146 Fun Facts About Kids Christmas

What flavour is a traditional striped candy cane?

Peppermint is the classic flavour; the name 'candy cane' first turns up in a magazine story of 1866, and a popular legend says the sticks were first handed out to keep children quiet in church.

Who wrote How the Grinch Stole Christmas!?

Dr. Seuss was Theodor Geisel, who said the Grinch was himself: he caught a very Grinchish face in the mirror the morning after Christmas 1956 and had the story mostly written within weeks.

Which city does the McCallister family fly to at the start of Home Alone?

Paris was the plan, but a power cut overnight reset the alarm clocks, the family overslept, and in the scramble for the airport nobody noticed Kevin was still up in the attic.

What is the town where the Whos live called?

Whoville first appeared in Horton Hears a Who!, three years before the Grinch story: there the whole town sits on a speck of dust, and an elephant has to guard it from animals who cannot hear the Whos.

Which actor plays Buddy in the film Elf?

Will Ferrell's Buddy ends up saving Christmas: when Santa's sleigh loses power in Central Park, a crowd of New Yorkers starts singing, and their Christmas spirit gets it flying again.

What is the name of the Grinch's dog?

Max is the Grinch's dog, disguised as a reindeer for the Christmas Eve raid and made to pull a sleigh piled high with stolen presents.

What do badly behaved children traditionally find in their stocking?

A lump of coal is the old threat, but Italy turned it into a treat: the 'coal' that children find in their stockings there is sugar candy dyed black.

In the song, what brings Frosty the Snowman to life?

An old silk hat sets Frosty dancing in the 1950 song, which its two writers pitched to Gene Autry as a follow-up to the reindeer song that had been his big hit the Christmas before.

In Home Alone, what are the two burglars called?

Harry and Marv call themselves the Wet Bandits because Marv leaves the taps running in every house they rob, a calling card that lets the police pin every burglary on them.

Boxing Day is celebrated on which date?

Boxing Day falls on 26 December; its name is traced either to church alms boxes opened for the poor that day or to the Christmas boxes of gifts that employers gave their servants.

How many little doors does a standard Advent calendar have?

A standard Advent calendar has 24 doors, one for each day from 1 December to Christmas Eve, although the church season of Advent itself begins on a Sunday that can fall in late November.

Decorated gingerbread houses are usually linked to which fairy tale?

Hansel and Gretel, published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, has a witch's house built of bread, cake and sugar; German bakers are said to have begun making gingerbread houses after it appeared.

In Elf, which food group joins candy, candy canes and candy corn?

Syrup is the fourth elf food group, and Buddy lives by it: served spaghetti at the family dinner table, he asks for the maple syrup and then produces a bottle of his own.

Who sang the best-known recording of "White Christmas"?

Bing Crosby first sang it on his radio show on Christmas Day 1941; the 1942 record was pressed so often that the master wore out, so the version usually heard today is his 1947 remake.

Which poem opens with the line "Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house"?

A Visit from St. Nicholas ran unsigned in a Troy, New York, newspaper in 1823; Clement Clarke Moore claimed it only years later, and some scholars think Henry Livingston Jr. wrote it.

In which country was the carol "Silent Night" first performed?

Austria's village of Oberndorf heard it first, at Christmas Eve mass in 1818: the priest Joseph Mohr had asked Franz Gruber to set his poem for guitar, and the two men sang it themselves.

The poinsettia, a common Christmas plant, grows wild in which country?

Mexico calls the plant flor de Nochebuena, the Christmas Eve flower; its English name honours Joel Poinsett, the first US envoy to Mexico, who sent plants home in the 1820s.

In which country did a 1970s advertising campaign turn fried chicken into a Christmas custom?

Japan had few Christmas customs of its own when KFC's 1974 'Kentucky for Christmas' campaign sold a bucket of fried chicken as the stand-in for a turkey dinner; millions of families now order one.

Saint Nicholas, the real bishop behind Santa Claus, served a city in which modern country?

Turkey's south coast was home to Myra, where tradition makes Nicholas bishop in the 300s; in 1087 Italian sailors carried his bones off to Bari, where they are still kept.

Which royal couple helped make Christmas trees fashionable in Britain?

Victoria and Albert popularised the tree: an 1848 Illustrated London News engraving of the royal family around a decorated tree at Windsor made it a must-have at home.

Advent calendars were first used by Lutherans in which country?

Germany's Protestants began by chalking a line on the door for each December day and rubbing one out every morning; printed calendars with pictures followed in the early 1900s.

Which American retailer first handed out the story of the red-nosed reindeer in 1939?

Montgomery Ward had been buying colouring books to give away each Christmas and asked its copywriter Robert L. May for a story of its own to save money; 2.4 million copies went out that first year.

What was the song "Jingle Bells" originally called?

The One Horse Open Sleigh was the title when James Pierpont's song was first performed, in a Boston theatre in September 1857; it had no connection to Christmas and was tied to the holiday only later.

In Alpine folklore, which horned figure deals with badly behaved children?

Krampus walks beside Saint Nicholas on the night of 5 December: the saint rewards good children with small gifts, while his horned companion rattles chains and swats the naughty with birch rods.

In which town was Jesus born?

Bethlehem lies about six miles south of Jerusalem and was also the birthplace of King David, which is why the Bible calls it the city of David.

Which angel visited Mary to tell her she would have a son?

The angel Gabriel brought the news to Mary in Luke's Gospel; his greeting, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee', became the opening of the Hail Mary prayer.

Because there was nowhere for the family to stay, where was the newborn baby Jesus laid?

In a manger, an animals' feeding trough, is where Luke says the baby was laid; that one word is why nativity scenes are set in a stable, which the Gospel never mentions.

In the Christmas story, an angel announced the birth of Jesus to which group of people?

Luke's Gospel says shepherds watching their flocks by night were told by an angel to look for a baby wrapped in cloths, as a host of angels sang 'Glory to God in the highest'.

What three gifts did the wise men bring to the baby Jesus?

Gold, frankincense and myrrh are the only count in the story: Matthew never says how many wise men came, and the idea that there were three of them grew from the three gifts.

What did the wise men from the East follow to find the newborn king?

Matthew's Gospel says the wise men followed a star that went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was; astronomers have suggested a comet or a conjunction of planets.

In the Christmas story, which king was frightened when the wise men asked about a newborn king of the Jews?

Herod asked the wise men to report back once they found the child, but they were warned in a dream and went home by another road.

In the Christmas story, an angel warned Joseph in a dream to flee with Mary and the baby Jesus to which country?

Egypt kept the family safe until the king who wanted the child dead had died; an angel then told Joseph in another dream that it was safe to return to the land of Israel.

Per Luke's Gospel, in which Galilee town did Mary and Joseph live before the census journey?

Nazareth in Galilee is where Luke sets the angel's visit to Mary, and where the family settled again after the birth, which is why he became known as Jesus of Nazareth.

In the Christmas story, which Roman emperor ordered the census that sent Joseph and Mary on their journey?

Caesar Augustus decreed that all the world should be registered, Luke says, so everyone had to travel to their own family's town to be counted.

Which two animals are usually shown in a nativity scene beside the baby?

A donkey and an ox are traditional: neither is named in the Gospels, but Isaiah 1:3 speaks of an ox and an ass knowing their master's crib, and artists added them centuries later.

Who is credited with staging the first live nativity scene, at Greccio in Italy in 1223?

Saint Francis of Assisi staged the birth with living figures in a cave at Greccio at Christmas 1223, wanting the people of the village to see for themselves how humbly the child had been born.

In the Christmas story, the baby is also to be called Emmanuel, a Hebrew name that means what?

God with us is the translation Matthew's Gospel itself supplies when it quotes the prophet Isaiah, which is why the Advent hymn 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel' uses the name for the child.

Mary's relative Elizabeth gave birth to which baby a few months before Jesus was born?

Elizabeth's son was John the Baptist, born about six months before Jesus; her husband Zechariah was struck dumb for doubting the angel's news that his elderly wife would conceive.

Which feast on 2 February marks the day the baby Jesus was presented at the Temple in Jerusalem?

Candlemas falls 40 days after Christmas because the law of Moses set a mother's purification 40 days after a son's birth; its name comes from the candles blessed in church that day.

How many reindeer pull Santa's sleigh in the 1823 poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'?

The poem names eight reindeer, from Dasher and Dancer to Comet and Cupid; a ninth, Rudolph, was not added until Robert May's 1939 story.

In the film The Polar Express, what drink do the dancing waiters serve to the children aboard the train?

Hot chocolate arrives in a big dance number, and the girl leaves with the Conductor to take a cup to lonely Billy.

Which actor plays the Conductor, and several other roles, in The Polar Express?

Tom Hanks played several parts through motion capture, including the Conductor, Santa Claus and the hobo; he even acted out the young hero's movements, with a child actor supplying the boy's voice.

In The Polar Express, what does Santa hand the boy as the first gift of Christmas?

The first gift of Christmas is a silver sleigh bell from Santa's sleigh; the boy can hear it ring only once he believes, and at the end only true believers still hear it.

Which town is Jack Skellington's home in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town; he finds a grove of trees with doors to other holiday worlds and tumbles through the one to Christmas Town.

What does Jack Skellington mistakenly call Santa Claus in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Sandy Claws is Jack's garbled version of the name, and he sends the trick-or-treaters Lock, Shock and Barrel to kidnap him so that Jack can deliver the presents himself.

In the 1964 Rudolph TV special, the elf Hermey leaves the workshop to become what?

Hermey wants to be a dentist rather than make toys, and his ambition pays off when he pulls the Abominable Snow Monster's teeth.

Where do Rudolph and his friends wash up after escaping the Abominable Snow Monster?

They land on the Island of Misfit Toys, ruled by the winged lion King Moonracer, who gathers unwanted toys until he can find children to love them.

In the 1964 special, what is the name of the doe who tells Rudolph he is cute?

Clarice tells Rudolph he is cute, and her compliment makes him so happy that he flies for the first time at the reindeer games.

Which folk singer narrates the 1964 Rudolph special as Sam the Snowman?

Burl Ives voices Sam the Snowman and sings 'A Holly Jolly Christmas' in the special; his recording became a standard in its own right.

Which character recites the nativity story on stage in A Charlie Brown Christmas?

Linus walks to centre stage, asks for a spotlight, puts down his security blanket and recites the passage from the King James Bible to show Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about.

Which composer wrote the music for The Nutcracker ballet?

Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker in 1891-92, working on it in Rouen, France, and breaking off to conduct at the opening of Carnegie Hall in May 1891; it premiered in St Petersburg in December 1892.

Which bell-like keyboard instrument gives The Nutcracker its famous twinkling sound?

The celesta, a keyboard that strikes metal plates, gives the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy its twinkle; the composer had first used it in his 1891 symphonic ballad The Voyevoda.

In A Christmas Carol, what is the name of Scrooge's dead business partner?

Jacob Marley, dead seven years, appears as a ghost dragging chains of cash-boxes and ledgers forged in life, and warns Scrooge that his own chain is even longer.

Which seriously ill little boy is the youngest son of Bob Cratchit?

Tiny Tim is the Cratchits' crippled youngest son; the Ghost of Christmas Present tells Scrooge the boy will die unless the shadows of the future are changed.

Who plays Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol?

Michael Caine plays Scrooge in the 1992 film; he said he would play the part completely straight, as if acting alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Which Muppet plays the narrator, Charles Dickens, in The Muppet Christmas Carol?

Gonzo the Great plays Charles Dickens as narrator, with Rizzo the Rat tagging along mostly to eat things and complain about the cold.

In It's a Wonderful Life, what is the name of George Bailey's guardian angel?

Clarence Odbody is an angel second class who has yet to earn his wings; the bell ringing at the end tells George that he finally has.

In Miracle on 34th Street, Kris Kringle is hired to play Santa at which store?

Kris Kringle plays Santa at Macy's after pointing out that the parade Santa is drunk, then startles the store by sending shoppers to rival Gimbels for better deals.

In Elf, what is the name of Buddy's grumpy human father, played by James Caan?

Walter Hobbs works at a children's book publisher, is on Santa's naughty list, and at first mistakes Buddy for a singing Christmas-gram messenger.

In Elf, the elves name the baby Buddy after the label on his what?

The elves named him after the 'Little Buddy Diapers' label on his diaper; he had crawled into Santa's sack at the orphanage and was only found back at the North Pole.

In the 1969 Frosty the Snowman TV special, what is the grumpy magician's name?

Professor Hinkle is a failed party magician who spends the special chasing Frosty and the children, while his own rabbit, Hocus Pocus, keeps taking their side against him.

Who voiced the Grinch, and narrated, in the 1966 TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!?

Boris Karloff, the Frankenstein star, narrated and voiced the Grinch; the song 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch' was sung uncredited by Thurl Ravenscroft.

In How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the Grinch's heart is said to be how many sizes too small?

Two sizes too small is the storyteller's diagnosis; when the Whos sing on Christmas morning without their presents, the Grinch's heart grows three sizes and he brings everything back.

Who played the Grinch in the 2000 live-action film directed by Ron Howard?

Jim Carrey played the Grinch under layers of prosthetics in Ron Howard's 2000 film, narrated by Anthony Hopkins; the transformation won the film the Academy Award for Best Makeup.

Who voices the Grinch in the 2018 animated film from Illumination?

Benedict Cumberbatch voices the Grinch in Illumination's 2018 film, narrated by Pharrell Williams; this Grinch ends the story at the Whos' Christmas dinner, raising a toast with them.

In the 2018 film The Grinch, what does he call the fat reindeer he recruits to pull his sleigh?

Fred is the name the Grinch gives him; when Fred turns out to have a family, the Grinch lets him go home, and the whole reindeer family later comes back to help save the sleigh.

Which country gives London a giant Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square every year?

Norway has sent the Trafalgar Square tree every year since 1947 as thanks for British support during the Second World War; it is a gift from the city of Oslo to the people of London.

Who put up the very first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in 1931?

Construction workers building the Center put up the first tree in the depths of the Depression and hung it with garlands their families had made; it became an official yearly tradition in 1933.

Henry Cole asked an artist in 1843 to design the first commercial Christmas what?

The card was Cole's answer to a pile of Christmas post he was too busy to reply to: one printed greeting, drawn by his friend John Callcott Horsley, could go to everyone.

Sweet-maker Tom Smith is credited with inventing which festive item?

The Christmas cracker grew out of Tom Smith's bon-bons, sweets in a twist of paper with a motto tucked inside; when they sold poorly, he added a bang that goes off as the wrapper is pulled apart.

Which silver coin was traditionally hidden inside a Christmas pudding for luck?

A sixpence went into the mix on Stir-up Sunday, about five weeks before Christmas, when every member of the household took a turn at stirring the pudding and made a wish.

What colour are the berries of European mistletoe, the plant people kiss beneath?

European mistletoe has white berries; one old rule said a berry had to be plucked for each kiss, and the kissing stopped when the berries ran out.

What animal does Sinterklaas ride through the streets of Dutch towns?

A white horse carries Sinterklaas through town after he arrives by steamboat in mid-November; children leave hay or a carrot in their shoes for it, hoping to find sweets there in the morning.

In Italian folklore, which old woman on a broomstick brings children gifts in early January?

La Befana, the story goes, was too busy with her housework to join the Three Wise Men on their way to the child; she has been looking for him ever since, leaving gifts for children as she goes.

Epiphany, also called Three Kings' Day, traditionally falls on which date?

Epiphany falls on 6 January, twelve days after Christmas; many families take their decorations down the night before, on Twelfth Night.

Russia's Grandfather Frost is helped by his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden, called what?

Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden, helps Ded Moroz hand out presents at New Year rather than Christmas, a switch that dates from Soviet times, when Christmas was banned and its tree became a New Year tree.

The Finnish name for Santa, Joulupukki, literally means "Christmas" what?

Goat is what 'pukki' means: the old Yule Goat was a scary figure, played by men in goat costume who went door to door demanding food, and only later turned into the giver of gifts.

In which country does the town of Gävle build a giant straw Christmas figure each year?

Sweden's town of Gävle has put up the giant straw figure every Advent since 1966; the very first one was burned down on New Year's Eve, and arsonists have gone after many of its successors.

Which Finnish city is home to Santa Claus Village on the Arctic Circle?

Rovaniemi was almost wiped out by retreating German troops in the Second World War and rebuilt to a plan by the architect Alvar Aalto, whose main roads trace a reindeer's head and antlers.

Which singer released "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in 1994?

Mariah Carey wrote it with Walter Afanasieff and had the studio decorated for Christmas during an August recording session.

Which Christmas hit did the pop duo Wham! release in 1984?

Last Christmas spent five weeks at number two in the UK, kept off the top by Band Aid, and only reached number one in January 2021, 36 years after it came out.

Which singer was only 13 when she recorded "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" in 1958?

Brenda Lee was 13 at the session, and the record took its time: it first charted two years later and finally topped the US Hot 100 in December 2023, 65 years after she made it.

Which Puerto Rican singer wrote and recorded "Feliz Navidad" in 1970?

José Feliciano wrote it in 1970, homesick in a Los Angeles studio and remembering the Christmas Eves he had spent with his brothers over traditional Puerto Rican food.

The tune of "Deck the Halls" comes from which country?

Wales gave the tune: it belongs to a 16th-century Welsh winter carol called "Nos Galan", and the English words were only added in 1862, by a Scottish musician.

Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, belongs to which country?

Australia has governed Christmas Island since 1958; a British sea captain named it when he sailed past on Christmas Day 1643, and it is famous for the millions of red crabs that march to the sea.

The first electrically lit Christmas tree, in 1882, was made by an associate of which inventor?

Thomas Edison's colleague Edward Johnson hand-wired 80 red, white and blue bulbs the size of walnuts onto the tree in his New York home, and a visiting reporter called it a superb exhibition.

A Christingle is a candle pushed into which fruit?

The orange stands for the world and the candle for the light of Christ; a red ribbon and sweets on sticks finish it off.

In the fairy tale, which animal finally eats the runaway Gingerbread Man?

A fox catches him in the end, and in the oldest printed version he reports on his own finish as he is eaten: a quarter gone, half gone, three-quarters gone, then all gone.

In "The Twelve Days of Christmas", which bird is the gift on the first day?

A partridge is the only gift sent on every one of the twelve days, because each verse repeats all the earlier gifts; by the end the true love has sent twelve of them, each in its own pear tree.

In "The Twelve Days of Christmas", how many gold rings does the true love send?

The true love sends five gold rings on the fifth day; the 1780 printing also had 'four colly birds', an old word for coal-black, which later became calling birds.

In Home Alone 2, Kevin tricks the staff into giving him a suite at which famous New York hotel?

Kevin checks into the Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue using his father's credit card, fooling the staff with his Talkboy recorder until the card is reported stolen.

Which organisation tracks Santa's sleigh each Christmas Eve, a custom begun by a child's wrong-number phone call in 1955?

NORAD's forerunner took the call after a Sears advert in Colorado Springs invited children to ring Santa; Colonel Harry Shoup played along, and his staff began reporting the sleigh's position.

A legend about Saint Nicholas tossing bags of gold to three poor sisters explains which custom?

The gold is said to have landed in stockings drying by the fire, the origin of hanging up stockings; in some tellings it was three golden balls, the pawnbrokers' sign.

What do French children call Santa Claus?

Père Noël means 'Father Christmas'; on Christmas Eve French children leave their shoes by the fireplace for him to fill with small presents.

In Thomas Nast's first Santa Claus drawing, what pattern covers Santa's outfit?

Stars and stripes dress the Santa that Nast drew for Harper's Weekly in January 1863, handing out presents in a Union army camp: with the Civil War raging, the flag showed whose side Santa was on.

Donner and Blitzen began as 'Dunder and Blixem', Dutch for what?

Thunder and lightning is what the Dutch words 'donder' and 'bliksem' mean; later printings changed the names to Donder and Blitzen, and Donder became Donner in the end.

Canada's post office answers letters to Santa at which place, using the postal code H0H 0H0?

The North Pole is where Santa is traditionally said to live, and the code is a nod to his laugh. Canadian postal workers answer around a million of his letters each year.

Astronaut Wally Schirra played Jingle Bells from orbit in 1965 on which small smuggled instrument?

A harmonica about an inch long did the job, in a Christmas prank on Mission Control. It was one of the first songs broadcast from space, and Schirra later gave the instrument to the Smithsonian.

Which soft drink company's 1930s adverts, painted by Haddon Sundblom, spread the modern image of Santa Claus?

Coca-Cola made the jolly Santa famous, but the tale that it invented him or his red suit is a myth: a mineral water company had already put Santa in its adverts in 1915.

On Christmas Eve 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 made a famous TV broadcast while in orbit around what?

The Moon had never had human visitors before Apollo 8, whose crew circled it ten times and became the first people to see its far side.

Which huge African animal did ten-year-old Gayla Peevey ask for in her 1953 Christmas novelty hit?

A hippopotamus really did turn up: her home city's zoo and a local newspaper raised the money, and Gayla was handed a live one, which she gave to the zoo.

The winter favourite Let It Snow! was written in Hollywood in July 1945 during which kind of weather?

A heat wave had songwriters Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne dreaming of cooler days. The song is played every Christmas, yet it never mentions the holiday once.

Reindeer, the animals said to fly Santa around the world, are known by which name in North America?

Caribou comes from a Mi'kmaq word meaning snow shoveler, after the way the animals paw through snow to reach food. They are the only deer whose females normally grow antlers.

Since the 1930s, American and Canadian children have left out milk and which treat for Santa Claus?

Cookies are the classic Christmas Eve snack for Santa, though plenty of grown-ups admit to eating the plateful themselves once the children are asleep.

In A Charlie Brown Christmas, which character wins the neighbourhood lights and display contest?

Snoopy decorates his doghouse and wins the neighbourhood lights and display contest, which only deepens Charlie Brown's gloom about how commercial Christmas has become.

Which child actor shot to fame playing the boy left behind by his family in the 1990 film Home Alone?

Macaulay Culkin became a household name through Home Alone, which stayed the highest-grossing live-action comedy for two decades.

Which crunchy vegetable do many children leave out on Christmas Eve as a snack for Santa's reindeer?

Carrots are the usual gift, though wild reindeer get through the winter mostly on lichen, which they dig out from under the snow with their hooves.

Like many older European gift-bringers, Santa Claus is said to enter houses by which route?

The chimney was already the way in for several of Europe's midwinter gift-bringers, so Santa inherited the trick rather than inventing it.

Which of Santa's reindeer shares a name with the Roman god of love, often shown carrying a bow?

Cupid in Roman myth is the winged son of Venus, the goddess of love, and his arrows make people fall for each other. He is one of the reindeer in Santa's original team.

In The Nutcracker ballet, gingerbread soldiers fight a battle against which animals, led by their own king?

Mice swarm the room at midnight, and the nutcracker leads the toy soldiers against them. The ballet is based on an 1816 story called The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

In How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, which young girl interrupts the Grinch as he steals the presents?

Cindy-Lou Who catches the Grinch in the act, but he thinks fast and invents a crafty lie that sends her away.

In a much-loved 1941 Christmas song, a poor boy with no gift plays which instrument for the baby Jesus?

A drum is all the boy can offer. The song was first published as Carol of the Drum, and a 1958 recording made it a hit under the title The Little Drummer Boy.

Because New Zealand lies in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas Day there falls in which season?

Summer sunshine means many New Zealanders spend Christmas at the beach or around a barbecue, and the red-flowering pohutukawa serves as a local Christmas tree.

At the end of each night of Las Posadas, held just before Christmas, children break open what?

A piñata for Las Posadas was traditionally made from clay, and children get plenty of turns: the festival runs for nine nights in a row.

What is the first name of Scrooge, the cold-hearted miser visited by ghosts in A Christmas Carol?

Ebenezer Scrooge was so mean with his money that his surname became an everyday English word for a greedy person.

Which evergreen plant is paired with holly in the title of a traditional British Christmas carol?

Ivy shares the title of The Holly and the Ivy, a folk carol whose best-known version was written down in 1909 from a woman singing in Gloucestershire.

Which Christmas tree decoration, invented in Nuremberg around 1610, was first made from real silver?

Tinsel made of real silver was added to trees to catch the flickering light, but silver tarnishes quickly, so makers switched to other shiny metals and later to plastic.

Which thick, sweet Christmas drink made with milk, cream and sugar is often topped with grated nutmeg?

Eggnog gets its frothy texture from whipped eggs, and versions made with spirits were once known as egg milk punch.

Which tart red berry, harvested from flooded beds each autumn, is made into a sauce for Christmas dinner?

Cranberry beds are flooded only to help with the harvest and to shield the plants from winter cold; through the growing season the berries are not under water at all.

In the carol We Wish You a Merry Christmas, the singers refuse to leave until they are given which dessert?

Figgy pudding in the west of England meant a raisin or plum pudding, and it did not need to contain a single fig. Rich households once handed out such treats to carol singers.

Which small sweet Christmas pie from England, now filled with dried fruit, was once made with meat?

Mince pie recipes once called for beef, mutton or even tongue. The meat slowly dropped out over the centuries, yet the fruity filling is still called mincemeat.

In The Santa Clause, which comedian plays Scott Calvin, a father who has to take over Santa's job?

Tim Allen's character startles Santa, who falls off the roof. A card left behind tells him to put on the red suit, and with that he has signed up for the job.

In the film A Christmas Story, which present does nine-year-old Ralphie want more than anything else?

A BB gun, a Red Ryder air rifle, is the only thing on Ralphie's list, but his mother, his teacher and even a department store Santa all turn him down.

In The Muppet Christmas Carol, which Muppet plays Bob Cratchit, the kind and humble clerk of the miser?

Kermit the Frog got the part of the humble clerk. By some accounts, early scripts had Miss Piggy playing one of the ghosts, an idea that was later dropped.

The wise men of the Christmas story, three by tradition though the Bible gives no number, go by which name?

Magi is the Bible's own word for the visitors, and it says they found the child in a house, not a stable, at some unstated time after the birth.

In the Christmas story, Joseph, the husband of Mary, is traditionally said to have worked in which trade?

Carpenter is the traditional reading of a Greek word that can mean a skilled worker in wood, iron or stone, but early Christian writers consistently linked it with woodwork.

Mele Kalikimaka, the title of a 1949 Christmas song, is a way of saying Merry Christmas in which language?

Hawaiian has no R or S sounds and every consonant must be followed by a vowel, so the English greeting had to be reshaped to fit the language.

Which snowy region in the far north of Finland has been promoted as the home of Santa Claus since 1927?

Lapland got the job in 1927, when a Finnish radio host told his listeners that Santa lived there on a remote fell called Korvatunturi.

Which small garden bird has had a starring role on British Christmas cards since the mid-19th century?

Robin pictures also brighten many Christmas stamps. The bird is a favourite of British folklore all year round, yet it matters far less in the stories of most other European countries.

Many accounts of the Christmas truce of 1914 describe enemy soldiers on the Western Front playing which sport together?

Soccer, which the British soldiers called football, turns up in many accounts of the truce, though historians think most games were casual kickabouts, some with a tin can for a ball.

On Christmas night in 1776, George Washington led his army across which icy river for a surprise attack?

The Delaware was full of ice, which made the crossing one of the most dangerous operations of the war, but it let Washington surprise the enemy soldiers camped at Trenton.

Which English scientist, later knighted by Queen Anne, was born on Christmas Day in 1642?

Isaac Newton arrived early and was so small that his mother said he could have fitted inside a quart mug.

With the church organ possibly damaged by flooding, Silent Night was first played in 1818 on which instrument?

A guitar part was requested by Joseph Mohr, the young priest who wrote the words, and the schoolmaster Franz Gruber composed the melody in time for that night's Christmas Eve mass.

On Saint Lucy's Day in Sweden, the girl leading the procession wears a wreath of what on her head?

Candles recall the legend that Lucy wore lights on her head so that both hands were free to carry food to Christians hiding in the catacombs of Rome.

In Iceland, the mischievous Yule Lads leave which rotten vegetable in the shoes of badly behaved children?

A potato waits for the naughty, while well-behaved children find small gifts in the shoes they set on the windowsill. The Lads arrive one by one over the last nights before Christmas.

In an Eastern European folk tale, which small creature decorates a poor widow's Christmas tree overnight?

A spider covers the tree in webs, and in the best-known telling the first rays of morning sunlight turn them into shining precious metal. Small spider ornaments are a traditional Christmas tree decoration in parts of Eastern Europe.

Which US state has a town named Santa Claus, whose post office receives thousands of letters every year?

Indiana already had a Santa Fe, so the town's first choice of name was refused and its residents settled on Santa Claus. Volunteer elves have answered the letters since at least 1914.

The X in Xmas stands for chi, the first letter in Greek of which word?

Christ begins in Greek with the letter chi, which looks like an X. Writers have used the shortcut since the 16th century, so it was never a way of leaving the name out.

Advent, the name of the four-week season leading up to Christmas, is taken from a Latin word with which meaning?

Arrival is the meaning of the Latin adventus, which the church used for the birth of Jesus. Since the 1700s English has also used advent, with a small a, for any important arrival.

Patterned wrapping paper reached American shops in 1917 thanks to the founders of which card company?

Hallmark's founders, the Hall brothers, ran out of plain tissue paper in their Kansas City shop and began selling colourful French envelope linings in its place.

Which fantasy author wrote his children an illustrated letter from Father Christmas every year from 1920 to 1943?

J.R.R. Tolkien began when his eldest son was three, and every letter arrived in an envelope bearing stamps and postmarks that he had designed himself.

What is the Tió de Nadal, which Catalan children feed, keep warm and then tap with sticks for presents?

A wooden log, often with a smiling face painted on one end and a little red hat, is looked after for days so that it hands over small gifts when the children tap it.

In the carol Good King Wenceslas, the king sets out to help a poor man on the feast day of which saint?

Stephen is the saint named in the carol. The real Wenceslas was a duke of Bohemia in the 900s, not a king: an emperor granted him the royal title after his death.

In Denmark, the person who finds a single whole nut of which kind in the Christmas rice dessert wins a prize?

An almond wins its finder the mandelgave, or almond present, traditionally a pink pig made of marzipan. The dessert is full of chopped ones, so only a whole nut counts.

Carol of the Bells, built on a repeating four-note pattern, began as a New Year song from which country?

Ukraine's Mykola Leontovych composed the original, Shchedryk, in the early 1900s. It became a Christmas carol only in 1936, when an American composer wrote English words for it.

Which British illustrator created The Snowman, the 1978 picture book behind a much-loved Christmas cartoon?

Raymond Briggs appeared in person at the start of the first TV showing in 1982, walking through a field in Sussex and describing what had inspired his story.