Christmas Traditions

There's a fascinating history behind many of the things we do to celebrate the festive season.

Carol's By Candleight

In 1937, an Australian radio presenter Norman Banks was inspired after seeing a woman singing Christmas carols while holding a candle. He thought that gathering the community together to sing carols would be a great way to make sure no-one spent Christmas Eve alone. The following year, in 1938, Norman's vision came to life when 10,000 people attended the very first Carols by Candlelight event at Alexandra Gardens in Melbourne. Now hundreds of thousands of people attend similar gatherings, big and small, across the country. And the joy of singing carols together has spread around the world.

Christmas Tree

Ancient Northern hemisphere cultures, such as the Vikings, hung evergreen branches during winter solstice on December 21 and 22 to remind them of the coming spring. In 16th century , Christians began bringing evergreen trees into their homes at Christmas. It's believed priest Martin Luther was the first to place lit candles on the tree, to capture the beauty of stars in the evening sky, an effect we replicate today with strings of twinkling lights.

Dear Santa

Back in the early 19th century it was Santa who wrote to children, encouraging them to behave. Then in 1871, US cartoonist Thomas Nast drew a picture of Santa sitting at his desk, sorting letters into piles based on whether the children were naughty or good, and the idea of writing to Santa took off. To write to Santa, address the mail to Santa Claus, NORTH POLE 9999.

Plum Pudding

The modern day Christmas pudding is sweet, fruity and served with custard. But the tradition started as a type of sausage in Medieval England where meat, vegetables, grains, fruit, spices and fat were stuffed inside animal intestines. In the 15th century, "plum pottage" was quite savoury, but by the end of the 16th century dried fruits featured more and intestines were abandoned in favour of a cloth casing. By the 19th century, the boozy plum pudding we recognise today had become a Christmas staple.

Gingerbread House

The ancient Greeks and Egyptians used a type of gingerbread during religious ceremonies, before the tradition was introduced to Europeans in 992. The much-loved Christmas tradition of decorating miniature houses made of gingerbread began in soon after the Grimms' fairytale Hansel and Gretel was published in 1812. German bakers began making replicas of the witch's houses from the story, and the tradition of gifting them or placing them in the window at Christmas has been adopted around the world.

Christmas Cards

The tradition of Christmas cards started in the UK in 1843. When Sir Henry Cole had an artist friend produce a card featuring a family enjoying a festive meal, and people helping the poor. Henry wanted a quick way to respond to his many friend's letters and the idea caught on. In 1931, the first plane taking festive cards from Australia to England crashed in Malaysia, On a second flight, aviator Charles Kingsford Smith (pictured] helped get the 50,000 cards to the UK in time.

Did You Know?

On the night of Yule, Odin (Norse God of war and the dead) lead a hunting party on his 8 legged horse named sleighpner, leading a band of horseman and hounds in a hunt through the night sky. On that night children would place boots filled with hay outside, to feed sleighpner, and Odin would leave a gift in return. This is why we hang stockings on the mantle/fireplace and cookies and milk for Santa.

Reindeer come from northern Europe, eight of them pull Santa's sleigh. Each to represent a leg of slephpner. Rudolf was not added untill 1939 when Montgomery Ward department store asked one of its copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to create a Christmas story, that the store could give away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick.