Origin Christmas Symbols
Santa Claus.
Legendary Western figure, inspired by St. Nicholas,
known for bringing gifts to children on Christmas Eve.
It was Clemente Moore in his poem in 1822
who wrote that Santa Claus lived in Lapland,
drove a reindeer sleigh, and entered the chimney.
But it was caricaturist Thomas Nast in 1863
who created the image of Santa Claus we know today.
Christmas Gifts
The tradition of exchange arose during
the pagean feasts of winter solstice and Saturnalia.
Later the 25th of December was designated by the Romans
to celebrate the birth of Jeses,
however the tradition of exchanging gifts
only reappeared beginnen 1800 and
has since become a tradition linked to
the birth of Jesus and the three wise kings
bringing gifts.
The Christmas tree
The first Christmas tree was mounted
on the market square in Riga, Latvia, in 1510.
At first it was a mound of triangle-shaped wood
later from mid-century XVI it was made with pine trees.
At the year-end pagan festivals
they danced around the tree and
at the end set it on fire.
In Germany, the tradition of
making a Christmas tree was carried into the houses.
Christmas Ornaments
The first Christmas trees were decorated with edibles:
gingerbreads of various shapes, apples and candies.
In 1586, the German Hans Greiner
produced the first glass ornaments.
By the mid-20th century all Christmas ornaments
were produced manually in the Lauscha region of Germany
and from 1940 onwards, industrially in the US and Japan.
Christmas dinner
The midwinter solstice had always been celebrated
by pagans with sunset feasts with music,
dancing and dinners with plenty of meat.
It was from the year 354 that the Romans
and the world commemorated on December 25th the birth of Jesus.
Henry VIII was the first to eat turkey at Christmas dinner,
a tradition that spread throughout Europe
and later to the Americas.
Christmas Cards
The first Christmas postcard
was created by Sir Henry Cole and
artist John Horsley in 1843
to promote this service in the Post Office.
At current prices the postcard would cost € 6.50
and the stamp € 0.50.
With the advance of printing techniques,
prices fell and by the early twentieth century
the habit of sending Christmas postcards
had spread all over Europe.
