a muse + delight: Holiday Trivia

Friday

Holiday Trivia

At Calliope, I'm known as a grab bag of "useless information". Random facts, visuals and quotes nest in my brain, at times leaving a "no vacancy" sign for more impressive information. Here are a few cookie crumbs from my trove of random quotes and trivia:

Frommers

Charles Dickens

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

Norman Vincent Peale
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

Eggnog

The first eggnog made in the U.S. was consumed in Captain John Smith's 1607 Jamestown Settlement.

Speaking Cats and Dogs

According to old wives' tales, at midnight on every Christmas Eve animals are given the power of speech for a brief period.* That brief period will be known as snacktime for our four-legged friend. (Remember the chewy granola bar commercial?)

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Construction workers started the tradition in 1931.

Xmas

Contrary to what many people think, the "X" is not a way to disassociate Christ from Christmas. Its origin is religious in nature. The Greek word that gives us the English word "Christ" started with the letter "chi" or "x". The early Christians who spoke Greek used the word to signify "Christ's Mass". Throughout the centuries, fewer people understood ancient Greek and thought the "X" was pagan-like, and even disrespectful.*

English Customs

Christmas, as an English custom, fell out of favor in the U.S. after the American Revolution.