The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.
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The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
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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
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Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
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Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
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One town in Indiana is called Santa Claus. There is also a Santa, Idaho.
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Christmas trees become popular in the UK from 1841 when Prince Albert erected a tree in Windsor Castle following a German tradition. Fir trees have been decorated at Christmas time in Germany since the 8th century.
20
The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
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