10 Things You Probably Don't Know About Christmas

Contrary to popular belief, Father Christmas’s red coat was not the creation of a clever Coca-Cola advertising campaign. Before the company had even been invented, St Nick was being depicted in multiple books and illustrations wearing a scarlet coat. From the 1930’s onwards Coca-Cola did however help shape the image of Santa as a jolly old man.

Multiple theories abound as to how this bank holiday received its name, the most popular theory suggests it was traditionally a day when servants had the day off to visit their families. Their employees would send them home with "Christmas boxes" containing money, gifts or food to thank them for their reliable service throughout the past year.

During the time of the winter solstice, pagan homes would be decorated with evergreen branches in the hope of scaring away evil spirits and to remind the occupants that spring was just around the corner. This tradition survived the conversion to Christianity and during the 16th Century in Germany devout Christians began bringing Christmas trees into their homes. The practice was made fashionable in the UK during the mid 19th Century, when popular Queen Victoria, German Prince Albert and their children were drawn in The Illustrated London News standing around the main Christmas tree at Windsor Castle.

In fact "X" comes from the Greek letter "chi" which happens to be the first letter of the Greek word for Christ (Χριστός), and Greek was the original language of the New Testament. The word was simply created as an abbreviation and was first used in the mid 1500s.

Before turkeys were brought into this country over 500 years ago people used to eat geese, boars' head and even peacocks during the festive season! Henry VIII was the first English king to enjoy a turkey on Christmas Day and the bird was still regarded as a luxury up until the 1950s, with many choosing goose instead. Thanks to the invention of the fridge and the ability of the large turkey to feed a whole family, it soon took top spot on many Christmas tables.

From the Ancient Greeks to Norse mythology, mistletoe has been a symbolic herb for centuries. Many customs have linked it to love, fertility and new life. In some way these beliefs eventually led to the custom of kissing under the mistletoe during the Christmas period. This tradition became increasingly popular in Victorian England, when men would look to steal a kiss from any woman seen lingering beneath a sprig of mistletoe. A refusal was seen as bad luck.

There is no mention of December 25th anywhere in the Bible, in fact there is no mention of when Jesus was born at all. There was much debate amongst early Christians and it wasn't until the fourth century AD in the Roman Empire that Jesus' birthday was celebrated on December 25th. The most popular theory as to why this date was settled on is that it was borrowed from pagan traditions that already occurred on that day.

Medieval people during the 16th century believed that if you ate a mince pie every day from Christmas to Twelfth Night (5th January), you'd have happiness for the next 12 months. These pies were known as Christmas Pyes, and contained anything from rabbit to mutton, pigeon to pheasant! They were larger than their modern creations and made into an oval shape, which was said to represent Jesus' crib.

The red-nosed reindeer was created in 1939 by Robert L.May, an advertising copywriter for Montgomery Ward department store based in Chicago. Every year the store would give away free colouring books as holiday gifts to the children who visited the store Father Christmas. Rudolph's story sold 2.4 million copies in its first year of publication. The famous song was released in 1949 becoming one of the best-selling songs of all time.

During the late 1840s, a London sweet maker named Tom Smith sat by a crackling log fire and imagined how fun it would be if his wrapped sweets made the same sound when opened. A short time later, 'Cosaques', a log shaped sweet package with a surprise crackle element inside, were put on the market. The public came to know them as crackers and by the early 20th century, hats, jokes and various trinkets had replaced the sweets inside them. Soon they were adopted as a traditional festive custom and the rest they say is history.