Merry Quizmas!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created by a department store called Montgomery Ward in 1939. Rudolph is usually depicted as the lead reindeer, using his luminous nose to light the way for Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve.

This yummy filling is made up of dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices. It is called mincemeat because originally the pies contained a mixture of meat and fruit. The earliest recipes for mincemeat are from the 15th century!

A large spruce tree has been donated by the city of Oslo in Norway since 1947! It is gifted as a token of gratitude for British support to Norway during World War II.

Dickens' Christmas Carol was first published in 1843. By Christmas Eve of 1844 the first edition books had sold out. The phrase 'Bah! Humbug' originates from A Christmas Carol and is used as a retort to anything overly festive!

The Grinch is a creation of author Dr Seuss. The character made his debut in the 1957 novel 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' which was written and illustrated by Seuss. Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr Seuss) was born in 1904 and died in 1991. He adopted the name 'Dr Seuss' as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College and as a graduate student at Lincoln College, Oxford. After he was banned from writing the college magazine after being caught drinking gin during the Prohibition, he took up writing under the pen name of 'Seuss'. After university he worked as an illustrator for Vanity Fair and created political cartoons during World War II. After the war he began publishing children's books including: 'Horton Hears a Who', 'The Gat in the Hat' and 'Green Eggs and Ham'.

This beautiful plant is actually a parasite and attach to a host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients. The name 'mistletoe' derives from the older form 'mistle' and the old English word 'tan' (twig). Pre-Christian cultures saw mistletoe as a symbol of male fertility. In Ancient Greek mythology, the hero Aeneas uses mistletoe to reach the underworld. For the Romans, mistletoe was associated with peace, love and understanding as part of the Saturnalia festival. In the western world couple are supposed to kiss under the mistletoe!

You know Dasher and Dancer

And Prancer and Vixen,

Comet and Cupid

And Donner and Blitzen.

But do you recall

The most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer...

This English Christmas Carol was first published in 1780 without music as a chant or rhyme. It is thought to be French in origin. The most famous tune that we sing today was derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional English folk song, with the addition of the elongated 'Five Gold Rings' verse.

The tradition of hiding a sixpence inside a Christmas pudding is thought to have been brought over to Britain by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. On the Sunday before Advent, families gathered together to help make the Christmas pudding. A silver sixpence was placed in the mix and everyone gave it a tir. Whoever found the sixpence when they ate the pudding would enjoy wealth and good luck in the year to come (or so the tradition goes.)

Did you know that before Coca-Cola's 1931 Christmas campaign, Father Christmas was usually depicted in green? Artist Haddon Sundblom was commissioned to create the red-robed Santa between 1931 and 1935. For inspiration, Sundblom used St. Nicholas from "Twas the Night Before Christmas", leading to the image of a warm, friendly and plump Santa Claus. Santa was used as a way to promote drinking Coca-Cola all year round, not just on summery afternoons.

This is a famous line from the song 'Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!'. It was written in 1945 in Hollywood as the writers imagined cooler times during a heatwave! Believe it or not, the song doesn't actually refer specifically to Christmas at all.

Jingle Bells has a long history. It was written by James Lord Pierpont in 1857 and was originally entitled 'One Horse Open Sleigh'. It was written for the Thanksgiving season but later became associated with the festive season. Interestingly, it was the first song broadcast from outer space in 1965!

Eggnog, if you haven't tasted it, is a rich, chilled, sweetened, dairy-based beverage. Sometimes spirits like brandy or run are added. The word 'Eggnog' comes from the word 'nog', which was either a strong beer from East Anglia (used in around 1693), or from 'noggin' which was a king of wooden mug used for serving alcohol. 'Egg' comes from how the drink contained whipped egg whites.

The Three Kings or Three Wise Men were reputedly called Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior. According to the Bible, they travelled East following the Star which came to rest over the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus had been born. They brought with them luxury gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, which might be where the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas comes from.