Find out who is Santa’s granddaughter, what was the very first Christmas postcard and other fun and interesting facts about Christmas holiday, X-mas tree and Santa Claus.

Interesting Facts about Christmas

• The word Christmas is Old English, a contraction of Christ’s Mass.
• Christmas became a national holiday in America on June, 26, 1870.
• The first state to recognize the Christmas holiday officially was Alabama.
• Oklahoma was the last United States state to declare Christmas a legal holiday, in 1907.
• In Greek, X means Christ. That is where the word “X-Mas” comes from. Not because someone took the “Christ” out of Christmas.
• “Jingle Bells” was first written for Thanksgiving and then became one of the most popular Christmas songs.
• If you received all of the gifts in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” you would receive 364 gifts.
• The poinsettia plant was brought into the United States from Mexico by Joel Poinsett in the early 1800′s. Contrary to common belief, poinsettia plants are non-toxic.

Poinsettia

• In 1843, “A Christmas Carol” was written by Charles Dickens in just six weeks.
• More diamonds are sold around Christmas than any other time of the year.
• In Mexico, wearing red underwear on New Year’s Eve is said to bring new love in the upcoming year.
• The traditional three colors of Christmas are green, red, and gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.
• Contrary to popular belief, suicide and depression rates during the Christmas holiday are low. The highest rates are during the spring
• President Coolidge started the White House lighting ceremony in 1923.
• It was estimated that the song “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the best selling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.
• Christmas shopping account for 1/6 of all retail sales in the United States.

Fun Facts about Santa Claus

• If Santa would have to visit all houses in the world, that would be 842,000,000
• Rudolph the deer was actually created by Montgomery Ward in the late 1930′s for a holiday promotion. The rest is history.
• Santa Claus is based on a real person, St. Nikolas of Myra, born in Patara (in modern-day Turkey), he lived during the fourth century. , he is the world’s most popular non-Biblical saint, and artists have portrayed him more often than any other saint except Mary. He is the patron saint of banking, pawnbroking, pirating, butchery, sailing, thievery, orphans, royalty, and New York City.
• Santa Claus was also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker, Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna, and Nikolaos of Bari.
• In some Eastern European countries such as Russia and Ukraine, Santa called “Father Frost” (Ded Moroz). He also has a granddaughter ”Snow girl” Snegurochka. They visit houses on the New Years Eve.

Fun Facts About Christmas Trees 

• Christmas trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.
• Fake artificial X-Mas trees are more popular on display in comparison to real trees.
• Germany made the first artificial Christmas trees. They were made of goose feathers and dyed green.
• Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.
• The tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas fir that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington. It was documented by Guinness world records.
• Traditionally, Christmas trees are taken down after Epiphany.
• President Teddy Roosevelt, an environmentalist, banned Christmas trees from the White House in 1912
• There are approximately 21,000 Christmas tree farms in the United States. In 2008, nearly 45 million Christmas trees were planted, adding to the existing 400 million trees.
• Approximately 30-35 million real (living) Christmas trees are sold each year in the U.S.
• The earliest known Christmas tree decorations were apples.

The very first Christmas Cards 

• The first Christmas cards were vintage and invented in 1843, the Victorian Era
• The very first commercial Christmas card was created and published in London.

The very first commercial Christmas card