Topic: Christmas Questions And Answers, Part 4

WHY ARE THERE POINSETTIAS ON THE HEARTH?

Poinsettias were attached to Christmas starting in 1828. Joel Roberts Poinsett, then the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, imported the plant from Mexico. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "In warm climates the poinsettia grows outdoors as a winter-flowering leggy shrub about 3 metres (10 feet) high; as a potted plant in northern areas it rarely grows beyond 1 metre. What appear to be petals are actually coloured leaflike bracts that surround a central cluster of tiny yellow flowers. A milky latex in the stems and leaves can be irritating to persons or animals sensitive to it, but the claim that poinsettias are deadly poisonous is greatly exaggerated." ("Poinsettia", Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.,)

WHAT ABOUT THESE FRUITCAKES?

According to "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma Rombauer and Marion Becker, "Many people feel that these cakes improve greatly with age. When they are well saturated with alcoholic liquors, which raise the spirits and keep down mold, and are buried in powdered sugar in tightly closed tins, they have been enjoyed as long as 25 years after baking." No word yet on how they got attached to Christmas..

WHY ARE THERE OVERSIZED SOCKS HANGING ON YOUR MANTEL?

According to a very old tradition, the original Saint Nicholas left his very first gifts of gold coins in the stockings of three poor girls who needed the money for their wedding dowries. The girls had hung their stockings by the fire to dry. See this page (http://www.holidays.net/christmas/stocking.htm) for a version of this story. Up until lately, it was traditional to receive small items like fruit, nuts and candy in your stocking, but these have been replaced in the last half-century by more expensive gifts in many homes.

According to this page (http://www.notti.italiane.com/natale/welcomeb.html) the tradition of a lump of coal in the stockings of naughty children comes from Italy.

WHY ARE CHRISTMAS CARDS SCATTERED ALL OVER THE COFFEE TABLE?

Christmas cards started in London in 1843 and in America in 1846. Today about two billion Christmas cards are exchanged every year in the United States.

Title: How Christmas Works - The Complete Guide To Christmas Traditions!
Data Source: Http://www.howstuffworks.com/christmas.htm

Fair Use. Presented For Educational Purposes Only.

If these words have been a blessing, please forward them to a friend.

These words were posted at one of Shepherd's Care Ministries Sites called Wisdom Minute. This site is located at:
http://www.shepherdscare.net/wisdomminute

Shepherd's Care Ministries Main Site located at:
http://www.shepherdscare.net/