Saturday, December 17, 2011

Christmas Fun Facts Friday...On Saturday!

Here's the next batch of Christmas Fun Facts that appear on my television holiday music station!

1. The first Hot Wheels appeared in 1968. Car Models included the Corvette, Mustang, and Firebird.

2. BMX bikes were the hottest selling gifts in 1982.

3. "Toy" comes from the old English word for "tool."

4. Who was almost cast in the role of Ralphie's potty-mouthed father in A Christmas Story? Jack Nicholson!

5. In Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Rudolph has his antlers through the winter. In reality, only the females keep their antlers in the winter.

6.  The National Christmas Tree Association has given a tree to every president since 1966.

7.  Early Christmas trees were actually hung upside down from the ceiling! Um, can you imagine the mess?

8.  Jingle Bells a Thanksgiving song?! Apparently so! The iconic Christmas song was originally written to celebrate Thanksgiving in 1857.

9.  Italians start Christmas on December 17th.  A date they refer to as Novena.

10. Hyvaa Joulua means "Merry Christmas" in Finnish!


11.  Did you know there was a ban on Christmas in England? Many people celebrated Christmas in secret until the ban was repealed in 1660.


12. Japan once banned Hula Hoops because they thought the hip rotating was indecent. 


Hope you enjoyed this batch! More to come!

10 comments:

  1. I don't know, for a while I actually thought the upside down tree was brillant. More room for presents. :)

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  2. I love A Christmas Story, and hip rotating is indecent.

    Love,
    Lola

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  3. See, I KNEW that a woman was really in charge of leading Santa's reindeer. A classic case of mistaken identity (kind of like As You Like It). ;o)

    And WHY were Christmas trees hanging upside down? Good grief, it's a wonder the tree tradition hung around. Um. No pun intended I swear. I salute the person who decided to stand them upright instead.

    And who bans Christmas? Losers.

    Love the fun facts!!

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  4. hahaha. banned hula hoops...love it.

    I have never seen A Christmas Story...I really must fix that soon. Hey, at least I finally saw Love Actually. :)

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  5. Jack Nicholson would have been awesome in that role! And as a self-professed history nerd, I did indeed know about #11.

    My travel and cooking blog-theredheadedtraveler.com

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  6. Neat set of facts. I can't say that I knew any of those things. A Christmas Story certainly would have been different with Jack as the father.

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  7. The hip rotating was indecent? Only if you're a dirty, old man!

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  8. Eva: :) Thanks!

    Julianna: Oh, awesome idea! Definitely more room! All I could think about was the mess. lol

    LOLA: Yeah, great movie. :)

    J.Day: LOL--You know, for years it was a challenge just getting the tree to stand upright in the dang stand. Can you imagine the fiasco trying to hang it from the ceiling?! Lord, it would be a Griswold Christmas for sure.

    So glad you like reading these! :)

    Jewels: Oh, did you LOVE Love Actually? It's one of my favorites!!! :)

    the red headed traveler: He really would have been amazing! I really have to get over to your blog and catch up on your Disney posts!!! :)

    George: I'm glad you liked them. :) It would have been different, but Jack is so awesome, I bet it would have been fantastic.

    Carole: Aw, a cherry hello right back! :)

    Chanel: Spot on!

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