Winter was a time of celebration to pre-Christian Romans and they decorated fir trees in honor of this seasonal change.

The use of a Christmas wreath as a decoration on your front door, mantel or bay window symbolizes a sign of welcome and long life to all that enter.

Today poinsettias are the most popular Christmas plant and are the number one flowering potted plant in the United States.

Real Christmas trees are an all-American product, grown in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Most artificial trees are manufactured in Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong.

In 1836, Alabama is the first state in the USA to declare Christmas a legal holiday.

The biggest selling Christmas single of all time is Bing Crosby's White Christmas.

Due to the time zones, Santa has 31 hours to deliver gifts? This means that he would have to visit 832 homes each second!

In 1937, the first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria.

For every real Christmas tree harvested, 2 to 3 seedlings are planted in its place. Each hectare provides the daily oxygen requirements of 45 people.

Epiphany, 6th January, is the traditional end of the Christmas holiday and is the date on which we take down the tree and decorations. To do so earlier is thought to bring bad luck for the rest of the year. From the middle ages until the mid-nineteenth century, Twelfth Night was more popular than Christmas day, and even today some countries celebrate Epiphany as the most important day of the Christmas season.

Three years after Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb in 1879, Edward H. Johnson, who worked for Edison's company, had Christmas tree bulbs especially made for him. He proudly displayed his electric tree lights at his home on Fifth Avenue, New York City. They caused a sensation although some years were to pass before mass-manufactured Christmas tree lights were widely available.

In America in 1822, the postmaster of Washington, DC, complained that he had to add 16 mailmen at Christmas to deal with cards alone. He wanted the number of cards a person could send limited by law. "I don't know what we'll do if this keeps on," he wrote.

Recommended Reading: Pop in this DVD and experience the joy and festive atmosphere a Christmas tree brings to your home. Some of the songs on this DVD include: Jingle Bells, O Christmas Tree, Good King Wenceslas, What Child Is This?, We Three Kings, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, The First Noël, and more..

About the Author:
As originally seen at 20ish Parents This information is from the book Christmas Almanac by Michael Stephenson, Oxford Press.

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