaker:but where did it start?
Speaker:Oh Whoa.
Speaker:The mistletoe mistletoe grows on a number of trees like Willow,
Speaker:Apple, and Oak.
Speaker:The ancient droids believed it possessed mystical power and brought good
Speaker:luck and fended off evil spirits for your household.
Speaker:It's also a sign of love and friendship according to Norse
Speaker:mythology. That's where kissing under the mistletoe came from.
Speaker:The mistletoe is really easy to hang,
Speaker:but then comes the Christmas tree and as we all know,
Speaker:that's a bigger job.
Speaker:Deck the halls with thousa,
Speaker:Holly<inaudible> TIS the season to be jolly<inaudible>,
Speaker:Don<inaudible>,<inaudible><inaudible><inaudible>. Nobody's exactly sure where the Christmas tree originated.
Speaker:Trees and branches have been used throughout time to celebrate winter
Speaker:festivals, also to decorate homes during the winter.
Speaker:As a reminder that spring will come and Christians use it
Speaker:as a sign of everlasting life with God,
Speaker:most likely Christmas trees began about a thousand years ago in
Speaker:Northern Europe.
Speaker:Funny enough,
Speaker:at that time,
Speaker:they were hung upside down from the ceiling,
Speaker:just like chandelier's.
Speaker:So in whatever form it comes,
Speaker:we now have a tree.
Speaker:But what about the ornaments?
Speaker:These originated in Germany in the 16th century,
Speaker:200 years later,
Speaker:the tradition came to America where it was initially rejected by
Speaker:Puritans because of its pagan origins,
Speaker:but the German settlers were persistent and decorating for the holidays.
Speaker:Started catch on.
Speaker:In the late 1840s an image was published showing queen Victoria
Speaker:celebrating Christmas with her German born husband,
Speaker:Prince Albert,
Speaker:and their family included was a decorated evergreen tree,
Speaker:and as many times happens with Royal family practices,
Speaker:Christmas tree decorating then began in earnest and daughter commercialism in
Speaker:the 1890s Woolworths,
Speaker:which is an old US-based retailer.
Speaker:Some of you young ones may not know.
Speaker:Sold German hand-blown glass ornaments that evolved into decorating trees with
Speaker:tinsel, silk,
Speaker:and even wool.
Speaker:In the olden days,
Speaker:it was in 1973 that hallmark introduced their famous keepsake ornaments,
Speaker:limited edition specials created and collected by millions every year.
Speaker:And of course,
Speaker:we can't have Christmas without all the lights.
Speaker:In the olden days,
Speaker:accompanying ornaments on the trees would be lit candles.
Speaker:I remember when I was a little girl,
Speaker:I went for piano lessons to my European piano teacher.
Speaker:True to tradition.
Speaker:There would be a beautiful tree,
Speaker:a glow with these tall,
Speaker:thin candles,
Speaker:and yes,
Speaker:lit with real flames.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:It was so beautiful.
Speaker:But all I can think of now is all of the
Speaker:fires these were sure to have caused back then enter Thomas
Speaker:Edison in 1880 who installed his new electric light bulbs in
Speaker:his office.
Speaker:It was actually his colleague,
Speaker:Edward Johnson,
Speaker:who's strong,
Speaker:80 red,
Speaker:white and blue lights together for his New York apartment.
Speaker:And that began the Christmas tree lights that we know today.
Speaker:At that time though only rich people could afford electric lights
Speaker:on their trees because very few even had electricity.
Speaker:Widespread use of lights started in 1895 with president Grover Cleveland
Speaker:when he used them in the white house.
Speaker:The tradition of the national Christmas tree and the white house
Speaker:lawn started a little while later in 1923 with president Calvin
Speaker:Coolidge back then,
Speaker:a string of 24 lights cost $12 that may sound cheap,
Speaker:but we're talking about only 24 lights.
Speaker:I just purchased a string of 200 lights this year for
Speaker:the same price.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:now the stage is set.
Speaker:We've got snow,
Speaker:Christmas cards,
Speaker:and Caroline,
Speaker:the mistletoe is hung.
Speaker:The tree is lit and decorated.
Speaker:What's next?
Speaker:The main characters,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:we've got so many to choose from.
Speaker:They're Scrooge,
Speaker:that Grinch and frosty to name a few,
Speaker:but let's focus on the top two.
Speaker:Nicholas Lean.
Speaker:You're here this way.
Speaker:Ah, Santa Claus.
Speaker:Father Christmas,
Speaker:Pierre, Noel,
Speaker:Kris Kringle.
Speaker:This figure is known by many names across the land.
Speaker:Here's the most famous story about how Santa Claus came to
Speaker:be. Once upon a time there was a very poor man
Speaker:with three daughters.
Speaker:He couldn't afford a dowery,
Speaker:which meant his daughters could never get married.
Speaker:One night,
Speaker:a man named Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down
Speaker:the poor man's chimney.
Speaker:It fell into a stocking that had been hung by the
Speaker:fire to dry.
Speaker:This allowed the first daughter to be married.
Speaker:Nicholas repeated this gesture again for daughter number two.
Speaker:Now the poor man desperately wanted to know who was doing
Speaker:this, so he hit by the fire every night until he
Speaker:caught Nicholas in the act.
Speaker:Nicholas didn't want people to know it was him,
Speaker:but the secret couldn't be kept.
Speaker:Once word got out,
Speaker:anytime someone received a secret gift,
Speaker:they thought it was from Nicholas.
Speaker:There are other ideas about the chimney entrance.
Speaker:In pagan lore,
Speaker:hearths were thought to contain spirits or gods important to the
Speaker:prosperity of the household and the fire itself was sacred.
Speaker:There was also the belief that supernatural creatures like elves and
Speaker:fairies entered the house through chimneys.
Speaker:There are various extensions of this story and its evolution.
Speaker:But suffice it to say that this character,
Speaker:regardless of his name in origin story,
Speaker:stands for giving to others and providing happiness and Goodwill.
Speaker:But now Santo needs to get around.
Speaker:He's got a lot to do in just one night,
Speaker:enter Rudolph the red nose.
Speaker:Reindeer had a very shiny nose,
Speaker:and if you ever saw him,
Speaker:you would even say it glows.
Speaker:Rudolph was born okay.
Speaker:Created in 1939 by Robert May,
Speaker:a 33 year old copywriter with Chicago based retailer,
Speaker:Montgomery ward.
Speaker:This was shortly after the decade long,
Speaker:great depression,
Speaker:and there were rumblings of an upcoming war,
Speaker:so the spirits at the time weren't altogether bright.
Speaker:Robert was tasked with creating an animal story for the following
Speaker:Christmas to brighten everyone's mood.
Speaker:Hm. What to do.
Speaker:He and his daughter,
Speaker:Barbara, loved going to the zoo.
Speaker:Her favorite animal was the reindeer.
Speaker:So naturally that would be the animal for Robert's new assignment.
Speaker:Gazing over Lake Michigan.
Speaker:One day he got the idea of a misfit reindeer with
Speaker:the now famous oversize,
Speaker:glowing nose.
Speaker:Side note.
Speaker:Rudolph's name was almost Rolo,
Speaker:Reginald Rodney or Romeo.
Speaker:I think Rudolph was the right choice,
Speaker:don't you?
Speaker:Robert could relate to Rudolf as a child.
Speaker:He was the smallest in the class,
Speaker:frail, uncoordinated,
Speaker:and never asked to join school teams.
Speaker:The story was created as a 32 page illustrated booklet given
Speaker:as a free gift to children when they visited one of
Speaker:Montgomery wards,
Speaker:620 department stores during the holidays.
Speaker:Obviously this was a very successful commercial strategy.
Speaker:2.4 million copies were distributed that year,
Speaker:but the following year,
Speaker:the 1.6
Speaker:million planned didn't come true due to the paper shortages of
Speaker:world war two.
Speaker:Rudolph was all but forgotten until 1946 and with Rudolph's reappearance,
Speaker:he was more popular than ever.
Speaker:Robert May eventually was given full copyright to Rudolf and we
Speaker:know what's happened since then.
Speaker:Rudolf is a beloved holiday reindeer known for overcoming obstacles,
Speaker:embracing differences,
Speaker:and recognizing everyone's unique potential.
Speaker:Meanwhile, he's busy,
Speaker:busy, busy as Santas helper delivering gifts.
Speaker:On Christmas Eve.
Speaker:He lands on the roof with the other reindeer and the
Speaker:sleigh, and this is where our direction shifts to the fireplace.<inaudible>
Speaker:Now in this fireplace,
Speaker:are you a logs?
Speaker:Once again,
Speaker:this can be traced back to Nordic tradition and the winter
Speaker:solstice festivals in Scandinavia and Europe.
Speaker:Believe it or not,
Speaker:the UL log was originally the entire tree.
Speaker:Isn't that crazy?
Speaker:It was chosen and brought into the house with great ceremony.
Speaker:Then the largest end of the log would be placed into
Speaker:the fireplace with the rest of the tree reaching out into
Speaker:the whole room.
Speaker:The burnt log from the prior year,
Speaker:which had been carefully stored,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:was used to light this new UL log you a log,
Speaker:but remember it was the whole jury<inaudible> Christmas leaving cookies and
Speaker:milk for Santa is a more recent tradition starting in the
Speaker:1930s and the great depression.
Speaker:This was a time of real hardship,
Speaker:but parents wanted to instill in their children how important it
Speaker:is to give to others and show gratitude for gifts they
Speaker:receive no matter how meager the offerings available.
Speaker:Well, there were other origins to this practice from other countries.
Speaker:I'm going to leave it at this for now because we
Speaker:need to move on to the gifts.
Speaker:The custom of giving and receiving gifts goes back to the
Speaker:days of Jesus.
Speaker:The wise men came to him bearing the gifts of frankincense,
Speaker:gold and mirth.
Speaker:As the years go by,
Speaker:gifting becomes more and more commercialized,
Speaker:but the really important thing is that it's the thought and
Speaker:the act of giving that is so much more important than
Speaker:the actual physical gift.
Speaker:It's a potent lesson that needs to be stressed again and
Speaker:again. What else do we see in our mind's eye when
Speaker:we think of Christmas year are some other symbols that we
Speaker:immediately connect to Christmas,
Speaker:Jingle bells,
Speaker:jingle bells,
Speaker:jingle all the way.
Speaker:Oh well it is to ride in a one horse open
Speaker:sleigh. Hey,
Speaker:You just can't hear jingle bells without thinking of Christmas and
Speaker:they're everywhere from slays to doors to decorations once used to
Speaker:call everyone to church in the ancient times,
Speaker:these bells also signaled the start of sunset.
Speaker:Sunset represented the end of the current day and the start
Speaker:of the new day.
Speaker:So church services would be the entrance to a new day,
Speaker:which meant right after sunset In Victorian times people would go
Speaker:caroling with small bells to accompany their voices.
Speaker:Sometimes they even use the bells without singing.
Speaker:Today handbell ringing is still very popular.
Speaker:One other fun fact,
Speaker:jingle bells was the first song broadcast from space from the
Speaker:Gemini six in 1965 Tom Stafford and Wally Seraw,
Speaker:the astronauts on that mission even say they spotted a sleigh
Speaker:in space,
Speaker:could it have possibly been a Santa citing ah,
Speaker:the good old USA Massachusets to be exact claims ownership of
Speaker:creating the candy cane in 1837 actually they were called candy
Speaker:sticks at first because it was just a straight white sugar
Speaker:stick, but no cost Costa frat very quickly thereafter,
Speaker:stripes were added.
Speaker:They switched to be called candy canes in 1866 and then
Speaker:connected specifically with Christmas in 1874 the flavor evolved to from
Speaker:pure sugar to the winter green or the most popular peppermint
Speaker:flavor of today.
Speaker:There's some dispute here though.
Speaker:Legend has it that in 1670 the cane shaped candy became
Speaker:historical. When a choir master at the cologne cathedral in Germany
Speaker:bent the sugar sticks into canes to appear as shepherd hooks.
Speaker:Something else red and white traditionally seen for the holidays are
Speaker:poinsettias. I'm dreaming of a,
Speaker:I used to know these plants are native to central America
Speaker:and they flower in the winter.
Speaker:It was the first ambassador from the U S to Mexico,
Speaker:Joel Robert point set who brought the flowers to his Southern
Speaker:Carolina plantation and then started sharing them with his friends.
Speaker:There's also a story about how they came to be associated
Speaker:with Christmas.
Speaker:You want to hear it.
Speaker:Once upon a time,
Speaker:a poor Mexican girl named puppy de wanted to give baby
Speaker:Jesus a gift.
Speaker:She was heartbroken though because her family could barely afford feeding
Speaker:themselves much less having an extra money for a gift.
Speaker:A cousin tried to comfort pepita by telling her that any
Speaker:small gesture would make baby Jesus happy.
Speaker:It didn't need to cost a lot.
Speaker:So pepita set out to meet baby Jesus and gathered weeds
Speaker:along the path on her way.
Speaker:Something would be better than nothing.
Speaker:She thought by the time she reached her destination,
Speaker:she had a sizeable grouping of green foliage as she placed
Speaker:it beside baby Jesus.
Speaker:It miraculously blossomed into a bouquet of bright red flowers ever
Speaker:after. These plants are known as the flowers of the Holy
Speaker:night. Back to my house,
Speaker:the Mon hight residents,
Speaker:we started a new tradition about four years ago.
Speaker:Every Christmas Eve we have a gingerbread house decorating contest.
Speaker:We divide into two teams.
Speaker:Most of the time girls versus boys and build,
Speaker:decorate and name our houses.
Speaker:Then we put them on Facebook for everyone to vote on
Speaker:their favorite house.
Speaker:It's now something we look forward to and yes,
Speaker:it's getting a little bit competitive.
Speaker:All in good fun of chorus.
Speaker:If you'd like to see this in action,
Speaker:watch my Facebook account and you can even join in on
Speaker:the voting.
Speaker:If you like To dive a little bit deeper into the
Speaker:story of a gingerbread house.
Speaker:Ginger root was first cultivated in China over 5,000
Speaker:years ago.
Speaker:The Europeans first baked gingerbread in the 11th century when the
Speaker:crusaders brought back the idea of spicy bread from the middle
Speaker:East. Ginger is also a natural preservative,
Speaker:which of course was so important back then.
Speaker:Since then,
Speaker:it has been an interesting evolution,
Speaker:including Swedish nuns using it to aid in digestion.
Speaker:In 1444 queen Elizabeth though is credited with forming gingerbread into
Speaker:shapes when she created likenesses of her guests in cookie form.
Speaker:The tradition of gingerbread houses,
Speaker:however, comes from Germany in the early 18 hundreds shortly after
Speaker:the appearance of the new fairy tale,
Speaker:Hansel and Gretel,
Speaker:there's a walled medieval town called Dingles bull that looks like
Speaker:a village full of real life,
Speaker:colorful gingerbread homes complete with a small town square and cobblestone
Speaker:pathways and streets.
Speaker:Here's a brand new tradition.
Speaker:One of the newest well-known traditions is from 2005 so very
Speaker:recent and a story created by Carol oversold and her daughter
Speaker:Shonda bell.
Speaker:Do you know what it is?
Speaker:It's a rhyming story explaining how Santa knows whether you've been
Speaker:naughty or nice.
Speaker:The elf on the shelf.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:this is a special spy who is sent from the North
Speaker:pole to keep watch over your behaviors and encourages you to
Speaker:be nice.
Speaker:He watches you during the day and goes back to report
Speaker:his findings each night,
Speaker:naughty or nice.
Speaker:Which list are you on?
Speaker:Okay. Have the Holly jolly Christmas.
Speaker:It's the best time of the year.
Speaker:I don't know if they'll smelled.
Speaker:Have a cup of cheer.
Speaker:Have a Holly jolly Christmas.
Speaker:And when you walked down this street,
Speaker:say hello dear friends.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:and everyone you meet,
Speaker:Traditions, the ones we cherish from the past and the ones
Speaker:we create for the future are away.
Speaker:We pulled together,
Speaker:connect deeper and love in the most genuine way this year.
Speaker:I hope I've given you some inspiration on this show.
Speaker:You've heard some beautiful voices from some young ladies that would
Speaker:be ever lastly and Addie together.
Speaker:We wish you a very Merry Christmas.
Speaker:I want to wish you a Merry Christmas.
Speaker:I want to wish you a Merry Christmas.
Speaker:I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of
Speaker:my<inaudible>, Belize Navi.
Speaker:Dad<inaudible> dad,
Speaker:I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas.
Speaker:I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas.