Solutions Christmas Fun
This entry is not about Solutions or the excellent films and website we provide. It's about the season. Everyone knows that Prince Albert was responsible for introducing the Christmas tree to England and it was Coca-cola who first dressed Santa Claus in Red. To provide a different view on Christmas, our resident trivia-jinn has gathered together more strange and little-known Christmas facts:
- In 1643, the Puritan Parliament abolished Christmas while in America in 1659 those caught celebrating Christmas in New England were fined 5 shillings.
- Christmas wasn't an event in the early 18th Century; The Times did not mention it at all between 1790 and 1835. The publication of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, however, changed all that.
- Each year Catford Stadium holds a Turkey race. None of the participants will be eaten and the winner will live in style with all the corn it can gobble.
- Turkeys are not, of course, from Turkey but were given their name by English diners after being mistaken for another bird, which they called turkey. The earlier bird wasn't from Turkey either but was brought from Africa by Turkish sailors. The hungry English didn't seem to care, either way.
- Brussels sprouts are native to Belgium¸ though. They are a cabbage that naturally grew in a small and unusual way in one part on the country. Theses mutants taste great and have spread across the world.
- Carrots are naturally white. Or black or purple or indeed any colour other than orange. The Dutch dyed them their national colour and the carrot has stayed that way.
- WC Fields once said his family would start drinking early at Christmas so they could see multiple Santa's. He also died on Christmas day, 1946. On Christmas Day 1957 Shane McGowan, lead singer of The Pogues was born. Spooky.
- Others, apart from the obvious, born on Christmas include: Sir Isaac Newton, Humphrey Bogart, Kenny Everett, and Yazmin Fiallos, Miss Universe-Honduras 1996.
- Other departures include: Dean Martin, Joan Miro and Nicolae Ceausescu, the Romanian dictator who was executed on Christmas Day, 1989. They did his wife, too.
- Tinsel was first used to decorate French soldiers and was called lame. The Germans stole the secret of making the shiny material and used it to garland their trees instead.
- Crackers were copied from the stingy French tradition of giving a sweet wrapped in paper as a present. The English added the motto, then toys, hats and the crackers 'bang'.
- Legend says that holly berries were originally white but were turned red by when Christ bleed wearing the Crown of Thorns at his crucifixion. (So shouldn't it be used at Easter?)
- The early church banned ivy but it was later adopted when it was thought it could ward off witches.
Whatever you are doing over the festive season, we would like to wish you a “Very merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year" from all of us at Solutions