Holiday Trivia

[nudeyorker]

OK I'm going to try to dig up some interesting trivia about the holiday's. I'll try to post something new everyday. Please post any interesting facts about the holidays where you live or have visited.

On November 27, 1924, the first Macy’s Christmas Parade stepped off from Convent Avenue and 145th Street in New York City. Four hundred employees accompanied by scores of animals, from camels to elephants, with bands, balloons, and floats in tow, took to the streets to begin an American holiday tradition that has become a part of our lives and a piece of Americana.

PS I've been in the parade three times! Now I just enjoy watching it from home. It was freezing cold every time I did it.

 

[Enid]

:smile:

In England it's considered unlucky to turn down the offer of a mince pie. Eating the pie every day for the 12 days of Christmas promises 12 happy months ahead.

 

[chicagosam]

Frustrated at the lack of interest in his new toy invention, Charles Pajeau hired several little people, dressed them in elf costumes, and had them play with "Tinker Toys" in a display window at a Chicago department store during the Christmas season in 1914. This publicity stunt made the construction toy an instant hit. A year later, over a million sets of Tinker Toys had been sold.

 

[deleted627832]

The Santa Cluse that we know today was a Coke Cola advertisement in the 1920's

 

[B_Hickboy]

Costco Pharmacy

 

[nudeyorker]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm a bit involved with a turkey at the moment but I'll leave you with a question...
Which country consumes the most turkey per year per capita? A. United States B. Israel C. Mexico D. Germany
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The correct answer is Israel.

 

[chicagosam]

America's official national Christmas tree is located in King's Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a giant sequoia called the "General Grant Tree," is over 300 feet (90 meters) high. It was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

• The largest turkey on record weighed 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.
• Twenty-two million turkeys are consumed each year at Christmas, compared to 45 million at Thanksgiving.
• On average, each American eats more than 17 pounds of turkey annually.
• As per nudeyorker's post, the average Israeli eats 29 pounds of turkey annually. (Actually, I see a range of estimates, some a bit higher, some lower.)
  

 

[nudeyorker]

It's Black Friday and I'm not going anywhere near a store today....
In Italy children place their Christmas letter to Santa (in Italy he is called Babbo Natale or Father Christmas) under the fathers dinner plate.

 

[B_lrgeggs]

1)Ben Franklin suggested that the Turkey should be the National Symbol, turns out the Eagle got the job. In a way, it's not so
bad, as who would want to eat Eagle for Thanksgiving.


2) In the early days of the Macy"S Thanksgiving Parade, they would
release the Large Helium balloons at the end of the parade and then pay rewards to people who brought them back.

3) It's the Triptifan and the carbohydrates together that make
people sleepy after eating turkey.


​

 

[601900]

1. Germany made the first artificial Christmas trees.They were made of goose feathers and dyed green.

2. Jingle Bells was first written for Thanksgiving and then became one of the most popular Christmas songs.

3. In 1843,'' A Christmas Carol '' was written by Charles Dickens in just six weeks.

 

[nudeyorker]

Some of my best childhood memories of the holidays were in Hawaii.

When the missionaries arrived it is said that the native Hawaiians had difficulty pronouncing Merry Christmas thus the phrase Mele Kalikimaka was coined.

Hawaiians import their Xmas trees long before the season arrives from across the Pacific Ocean, which arrive on the Xmas Tree Ship.(or they do what I did and go to Macy's and buy and artificial tree)

Christmas traditions of Hawaii become surprises each year. This way, Santa wears aloha shirts and the Holiday dinner is a community luau with a kalua roast pig and Xmas leis. One of my favorites is santa in an Outrigger instead of a sleigh and dolphins instead of reindeer.

The Xmas carols are sung in Hawaiian and accompanied by ukulele or guitar by choirs and bands while families celebrate luaus and picnics on the beach or in their backyards.

The Hawaiians didn't celebrate Christmas prior to the arrival of Europeans, but it was during this same time of the year that they traditionally honored the earth for giving them plenty to eat.

Mele Kalikimaka

 

[MC1000]

1)Ben Franklin suggested that the Turkey should be the National Symbol, turns out the Eagle got the job.
​

Interestinng fact to add. Franklin thought the eagle was a poor choice. He thought the eagle as an ugly, old looking bird that was a scavanger. He sarcasticly said that if your were going to choose such a poor bird why not choose the turkey. At least it dispalyed some intelligence displayed by how difficult they were to hunt.

 

[nudeyorker]

I was in Denmark one year for Christmas (Wow was it cold after spending most of my winter holidays in LA or Honolulu) I was enchanted with a dessert tradition.... Everyone looks forward to dessert when a special rice pudding is served in which a single almond is hidden. Whoever finds the almond will have good luck for the coming year.

 

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

trur

The Santa Cluse that we know today was a Coke Cola advertisement in the 1920's

Not true; The persona or old Saint Nick has been that way for going a score of centuries with the same look; Coca Cola just refined the look for their ads.

 

[CUBE]

Just saw a cool St Nick historical retrospect in St. Paul. I agree, the Santa looked really changed in the 20s and again in the 50s. It was an interesting journey from the 4th century into today's Santa...and it was the U.S. Pennsylvania Dutch that saved the concept from the American Christian movement.

 

[Draconis71]

The one known as "Santa Claus" (Saint Nicholas of Myra) was born, in all places, what is now known as Turkey...

 

[nudeyorker]

Hope to not spend the holidays in Greenland :ugh:
In most places you can expect Christmas pies, candies and similar treats. In Greenland, though, kiviak is the order of the day. It's a treat that most Greenland natives consider delicious. Have you ever heard of an auk? Have you ever eaten one? If you're from Greenland you have. The raw flesh is wrapped in seal skin and placed under a rock until it's well into decomposition. It's been described as tasting like old, blue cheese, and has a strong odor and taste

 

[B_subgirrl]

Hope to not spend the holidays in Greenland :ugh:
In most places you can expect Christmas pies, candies and similar treats. In Greenland, though, kiviak is the order of the day. It's a treat that most Greenland natives consider delicious. Have you ever heard of an auk? Have you ever eaten one? If you're from Greenland you have. The raw flesh is wrapped in seal skin and placed under a rock until it's well into decomposition. It's been described as tasting like old, blue cheese, and has a strong odor and taste

OK, that just sounds bloody awful! I was all up for trying your auk dish until you let it rot!

 

[nudeyorker]

I was told that the tradition of leaving cookies for Santa originated that when he came house to house he always got hungry and that in the morning if there were cookies missing you knew for sure that Santa had visited.
I always make cookies around the holidays. Here is my favorite recipe...
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted softened butter (Land O Lakes Ultra Creamy works best)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
Whisk together the dry ingredients (except the sugar) in a bowl. In another bowl cream the sugar and butter beat with an electric mixer until ligh and fluffy about 3 minutes. (Preferably with a stand mixer with a paddle)
Beat in egg and vanilla, reduce speed and add dry ingredients until combined.
Form the dough into a 2 balls and wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
When ready to bake preheat the oven to 375 degrees and roll dough out about 1/4" thick and use cookie cutters of your choice. Sprinkle with colored sugar glitter or nonpareils or bake plain and frost with butter cream frosting after they have cooled.
Gather scraps and roll out again, chill again in freezer if the dough becomes too sticky
Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are pale golden. (Switch position of the pan half way through baking time)
If icing let cool completely. If you ice the cookies let the icing set at least an hour before storing.

Enjoy and don't forget to leave a few for Santa!