The Top 40 Traditions of Christmas: The Story Behind the Nativity, Candy Canes, Caroling, and All Things Christmas Read Online Free Page A
Author: David McLaughlan
Tags: Religion & Spirituality, Christmas, Holidays, Christian Books & Bibles, Christian Living
responsible for the invention of Christmas lights. The vice president of his company produced Christmas lights only two years after Edison patented the electric lightbulb.
Now shopping malls and sporting arenas cover themselves in light displays to encourage people to join in the festive fun.
Many homeowners go to incredible lengths to illuminate their homes at Christmas, sometimes just for fun but often as a way of raising money for charity.
When?
Originally candles were stuck to the Christmas tree branches with melted wax. It took until almost the end of the nineteenth century for candleholders to come into fashion.
The vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, Edward Johnson, had eighty red, white, and blue miniature lightbulbs made for his Christmas tree in 1882. This is believed to have been the first time electric lights decorated a Christmas tree. Unfortunately the cost was prohibitive, and it wasn’t until almost fifty years later that affordable Christmas lights arrived in the shops.
In 1895 the White House displayed its first electrically lit Christmas tree, encouraging the fashion to spread across America.
Why?
There are lots of reasons for liking Christmas lights! We could be representing the Christmas star or the lamps in the stable where Christ lay. We may be harking back to seemingly simpler and cozier times, when people gathered around the lamp and held services by candlelight. In the early days of electricity it would most certainly have been a status symbol. It might just be because they are pretty, and people like pretty things.
Or it might be that those bright, sparkly lights remind us there is something purer, something brighter in each of us than what we show the world through the rest of the year.
11
Christmas Markets
Who?
The German, Austrian, and Polish peoples came up with the idea of midwinter or Christmas markets. It is an idea that does seem better suited to dark, cold nights (although the markets are open through the day and well into the evening.)
Faith-based groups often set up Nativity scenes, and some even welcome the Christ child in when the market begins. But mostly it is a good opportunity for small traders and craftspeople to make the most of a Christmas shopping spree that might otherwise pass them by.
While most markets cater to local people, some have grown large enough to become tourist attractions in their own right.
What?
The Christmas market may be simply a gathering of local traders selling their wares. But they can often be much larger, incorporating amusement parks, ice rinks, and live music. Many markets have become so organized that instead of makeshift stalls they have what amounts to miniature Alpine cabins to sell from.
The goods for sale will be anything festive! Hot food and warm drinks will feature heavily, as will warm clothing and Christmas decorations.
If you have ever joined Nat King Cole in singing about “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and wondered what they tasted like, the Christmas market would be a good place to find out.
Where?
The Christmas market idea seems to have developed in Germany and surrounding countries. It has spread across Europe and is now a major feature in the festive celebrations of a handful of American cities.
Dresden in Germany, Vienna in Austria, and Bautzen in Poland can each make a claim to having the oldest Christmas Market.
The markets are usually held in town squares or city centers, public places that are close to traffic and allow pedestrians to wander and shop but are large enough to have, on some occasions, several hundred market stalls.
The Christmas market in Edinburgh, Scotland, actually boardwalks over part of an ancient cemetery.
When?
A “December market” was held in Vienna as far back as 1294. At some point this became known as a Christmas market. Other markets sprang up around the same time. The
Now shopping malls and sporting arenas cover themselves in light displays to encourage people to join in the festive fun.
Many homeowners go to incredible lengths to illuminate their homes at Christmas, sometimes just for fun but often as a way of raising money for charity.
When?
Originally candles were stuck to the Christmas tree branches with melted wax. It took until almost the end of the nineteenth century for candleholders to come into fashion.
The vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, Edward Johnson, had eighty red, white, and blue miniature lightbulbs made for his Christmas tree in 1882. This is believed to have been the first time electric lights decorated a Christmas tree. Unfortunately the cost was prohibitive, and it wasn’t until almost fifty years later that affordable Christmas lights arrived in the shops.
In 1895 the White House displayed its first electrically lit Christmas tree, encouraging the fashion to spread across America.
Why?
There are lots of reasons for liking Christmas lights! We could be representing the Christmas star or the lamps in the stable where Christ lay. We may be harking back to seemingly simpler and cozier times, when people gathered around the lamp and held services by candlelight. In the early days of electricity it would most certainly have been a status symbol. It might just be because they are pretty, and people like pretty things.
Or it might be that those bright, sparkly lights remind us there is something purer, something brighter in each of us than what we show the world through the rest of the year.
11
Christmas Markets
Who?
The German, Austrian, and Polish peoples came up with the idea of midwinter or Christmas markets. It is an idea that does seem better suited to dark, cold nights (although the markets are open through the day and well into the evening.)
Faith-based groups often set up Nativity scenes, and some even welcome the Christ child in when the market begins. But mostly it is a good opportunity for small traders and craftspeople to make the most of a Christmas shopping spree that might otherwise pass them by.
While most markets cater to local people, some have grown large enough to become tourist attractions in their own right.
What?
The Christmas market may be simply a gathering of local traders selling their wares. But they can often be much larger, incorporating amusement parks, ice rinks, and live music. Many markets have become so organized that instead of makeshift stalls they have what amounts to miniature Alpine cabins to sell from.
The goods for sale will be anything festive! Hot food and warm drinks will feature heavily, as will warm clothing and Christmas decorations.
If you have ever joined Nat King Cole in singing about “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and wondered what they tasted like, the Christmas market would be a good place to find out.
Where?
The Christmas market idea seems to have developed in Germany and surrounding countries. It has spread across Europe and is now a major feature in the festive celebrations of a handful of American cities.
Dresden in Germany, Vienna in Austria, and Bautzen in Poland can each make a claim to having the oldest Christmas Market.
The markets are usually held in town squares or city centers, public places that are close to traffic and allow pedestrians to wander and shop but are large enough to have, on some occasions, several hundred market stalls.
The Christmas market in Edinburgh, Scotland, actually boardwalks over part of an ancient cemetery.
When?
A “December market” was held in Vienna as far back as 1294. At some point this became known as a Christmas market. Other markets sprang up around the same time. The
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