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31 Unexpected Facts About Holiday Traditions

By:: Cracked Writers; Timon DJ Spajic

November 02, 2023

31 Unexpected Facts About Holiday Traditions

There are certain things that are expected during the holiday season — spending time with family, giving and receiving gifts and taking part in festive traditions. But what most people don’t know is that many of these traditions have unexpected origins. For example, did you know that the Christmas tree was originally brought to America by Germans? More on that and the genesis of a bunch of other holiday traditions below…

31

Eggnog 10 California Sunshine N CRACKED COM Medieval Britain had a drink called posset, a milky ale used to toast to good health. It led to eggnog, which became a holiday tradition with American colonists during the 1700s. — TIME

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Christmas caused the Second English Civil War. The Puritans thought people got too drunk and promiscuous on Christmas, so they banned it in England for almost 20 years. On Christmas Day, businesses were kept open, and churches were locked. In Canterbury, this led to pro-Christmas rioting which eventually grew into a rebellion, and then a civil war. CRACKED.COM — Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets

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Decorating Christmas Trees CRACKED.COM The Christmas tree originated in Germany in the Middle Ages. A guild decorated a tree with apples and tinsel in 1419. Additionally, evergreen firs decorated with apples wre used to celebrate the feast day of Adam and Eve. — TIME

28

Hanging Stockings CRACKED.COM The legend is that a poor man couldn't afford dowries for his daughters, so St. Nick snuck gold into stockings left to dry. Socks were originally left by fireplace on St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) but became associated with Christmas by the 1800s. — Metro

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31 Unexpected Facts About Holiday Traditions — Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets

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Maulana Karenga, the man who invented Kwanzaa, went to prison for torturing two black women whom he thought were conspiring against him. The women were beaten while naked, burned with a hot iron, and waterboarded. CRACKED.COM — Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets

25

FRUITCAKES WERE CONSIDERED SO RICH AND DECADENT THAT THEY WERE ACTUALLY MADE ILLEGAL IN EUROPE IN THE 1700s. THANK GOD MOLTEN CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE WASN'T INVENTED YET, OR EATING IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PUNISHABLE BY DEATH. CRACKED.COM — Wall Street Journal

24

Puritans banned celebrating Christmas in Massachusets! It was a criminal offense to publicly celebrate Christmas from 1659 to 1681. ILLEGAL This was due to the pagan roots of the holiday, the lack of a Biblical basis for the celebration and how rowdy these parties would get. CRACKED.COM — Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets

23

Mother's Day founder Anna Jarvis spent her final days in a mental asylum. Funding to keep her in there allegedly came from flower and greeting card purveyors who weren't fans of her later efforts to repeal the holiday she created. CRACKED.COM — Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets

22

Because it doesn't tarnish like other metals tinsel used to be made out of lead CRACKED.COM — Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets

21

THE MILK AND COOKIES YOU LEAVE OUT EVERY YEAR WERE ORIGINALLY INTENDED FOR A GIGANTIC, 8-LEGGED FLYING HORSE. ew, raisins DURING YULE, NORSE CHILDREN WOULD LEAVE OUT FOOD FOR ODIN'S MANY-HOOVED STEED SLEIPNIR, HOPING FOR GIFTS IN RETURN. CRACKED.COM — History Museum of Western Virginia

20

Snowmen are an iconic symbol of the joy of the holiday season and have inspired many heartfelt children's stories. - However, in one of its earliest documentations, dating from the Middle Ages, a snowman is used as an anti-Semitic symbol meant to blame Jews for the tragedies of the plague. More than 100 sexually graphic and deformed snowmen were later built by working class Belgians as a form of political protest. GRACKED.COM — Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets

19

BEFORE FIR TREES, THERE WAS THE THUNDER OAK, AN ALTAR TO THOR THOUGHT TO DRINK HUMAN & ANIMAL BLOOD THROUGH ITS ROOTS. ST. BONIFACE CHOPPED IT DOWN & DIRECTED THOR'S PRIESTS TO INSTEAD MAKE THE (MUCH LAMER) FIR THEIR NEW HOLY TREE. CRACKED.COM — Catholic Magazine

18

Santa isn't the first magical creature to slide down a chimney. Many tales depicted the fireplace as the gap between our and the supernatural world, but not every creature that used that entryway was friendly. CRACKED.COM — Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets

17

CRACKED COM ASBESTOS WAS ONCE SOLD AS FAKE SNOW FOR HOUSE DECOR. ASBESTOS Pure White FIRE PROOF EM CONTENTIN SNOW LOOKS LIKE REAL SNOW CLEANEST WHITEST-MEST It was used in this scene in The Wizard of Oz. — Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets

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CRACKED COM St. Patrick's color is blue So why do we wear green? The color became a national symbol during the 1798 Irish Rebellion, 200 years after the first St. Patrick's Day celebrations — 21 Holiday Traditions With Shockingly Bizarre Origins

15

Bobbing for apples during Halloween was originally about romance. It was believed that the first person to bite an apple without using their hands would be the first to marry. CRACKED.COM — 21 Holiday Traditions With Shockingly Bizarre Origins

14

Candy Canes WANTED A SMALL BOY WHO THINKS HE CAN LICK ME CRACKED.COM Candy canes existed since at least the 17th century. They are thought to have been brought to the U.S. when German immigrant August Imgard introduced the Christmas tree, decorated with candy canes, to Ohio in 1847. — Smithsonian Magazine

13

Easter eggs come from egg surpluses. Christians abstained from eggs during Lent in medieval times. By the time the fast ended on Easter, villages wound up with egg surpluses that were only natural to use on a day of celebration. CRACKED.COM — 21 Holiday Traditions With Shockingly Bizarre Origins

12

Charles Dickens is responsible for the image of an idyllic white Christmas Dickens' writing inspired the idea that the perfect Christmas is snow-filled. Не grew up in the coldest decade in England since the 17th century, and his popular Christmas stories included his nostalgia for cold childhood holidays. CRACKED.COM — BBC

11

EVE AULD LANG SYNE BECAME THE HEAR HAPPY NEW YEAR SONG THANKS TO GUY LOMBARDO AND HIS BAND, THE ROYAL CANADIANS. LOMBARDO, MR. NEW YEAR'S EVE, PLAYED THE SONG LIVE ON THE AIR EVERY YEAR FROM 1928 UNTIL 1977. YOU'RE WELCOME, EH. CRACKED.COM — 21 Holiday Traditions With Shockingly Bizarre Origins

10

CRACKED.COM Traditional Irish jack o' lanterns were meant to ward off a folk spirit named Jack, who wanders by the light of an ember given to him by the Devil. In legend, Jack houses his ember in a carved out turnip, which the Irish used for jack o' lanterns until Irish-American immigrants switched to the local pumpkins. — 21 Holiday Traditions With Shockingly Bizarre Origins

9

In Germany, there is the story of the Christmas Spider whose webs on the Christmas tree were turned by Santa or Jesus (depending on the version) into silver, which is likely the origin of tinsel. CRACKED.COM — 21 Holiday Traditions With Shockingly Bizarre Origins

8

New Year's resolutions today are a mostly secular practice, but about 4,000 years ago, people were doing it for religious reasons. The ancient Babylonians curried favor with the gods by promising to pay their debts. The Romans propitiated their gods with sacrifices along with promises to be good citizens. CRACKED.COM — 21 Holiday Traditions With Shockingly Bizarre Origins

7

Kids used to receive letters from Santa, not write them to him Before they were wish lists, Santa used to write kids as a form of discipline. For example in the 1850s, the wife of the poet Henry Wadsworth wrote her three children letters each Christmas that told each kid how they could improve their behavior for the year. CRACKED.COM — Smithsonian

6

Jesus was intitially thought to have been born on January 6th In 200 A.D., Jesus was believed to be a January baby. We don't really know why or how it changed, but it might have moved to take over pagan holidays that fell near December 25th. CRACKED.COM — Washington Post

5

Wrapping Paper CRACKED COM Gift wrapping was first documented in ancient China. It was popularized in the U.S. when Hallmark founder J.C. Hall ran out of tissue paper and used envelope liner paper to wrap gifts, which inspired him to commercially market it. — NPR

4

Santa's reindeer were named Dunder and Blixem H SHAMARHA ALAFEL ADE RAB CAR H OOTHIES EBANESE CUISINE AR KIDE CAR The original version of the 1821 poem A Visit from Saint Nicholas originally had the names as Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!/On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Dunder and Blixem! Reprints included Donner and Blitzen instead, and it stuck over time. CRACKED.COM — Snopes

3

Kissing Under the Mistletoe CRACKED.COM Ancient Greeks might have started the tradition within their celebration of the winter festival Kronia. — Dictionary

2

Whiny Philadelphia cops named it Black Friday NS14 PHILADELPHIA POLICE - - In the 1960s, tourists would come into Philadelphia after Thanksgiving for an Army-Navy football game on Saturday. Local police officers called it Black Friday because they had to work long hours, deal with bad traffic, and unfavorable weather. CRACKED.COM — New York Times

1

Christmas Lights CRACKED.COM Christmas lights were invented by Edward Hibberd Johnson in 1882, who was smart enough to think to replace fire-hazards-galore candles on trees with strings of light bulbs. — Smithsonian Magazine

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