Christmas Trivia: Celebrating the magic of the holidays
By Adams Media
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About this ebook
Inside you’ll read about how the celebration of Christmas has evolved throughout the years, revisit classic holiday movies, and test your Noel knowledge with a trivia quiz for the whole family. Warm your heart and bring your family closer together this Christmas with The Everything® Family Christmas - and capture the spirit of this memorable season.
Adams Media
At Adams Media, we don’t just publish books—we craft experiences that matter to you. Whether you’re diving deep into spirituality, whipping up delights in the kitchen, or planning your personal finances, our diverse range of lifestyle books, decks, journals, and more is designed to feed your curiosity. The Adams team strives to publish content that celebrates readers where they are—and where they’re going.
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Book preview
Christmas Trivia - Adams Media
The Everything® Family Christmas Series
Christmas Trivia
Celebrating the magic of the holidays
Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Avon, Massachusetts
Contents
Introduction
The History of Christmas
The First Christmas
Setting a Date
The Dawn of Christmas in Europe
Medieval Celebrations
Outlawing Christmas
The Germans Keep the Flame Alive
The Victorian Christmas
Christmas in America
A Century of the American Christmas
Christmas in the 1900s
Christmas in the 1910s
Christmas in the 1920s
Christmas in the 1930s
Christmas in the 1940s
Christmas in the 1950s
Christmas in the 1960s
Christmas in the 1970s
Christmas in the 1980s
Christmas in the 1990s
Christmas in the 2000s
Christmas on the Silver Screen
It’s a Wonderful Life
Four Decades of Holiday Viewing
The Everything Silver Screen Christmas Trivia Quiz
The Everything Quiz Answers and Scoring
Also Available
Copyright Page
Introduction
When you distill the true meaning of Christmas — whether you celebrate on December 6, December 25, January 6, or a little bit on each of those days — it all comes down to a single word: wonder.
It was wonder that led the Magi to follow the Star to Bethlehem. It was wonder that filled the stable in Bethlehem the night that Jesus was born. It’s wonder that you feel in church and carol services over Christmas, imagining the more than 2,000 years of tradition and history that have made Christmas what it is today. And it’s wonder that fills the eyes of a five year old who starts down the stairs on Christmas morning to see the tree aglow and then shares the long tradition of exchanging gifts.
Christmas begins in the mists of long-distant history and extends along the future of the human family. It’s informed by countless Christmases past and the knowledge that, as long as there are children and a sense of tradition, there are likely to be Christmases in the future. But the true event, the true day of days, is neither an account of old customs nor a prediction of the ways in which this holiday will continue to change and to grow. The true experience of Christmas is wonder.
After all, the wonder of Christmas is tied inextricably to memory. For many, Christmases past are the standards by which they measure Christmases present and future. Like the Charles Dickens creation, Ebenezer Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol,
you can use your memories as a springboard to make each holiday better and more meaningful than the last.
Luckily, Christmas isn’t about perfection. It’s not about having the best-decorated house on the block, and it doesn’t matter that the turkey took two extra hours to cook and the peas were left behind in the microwave (although hopefully not all on the same day). What matters is the creation of new memories, centered on a sense of family and being loved, whether you come with a ready-made family or one that you create yourself. Memory is, ultimately, the basis of tradition — and what is Christmas if not one of the fundamental traditions of our time? Warm and wonderful memories are certainly what this book wishes for you, just as it hopes to provide inspiration for the Christmases that are in your future.
Once a year, on December 25, Christmas reintroduces you to wonder on a scale that you should never forget. This book is intended as a celebration of that wonder. May you read it as part of the most precious gift that the holiday brings: the ability to see things, for a time, through the eyes you once had on Christmas morning.
For more Christmas stories, songs, recipes, traditions, and more, check out The Everything® Family Christmas Book, available in print (978-1-59869-561-8) and eBook (978-1-60550-783-5) formats.
The History of Christmas
The way in which people celebrate Christmas is a relatively recent development in the history of the holiday, which of course originates with the birth of Jesus, the Christ child, some 2,000 years ago. The festivities of December 25 have been shaped by many people and many cultures — from the early Romans to England’s Queen Victoria — and they continue to change even today. Whether you celebrate the day as part of Christianity or simply as a time of family togetherness, the ori-gins and evolution of Christmas span the globe.
The First Christmas
You might say that Christmas has been celebrated since the very night of Jesus’ birth, when, the Bible says, the angels announced his arrival on the plains of Bethlehem (in what is now Israel) in an event that was later celebrated in a special Christes Masse, or Christ’s Mass. The actual birth date is something that scholars still debate; however, a combination of Bible stories, historical records, and even astronomical events generally set the year between about 6 B.C. and A.D. 6
Most of the elements of our traditional Christmas story have their origin in the Bible, in the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Matthew. While the two gospels offer some historical contradictions, there’s no doubt that together, they have created a picture of the birth of Jesus that is loved around the world.
From The Gospel According to St. Luke
Luke’s gospel offers us not only a time and place for the birth of Jesus, but a real human and religious drama. Focusing on the trials of Joseph and Mary, Luke tells us a story of weary travelers forced to spend the night in a stable because there was no room for them at the inn.
With its focus on the humble manger birth, the gathering of shepherds and angels, and the enduring message of peace on earth, this passage has given us some of Christianity’s best loved Christmas songs and traditions.
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in