In fact did you know that Christmas is the FIRST day of Christmas?  I must admit I didn’t….and a great way to start Christmas–well we’re on the 2nd day at least…in fact according to Forbes:  “…the twelve days run December 25 through January 5, inclusive. Then comes Epiphany on January 6.”  https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinknudson/2017/12/26/some-fun-facts-about-the-number-12-just-in-time-for-the-12-days-of-christmas/#77794a9f7f2c

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Today we’re  looking at some of the symbols mostly of Christmas but since we’re doing it with my homes decorations we may wander a bit farther than that…all for a fun experience that raises both your interest as well as your knowledge of a few new thing—and thus making my whole presentation of the thing worth while…

 

 

 

Oh and the main picture is actually my Dragon—I mean what is a Dragon Lair (and its Diva) without a Dragon?  There is a movie about a Christian Dragon and a group of orphans that go on a (dare I say) quest to save Christmas   The Christmas Dragon (2014)   1h 46min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy.    

An interesting choice for a woman’s home not to mention Blog and business.

 

 

Because of its roots in pagan festivals, Christmas was not immediately accepted by the religious. In fact, from 1659 to 1681, it was illegal to celebrate Christmas in Boston. You were fined if you were caught celebrating.

Entertainment

http://www.etonline.com/news/155454_31_facts_you_didn_t_know_about_christmas

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/576610059/savage-sword-of-conan-with-red-sonja-29?ref=shop_home_active_21

 

 

 

And the porch…of course there’s Santa—the are similar characters about the Christian world that have all manner of origins and do all manner of gift giving and naughty children punishing..   My first question about Santa is why all the red????  Well some insist it’s from some very famous 1930’s ads done by Coke…..but the Children’s Museum Indianapolis feels it goes back much further.  “ there was the original St. Nicholas. As the Bishop of Myra in the 4th Century, his traditional robes were red and white. While some historians argue that he originally dressed in different colors, the fact is that after the bishop, who was known for his generosity and kindness to children, passed away, his legend grew, and that included his scarlet apparel.”    https://www.childrensmuseum.org/blog/why-does-santa-wear-red

 

 

 

As I mentioned before there’s lots of characters associated with Christmas about the world—one of my favorites is  La Befana, sometimes referred to as the Italian Christmas witch, has red eyes (that color again), thick lips and an eerie expression, she goes down chimneys too–like our guy, but while he stays beautifully clean in his fury white and red gear she is often covered with soot.  She has been around since some time in the 1500s and like our Santa is nice to good children—who get toys and very like our traditions the naughty ones get ashes (the coal after the fire)—and dust—maybe brushed off her clothes?

USA TODAY

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2013/12/16/bad-good-santas-world-krampus/3990203/

 

The American Santa Clause that has developed today was first written about by Clement Clark Moore (a biblical scholar) in a poem that is as popular today as it was then:  “Twas the Night Before Christmas” (though at the time it was called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”).  Santa’s image was a bit slower in arriving but it did thru the efforts “The American Illustrator” Thomas Nast in the Harper Weekly in 1862 and was done to honor sacrifices of northern families during the Civil War despite the fact that he was a slave owner against abolition.  By the 1880s and the war behind them major cities like New York began commercializing the holiday for fun not to mention profits and Nast’s illustrations were collected into a book in 1890…..and the little man you see on that porch–well that one is based on those Coke Ads beginning in 1931 (by Haddon Sundblom, a Swedish-American Illustrator)

Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/whats-in-name/201212/santa-reality-and-imagination-what-does-it-all-mean

 

 

 

 

 

Santa’s sleigh doesn’t travel at the speed of light

 

Despite what you might think about Santa’s ability to visit every good boy and girl’s home in the world in one night (and if you’re over the age of 10 and still scratching your head about it, you might want to evaluate your priorities), it’s not as astronomical of a feat as you might think. Technically, Santa would have 34 hours to complete his task thanks to the International Date Line and, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Fermilab,” his sleigh would only have to travel at 99.999999% of the speed of light assuming he only visits 800 million houses over the entire surface area of the Earth.

Huffington Post

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/23/25-weird-christmas-facts_n_1167500.html

 

My favorite decoration for the holiday is something you don’t see a lot of actual ones in the south where I live—Snowmen….they are so cute…and many of the ones I have a cuddly though I have not found the actual ones so user friendly….the actual ones can be shaped a variety of ways, as can but the hands-on-cold-ones and the cute ones that adorn my walls and other locations for Christmas tend to look a lot like the one above, on my living room wall.

 

 

if you’re really interested in Snowmen and how they have developed there’s actually a book on the subject:  The History of the Snowman  By Bob Eckstein (snowman expert and New York native).  There is even a world day of snowman, celebrated on 18 January every year.  And they too vary from country to country:  “In Europe and North America snowmen are usually formed from three snowballs, while people in east Asia tend to favour two spheres. The world’s largest snowman to date was in fact a snow-lady, built in Bethel, Maine, in the US, in 2008. Olympia Snowe, as she was known, stood just over 37 metres tall.”

The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2010/dec/29/weatherwatch-snowmen-history

 

The earliest picture of a snowman was in a manuscript written in 1380 and the first written reference was during the Renaissance.  These were not the cute one we do now but were often works of protest or comment on the ongoing problems with society and the like.   But the snowman we know and love today didn’t actually develop until the late 19th and early 20th century.   And he wasn’t always a family friendly character for after Probation in the US he became a spokesman for alcohol.  But his (or her) redemption came in 1968 with the animated movie Frost the Snowman and has been on the upside ever since.

 

 

 

 

Rudolph should probably be depicted without antlers as male reindeer shed theirs in winter.

Santa’s other eight reindeer and sleigh date back to 1823; Rudolph was only added in 1939.

Express

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/top10facts/548548/Top-10-facts-about-Christmas

 

 

 

Next year I’ll return to Droughtlander—-I miss them too especially YOU KNOW WHO

 

 

• Germany made the first artificial Christmas tree out of goose feathers dyed green.
• Electric lights for Christmas trees were first used in 1895.

WTOP

https://wtop.com/news/2011/12/did-you-know-15-fun-facts-about-christma

 

Most Americans believe that elements of the biblical Christmas story reflect actual historical events, although the percentage expressing this view has dropped noticeably in recent years. Two-thirds (66%) say Jesus was born to a virgin, compared with 73% who said this in 2014; 75% believe he was laid in a manger, down from 81%. Similarly, the shares who say they believe that wise men, guided by a star, brought Jesus gifts — and that an angel appeared to shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus — also have declined. A slim majority of U.S. adults (57%) believe that all four of these things actually happened, down from 65% three years ago. Belief in these events has declined not only among people with no religious affiliation, but among Christians as well. Overall, about one-in-five Americans (19%) now say none of these things actually happened.