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A holiday tradition for generations.

For nearly seventy-five years, we've put smiles on the faces of millions of children with our personalized Santa letters.

Christmas Trivia

·          Legend of the Candy Cane

 

According to popular legend, the candy cane we know today originated as a solid white stick of candy.  Then, in the late 1600’s, a choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral had the candy fashioned with a hook to represent the staff of the “Good Shepherd” as a treat to encourage the church’s youth to behave.  In the 1880’s, a candy maker from Indiana wanted to make a candy that could represent the true meaning of Christmas.  He chose to add red stripes to the staff shaped stick, which symbolized the blood of Jesus.  The resulting white stripes stood for Jesus’ purity.  Hence… the Legend of the Candy Cane.

 

 

·          The Christmas Tree

 

As early as 4,000 years BC, evergreen trees were used during winter solstice as a symbol of life, promising spring’s return.  In the 7th century Saint Boniface, an English monk, was sent to Germany to spread the word of God.  After spending a great deal of time in Thuringia, he chose to use the fir tree as an analogy of the Holy Trinity, with each corner of the tree’s triangular shape representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Soon, the fir tree was regarded as God’s tree. By the 17th century, the trees were displayed every Christmas to depict the everlasting hope of mankind.
 

·          Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

In 1939 Robert L. May, a copywriter at Montgomery Ward’s department store, was asked by his department head to come up with an original story that could be handed out to holiday shoppers in the form of a Christmas coloring book.  Pulling from his own life experiences and testing the results on his daughter Barbara, May created the wonderful tale of the misfit reindeer who saves Christmas with his unique red nose.  Rudolph’s story achieved instant popularity, prompting May’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, to write the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”  It was recorded by Gene Autry in 1949 and has become one of the most popular songs in history, second only to “White Christmas.”
 
 

·          The Christmas Stocking

                    

The tradition of hanging Christmas stockings on the fireplace at Christmas developed from an old narrative concerning St. Nicholas:  Long ago, there were three Italian maidens whose father had lost his fortune.  The three maidens were to wed, but their father could not afford the dowries that were necessary.  When St. Nicholas heard of this he went to their home late one night and tossed three bags of gold down the chimney.  The bags miraculously landed in each one of the sisters’ stockings, which were hung by the fire to dry. The bags of gold provided enough money for each one of the sisters to be welcomed into the family of their soon to be husbands.

 
           

·          Christmas Ornaments

 

The ornament could be found in the form of fruit and gilded nuts in some of the earliest records of decorated trees.  In those early years of Christmas tree décor, fruit was popular because it promised the return of the “new season,” or the coming Spring.  The apple in particular was often used as it symbolized the Fall of Man and expulsion from the Garden of Eden in relation to the “Paradise Tree.”  Holiday celebrations were usually combined with special meals and dishes, which eventually led to the use of sugar-sweets and small toys as additional tree decorations.  In the early 1600’s, the upper class transformed these decorating traditions to the use of silvered glass ornaments.

 
 

·          The Twelve Days of Christmas

 

The song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” refers to the twelve days between the birth of Christ and the Epiphany.  The song is very likely a transformation of a song from the early 1600’s called “A New Dial,” also known as “In Those Twelve Days.”  The original song’s verses each begin with a question: “What are they which are by…”

- One God alone who sits on his throne.

- Two testaments, the old and the new.

- Three persons in the Trinity, which make God in unity. 

- Four Sweet Evangelists there are, Christ’s birth, life, death which do declare. 

- Five senses, like five kings, maintain in every man a several reign. 

- Six days to labor is not wrong, for God himself did not work so long. 

- Seven liberal arts hath God sent down with divine skill man’s soul to crown. 

- Eight Beatitudes are there given, use them right and go to heaven. 

- Nine Muses, like the heaven’s nine spheres, with sacred tunes entice our ears. 

- Ten statutes God to Moses gave which, kept or broke, do spill or save. 

- Eleven thousand virgins did partake and suffered death for Jesus’ sake. 

- Twelve are attending on God’s son; twelve make our creed.  The Dial’s done.
 
 

·          Christmas Caroling

 

Caroling or “celebrating in song” is a Christmas tradition that brings together both the young and old, allowing the beauty of music to be shared in performance, even by those without special musical talent.  In ancient times, carols were composed to commemorate or retell the stories and customs surrounding the Christmas celebration, as few books were printed and most people couldn’t read.  Caroling by candlelight became popular in 1937, after Norman Banks of Melbourne, Australia, saw a widow holding a single candle and singing along with her radio. He began “Carols by Candlelight,” a communal outdoor sing-along of Christmas carols in Australia.
 
 
·          A Christmas Quiz
 
Can you name all 9 of Santa’s reindeer?
 
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen and, of course, Rudolph!
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