BY BELLA TRINKO, ZAC BARNABY, AND ALAINA INOUYE
STAFF WRITERS
Have you ever wondered about the bizarre traditions that occur on Christmas such as putting a dead tree up in your house and decorating it?! Well we are going to tell you all about them! First up we have the history of Christmas trees. Christmas trees originated in Germany during the 1500s. The idea of decorating the tree came from Martin Luther, and the first thing used to decorate them was candles. They were then brought to America by German Settlers. This occurred in Pennsylvania in the 1830s. As for caroling, it originated back in the 19th century although Christmas carols themselves originated hundreds of years ago. Did you know the word ‘carol’ means a song or a dance of joy and praise? And that carols were originally written to be sung during all the seasons but the others died off and only the Christmas tradition has survived. Gift-giving comes was something already done before it was a part of Christmas. Beggars would go around and ask for handouts on Christmas. Because of the three kings giving gifts to Jesus in The Bible, it was added to the holiday.
There are also quite a few Christmas games, such as Secret Santa. Secret Santa is thought to have been found in Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, or Denmark) and is known there as Julklapp. They would knock on doors, open them, throw the present inside, and try to run without being seen. Some would also right funny messages on the presents, which could help people figure out who gave it to them.
Thank you for reading our article, we hope you enjoyed it and learned something new!