Page 4 - December 2019 Gears & Ears

Gears and Ears

Journal of The Rotary Club of Lake Buena Vista

December 2019
FunChristmas Facts

Christmas wasn’t always on December 25th.
Though Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, there is no mention
of December 25 in the Bible. Most historians actually believe Jesus was
born in the spring, not the winter. And his birthday itself didn’t become
the official holiday until the third century. Some historian posit that the
date was actually chosen because it coincided with the pagan festival of

Saturnalia, which honored the agricultural god Saturn with celebrating and
gift-giving.
You can thank Prince Albert for your Christmas tree.

The origin of Christmas trees goes all the way back to ancient
Egyptians and Romans, who marked the winter solstice with
evergreens as a reminder that spring would return soon. But it
wasn’t until Prince Albert of Germany introduced the tree to his
new wife, Queen Victoria of England, that the tradition really
took off. A drawing of the couple in front of a Christmas tree
appeared in Illustrated London News way back in 1848 and as
we say today, the idea went viral.

St. Nick was more generous than jolly.
You probably already knew that the idea of Santa Claus came from

St. Nicholas, but the real saint wasn’t a bearded man who wore a red
suit. That all came much later. According to legend, the fourth-century
Christian bishop gave away his abundant inheritance to help the needy
and rescue women from servitude. As the tale made the rounds, his
name became Sinter Klaas in Dutch. That later morphed into Santa
Claus, and the rest of the trappings followed.

Coca-Cola played a huge part in Santa’s image.
Craving a Coke yet? Give it a second. According to Coca-Cola,
Santa used to look a lot less jolly — even spooky. Go ahead,
Google early images of Santa. We’ll wait. It wasn’t until the
beverage company hired an illustrator named Haddon Sundblom
in 1931 to create images of Santa for magazine advertisements
that we got the warm and friendly Santa we know today. Now,
kids wouldn’t fear interrupting Santa’s nightly work.

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