Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
33
The typical image we have of Santa Claus dressed in red clothes with white fur trim, is an amalgamation of cultural input over many years. Some people claim the image of Santa we know today is from Coca-cola advertising, but this simply isn't true. The st
33
Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.
62
Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
196
US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.
415
7.6 million Christmas trees are sold each year.
100
Louis Prang, a Bavarian-born lithographer who came to the USA from Germany in the 19th century, popularized the sending of printed Christmas cards. He invented a way of reproducing color oil paintings
, the "chromolithograph technique", and created a car
, the "chromolithograph technique", and created a car
1
Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion.
251