Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion.
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The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.
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'Klaxon' is a name that does not belong to one of Santa's reindeer. A klaxon is actually a powerful electric horn. Its name comes from a German word meaning "shriek".
3
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.
42
Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
196
At Christmas, it is traditional to exchange kisses beneath the mistletoe tree. In ancient Scandinavia, mistletoe was associated with peace and friendship. That may account for the custom of "kissing beneath the mistletoe".
27
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
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
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