Day 11...Fun Christmas Facts

The eleventh day of Organic Christmas and not a whole lot to report. Well, except some fun Christmas Did You Know facts!

As John Tesh always says....Did You Know...

• Pope Julius I carried out an investigation to determine the date of the birth of Jesus Christ, he declared that Christ's official birthday would always be the 25th of December.

• In Rome, gift giving was taken extremely seriously and the Romans believed if they didn't give gifts during the midwinter festivities that it would bring them bad luck!

• A common abbreviation for Christmas is Xmas, which is derived from the Greek Alphabet. X is the letter Chi, which is the first letter of Christs name in the Greek alphabet.

• For Scandinavians, the goddess of love Frigga is strongly associated with mistletoe. This romantic link may be what links kissing with the mistletoe!

• Silent Night...'Stille Nacht' auf Deutsch...is the worlds most popular carol. It was written in 1818 by anAustrian priest Joseph Mohr. With the church organ broken on Christmas Eve, Mohr wrote a 3 stanza carol that could be sung with a choir or a guitar.

• Christmas Trees are a part of the ancient pagan tree-worship practiced across Europe.

• The first printed reference to Christmas trees appeared in Germany in 1531.

• At first, trees were always placed on tables in pots with the presents unwrapped in a display beneath or hanging on the tree, with name cards to identify the lucky recipient.

• Artificial trees will last for six years in your home, but for centuries in a landfill!

• In Jamaica, the traditional Christmas day feast consists of rice, gungo peas, chicken, ox tail and curried goat. I might have to pass on the ox tail.

• Christmas dinner in Italy can last for more than 4 hours. Most families will have 7 or more courses including antipasti, a small portion of pasta, a roast meat, followed by 2 salads and 2 sweet puddings - then cheese, fruit, brandy and chocolates....I think I'd pass out from this meal!!

• Father Christmas has been known in England since medieval times and was sometimes known as simply Christmas or Mr Christmas. A personification of good will rather than a gift bearer, he could have derived from the Norse god Odin, who wore a blue-hooded cloak and had a white beard.

• The American version of the Santa Claus figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, brought by settlers to New York in the 17th century.

• A human-sized version of Santa Claus, was depicted in a series of illustrations for Coca-Cola advertisements introduced in 1931.

• Over the centuries, customs from different parts of the Northern Hemisphere have come together to create the whole world's Santa Claus-- the ageless, timeless, white-bearded man who gives gifts on Christmas.

For some fun, resource saving ideas on decorating

your tree...head to JJ Organic!