Christmas is an exciting time of year for everyone, adults included, and there are probably many traditions you undertake with your loved ones during advent and throughout the Christmas period. Most of these traditions come from far-away origins and can be traced back hundreds of years. Here are a few of the most interesting ones!
Hanging up stockings
One of the most exciting parts of Christmas is hanging up you’re stocking for Santa to come and fill it up with gifts. Placing them on the fireplace is actually a tradition that comes from a story about a man who was worried about providing for his children, and St. Nicholas took pity on them and filled their drying stockings with gold.
The poem ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ in 1823 also made this tradition even more popular as it mentions Santa filling stockings.
Sending cards
In 1843, Sir Henry Cole decided to send a short greeting rather than a letter to his friends during the holiday period so he had 1,000 cards with ‘A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You’ printed. Whether today you’re sending via traditional post of e-card, this idea is still the same.
Decorating the tree
This particular tradition can be traced back to 17th century Germany, and the trend caught on in the UK once Queen Victoria had a family portrait published next to one in the 1800s. The US also adopted the tradition and often imported their Christmas decorations from Germany.
