Fun Facts About Christmas

Christmas is only a few days away! In honor of this festive time of year, below are some fun holiday facts that you can use to impress your family and friends at the dinner table.

--Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are the top producers of Christmas trees in the U.S.

   

--The tradition of decorating Christmas trees originated in 16^th century Germany.

--Political cartoonist and illustrator Thomas Nast is credited with creating the image of Santa Claus familiar to most of us. His illustration showing a jolly old man with a bushy white beard and twinkling blue eyes first appeared in the Christmas issue of Harper’s Weekly in 1862.  (Coca-Cola added the red suit in the 1930s for a marketing campaign and the image has stuck ever since).

--The classic Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life originally bombed at the box office. It wasn’t until 1974, when NBC started airing it every holiday season, that it caught on with audiences. NBC continues to show it every year.

--Can’t get enough of Christmas? As their names suggest, these towns take the holiday seriously. Why not visit Santa Claus, Indiana; Christmas, Florida; Rudolph, Wisconsin; North Pole, Alaska; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; or Noel, Missouri?

-- Mister Potato Head was the first toy advertised on TV in 1952. Children had to use a real potato until the molded plastic toy body hit the market in 1964.

--Christmas gifts weren’t always wrapped in paper. For years the tradition was to hang candy and small gifts on the family Christmas tree.

--Rudolph, Santa’s reindeer, was almost named Reginald.  The character was created by a copywriter in 1939 as part of a marketing campaign for Montgomery Ward’s holiday coloring books.

-- In 1936, Alabama was the first U.S. state to declare Christmas a legal holiday.

--The average person consumes approximately 7,000 calories on Christmas Day (including Christmas dinner and any second helpings, appetizers, and alcohol).

Do you have any random Christmas facts that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below!