Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
14
Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion.
251
The poinsettia is a traditional Christmas flower. In Mexico (its original birthplace), the poinsettia is known as the "Flower of the Holy Night".
15
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
113
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
In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.
103
In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi sometimes play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. In order to get rid of them, salt or an old shoe is burnt. The pungent burning stench drives off, or at least helps discourage, the Kallikantza
6