If you think you know all there is to know about the holiday season, think again. It’s so much more complicated than decorations and sounds of joy in the air. We’ve got a few holiday bits of information that may blow your mind.
Some people have ham or turkey for Christmas dinner. In Japan, you eat fried chicken from KFC. Back in 1974, Kentucky Fried Chicken asked people in Japan to show their thanks by eating some good ole fried chicken on the big day. It’s such a popular tradition today that people order their chicken dinners months before Christmas.
No one really knows why December is stuffed with holidays. In ancient times, there are many celebrations that happen during the Winter Solstice. The Christian religion decided at the end of the third century AD to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ during this time. Historians say that church officials decided on December 25th because of the pagan festivals near the solstice. By celebrating Jesus Christ, they could try to bring the pagan followers to their beliefs.
The iconic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” was deemed un-American by the FBI. It premiered in 1946, and for the first ten years it was on the FBI’s radar. They suspected it contained Communist propaganda. They said it made bankers look “mean.” The FBI feared stereotyping and a special propaganda so it wasn’t exonerated until 1956.
Hanukkah is not the Jew’s Christmas celebration. Hanukkah celebrates the Second Temple of Jerusalem where their people rose up against their oppressors during the Maccabean Revolt. This happened a few hundred years before Jesus was born, according to the Christian’s beliefs. It is called “The Festival of Lights” because they’re celebrating the time they took back the Temple after the battle. They only had enough oil to keep the lights burning for only one day, but somehow it lasted eight days.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” is so many people’s favorite show each year. It almost didn’t happen because no one could convince creator Charles Schulz to make a cartoon for television. When he did make it, the television executives hated it. The good news is that it finally aired in 1965. The executives may have been surprised that it became a household hit.
Santa isn’t the same Santa from history. In the year 1200, he was a real man who became St. Nicholas whom became a patron saint of children. He didn’t look like he does in today’s cartoons either. St. Nicholas became the bearded big fellow we know in 1822. This was all thanks to Clement’s Clark’s portrayal of him in the poem, “The Night Before Christmas.”
Krampus is not a sweet Santa. He’s a half-demon, half-goat monster in many European countries. He made children behave, and said if they didn’t they would be stuffed in a bag and taken to the underworld. The American movie version of Krampus isn’t as scary.
