Page 5 - December 2019 Gears & Ears
P. 5
Gears and Ears
Journal of The Rotary Club of Lake Buena Vista
December 2019
FunChristmas Facts
“Jingle Bells” was originally a Thanksgiving song.
It turns out, we didn’t originally go dashing through the snow for
Christmas. James Lord Pierpont wrote a song called “One Horse
Open Sleigh” and performed it at his church’s Thanksgiving concert
originally. Then in 1857, the song was re-published under the title it
still holds today, and it eventually became one of the most popular
Christmas songs.
Celebrating Christmas used to be illegal.
By the time the Puritans settled Boston, celebrating Christmas was
outlawed. Talk about missing the Christmas spirit! From 1659 to 1681,
anyone caught making merry would face a fine for celebrating the once-
pagan day. And after the Revolutionary War, the new Congress found the
day so unimportant that they even held the first session on December 25,
1789. Christmas wasn’t proclaimed a federal holiday for nearly another
century, proving that the Grinch’s notorious hatred of the holiday was
alive and well long before he was.
The term “Xmas” dates back to the 1500s.
Think “Xmas” is an edgy, relatively new way to abbreviate Christmas, or a
secular attempt to take the Christ out of Christmas? Think again. According
to From Adam’s Apple to Xmas: An Essential Vocabulary Guide for the
Politically Correct, the word “Christianity” was spelled “Xianity” as far
back as 1100. X, or Chi, in Greek is the first letter of “Christ” and served
as a symbolic stand-in. In 1551, the holiday was called “Xtemmas” but
eventually shortened to “Xmas.” So really, Xmas is just as Christian as the
longer version.
Candy canes got their start in Germany.
The National Confectioners Association says a choirmaster originally
gave the candies to young children so they’d stay quiet during long
church services. Grandmas who still dole out sweets during long
sermons, you’ve got history on your side. But it wasn’t until a German-
Swedish immigrant decorated his tree with candy canes in 1847
that they became popular as a Christmas candy. Today, we’d hardly
recognize the season without those little red-and-white stripes.
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