Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets
Halloween may actually be one of the less-dark holidays.
![Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/6/2/6/718626.jpg?v=2)
You've probably heard about weird, dark holidays that obscure corners of the world whisper about in the dark. But it turns out that the big-ticket, sparkly, over-hyped holidays your grandma celebrates also have unexpected dark sides.
Either they have weirdly disturbing origin stories, or they're connected to deeply troubling events. Or both. For example:
![CRACKED c COM The world's first Christmas card featured underage drinking. The first commercial Christmas card, printed in the UK in 1843, showed thre](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/7/1/717871.jpg?v=2)
![The real St. Nick wasn't SO jolly. The Santa legend can be traced back to a 4th century bishop from Asia Minor. He was persecuted for his Christian fa](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/4/5/717845.jpg?v=2)
![The word mistletoe may be derived from the old German mist, for dung, and tang, for branch. So you're basically kissing under the shit stick.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/3/5/717835.jpg?v=2)
![Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/5/8/717858.gif?v=2)
![CRAOR The Christmas song Do YOU Hear What I Hear tells the story of the Star of Bethlehem leading the magi to Christ. Produced in 1962, the song's w](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/4/8/717848.jpg?v=2)
![Puritans banned celebrating christmas in Massachusets! It was a criminal offense to publidy celebrate christmas from 1659 to 1681. ILLEGAL This was du](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/4/6/717846.jpg?v=2)
![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 pu](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/4/4/717844.jpg?v=2)
![Familiar Holidays That Have Dirty Little Secrets](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/4/0/717840.jpg?v=2)
![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 doc](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/3/4/717834.jpg?v=2)
![CRACKED CON ASBESTOS WAS ONCE SOLD AS FAKE SNOW FOR HOUSE DECOR. AS88STOS Pure White eROOF FIRE SNOW It was used in this scene in The Wizard of Oz.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/2/4/717824.jpg?v=2)
![Christmas caused the Second English Civil War. The Puritans thought people got too drunk and promiscuous on Christmas, so they banned it in England fo](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/7/2/717872.jpg?v=2)
![Our Halloween is rooted in the once-held belief that the dead would come back to exact their revenge. It was believed that the souls of the dead wande](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/3/2/717832.jpg?v=2)
![Since 1962, the Chicago River has been dyed green every year on St. Patrick's day. However, disodium salt, the green dye used to color the river until](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/2/5/717825.jpg?v=2)
![Because it doesn't tarnish like other metals tinsel used to be made out of lead CRACKED COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/3/7/717837.jpg?v=2)
![Coventry Carol is a carol from the 1500S that references the events of Massacre of the Innocents in the Bible, wherein King Herod orders the killing](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/8/2/717882.jpg?v=2)
![Holly is hung for Christmas because it symbolizes Christ's suffering. The sharp leaves represent his crown of thorns, and the red berries represent th](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/7/4/717874.jpg?v=2)
![Maulana Karenga, the man who invented Kwanzaa, went to prison for torturing two black women whom he thought were conspiring against him. The women wer](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/7/7/717877.jpg?v=2)
![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, b](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/8/2/7/717827.jpg?v=2)