Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion.
251
Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
196
Frumenty was a spiced porridge, enjoyed by both rich and poor. It was a forerunner of modern Christmas puddings. It is linked in legend to the Celtic god Dagda, who stirred a porridge made up of all the good things of the earth.
5
Robins on cards were a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.
20
Black Friday in the UK is the Friday before Christmas. Instead of shopping, many people get very drunk!
10
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
113
The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.
273
The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
82