Facts & Traditions
Christmas is celebrated by billions of people around the world, yet many of its customs were invented surprisingly recently — and several began as something else entirely. The decorated tree, the candy cane, the greeting card and even Santa's red suit all have traceable histories, and knowing them makes the season feel richer.
This page collects the most interesting Christmas facts and traditions, from the fourth-century decision to celebrate Christmas on December 25 to the Victorian revival of carol singing and the Norse legends behind kissing under the mistletoe. Every entry is short enough to read in a minute and specific enough to settle an argument at the dinner table.
The collection is organised by category — history, traditions, food and drink, decorations, and music and songs — so you can browse the origins of the feast itself or jump straight to the stories behind the food on your table. Whether you are counting down the days until Christmas, opening a door on the advent calendar or looking for something to talk about at Christmas dinner, these facts are a good place to start.
New entries are added through the season, and the countdown on our home page always knows exactly how much time is left until December 25 in your own timezone.
The date was not fixed by the Bible, which never names a day. December 25 was chosen in the fourth century, likely to align with the existing Roman winter solstice celebrations. It became the standard date across the Christian world within a few generations.
Source: Early church records
Decorated evergreen trees first appear in German towns in the sixteenth century, where fir trees were brought indoors and hung with apples, nuts and paper flowers. The custom travelled to Britain and North America with German settlers in the 1800s.
Source: German folk tradition
Before printed calendars existed, German families counted down to Christmas by chalking a line on the door for each day of December. The first printed advent calendar appeared in Munich in 1908, and the first with opening doors followed in the 1920s.
Source: German printing history
In Norse mythology mistletoe was the only thing that could harm the god Baldr, and it later became a symbol of peace and friendship. The English custom of kissing beneath it is first recorded in the eighteenth century and was popularised by Victorian Christmas parties.
Source: Norse and Victorian folklore
Sir Henry Cole commissioned the first commercial Christmas card in London in 1843 because he was too busy to write letters to everyone he knew. Around a thousand were printed, and the idea spread quickly once cheap postage made sending them affordable.
Source: Victorian postal history
The hooked sugar stick appeared in seventeenth-century Europe as a plain white sweet given to children at nativity plays. The red stripes and peppermint flavour were added in the early twentieth century, and the shape was said to resemble a shepherd's crook.
Source: European confectionery history
James Lord Pierpont published the song in 1857 under the title 'One Horse Open Sleigh' for a Sunday school Thanksgiving concert. It became a Christmas standard only decades later, and it was the first song performed in space, in 1965.
Source: American songbook history
The ancestor of Christmas pudding was a thirteenth-century dish of beef, mutton and dried fruit boiled in a cloth. The familiar sweet, dark version with suet and brandy emerged in the Victorian era, along with the tradition of hiding a coin inside for luck.
Source: English cookery records
Before electric bulbs, trees were lit with small candles clipped to the branches, which is why trees were rarely left burning unattended. The first electrically lit Christmas tree was created in New York in 1882, using eighty hand-wired red, white and blue bulbs.
Source: Early electrical history
Saint Nicholas was traditionally shown in many colours, including green and blue. The modern red suit with white trim was standardised in the 1930s through magazine advertising campaigns, which is where the popular but mistaken idea that a soft drink company invented it comes from.
Source: Advertising archive history
