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*Christmas Carols were banned by Oliver Cromwell, in England between 1649 and 1660. Cromwell thought that Christmas should be a very solemn day so he banned carols and parties. The only celebration was by a sermon and a prayer service. *Sometime in the last half of the seventeenth century, people in Germany began tying small candles to the branches of their Christmas trees. *Silent Night was written in 1818, by an Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. He was told the day before Christmas that the church organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas Eve. He was saddened by this and could not think of Christmas without music, so he wanted to write a carol that could be sung by choir to guitar music. He sat down and wrote three stanzas. Later that night the people in the little Austrian Church sang "Stille Nacht" for the first time. *In 1836, Alabama is the first state in the USA to declare Christmas a legal holiday. In 1907, Oklahoma became the last USA state to declare Christmas a legal holiday. The actual gift givers are different in various countries: *The first American Christmas carol was written in 1649 by a minister named John de Brebeur and is called "Jesus is Born." *Tinsel on the Christmas Tree is attributed to a woman whose husband died. She was left to bring up a large family of children herself. She was left to do everything working so hard and she was determined to make a happy time for them at Christmas. She prepared a Christmas Tree to surprise them on Christmas Day. Unfortunately spiders visited the tree, and crawled from branch to branch, making webs all over it. The Christ Child saw the tree and knew she would be devestated to find this on Christmas morning. He changed the spiders' webs to shining silver. *Winfrid, a Christian missionary later named Saint Boniface, is often credited with establishing the first Christmas tree some twelve hundred years ago. *The custom of caroling began at least four hundred years ago in England. Each English town had watchmen known as waits. They guarded the town and the clock- on each hour they sounded horns or played short tunes. Over time, some waits formed traveling bands and were called minstrels. At Christmastime, they would go door to door, playing instruments and singing, often for gifts of money. *I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus sold at least two million copies when it came out forty years ago. *The first known Christmas tree lot was a street corner in a town called Strasbourg, in 1531. Then a part of Germany, this town is now in France. It proudly calls itself the "Home of the Christmas Tree." Back then, the tradition was to show the trees unadorned in their homes. People enjoyed the distinct shape, lush green color and wonderful aroma. *Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer was first performed at a rodeo in New York City fifty years ago by Gene Autry, a famous singing cowboy. Since that time, over 150 million copies have been sold. Placed end to end, those are enough to stretch from the North Pole to the South Pole. *In some places, caroling is a Christmas tradition a bit like trick-or-treating. Carolers go from house to house singing carols and in return, they receive treats. Cookies, hot cider, chocolate. Not tricks are played on those not offering treats. *The word "Christmas" comes from Cristes mæsse, an old English phrase that means "Mass of Christ." *Long, long before the birth of Christ and the celebration of Christmas, when people were completely at Mother Nature's mercy, evergreens were regarded as the symbols of everlasting life. For many of these early cultures, trees that didn't die- even in frozen winter- were believed to possess magical, godlike powers. *In Santa Fe, New Mexico, there are a few variations on traditions for Christmas. They add a Southwestern flair to many things. Ristras are wreaths which are made from dried chili peppers instead of the traditional evergreens. There is also the lighting of the luminarias. These are lanterns made from paper bags with cutouts in the sides and filled with sand. A lit candle inside provides a soft glow.
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